Zab Judah

Zab Judah
Statistics
Real name	Zabdiel Isaiah Judah
Nickname(s)	Super
Rated at	Welterweight
Nationality	American
Birth date	October 27 1977 (1977-10-27) (age 30)
Birth place	Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	41
Wins	36
Wins by KO	25
Losses	5
Draws	0
No contests	0

Zab "Super" Judah, (born October 27 1977), of Brooklyn, New York, is an American professional boxer. He is a former junior welterweight 140 lb (63.5 kg) champion, and former undisputed champion in the welterweight 147 lb (66.7 kg) division. On November 17, 2007, Judah defeated Ryan Davis by a 12th round unanimous decision for the vacant IBC light middleweight 154 pounds (69.9 kg) title.

Contents 1 Style 2 Rise 2.1 vs. Tszyu 3 Controversy & suspension 4 Judah's return to boxing 4.1 vs. Mayweather; Fine & Suspension 4.2 Nearly robbed 4.3 vs. Galvan 4.4 vs. Cotto 4.5 Scrap in a nightclub 4.6 vs. Vazquez 4.7 vs. Davis 4.8 Future 5 Professional Championships 6 Professional Championships 7 Olympic Highlights 8 Religious heritage 9 Literature 10 See also 11 References 12 External links

Style

Judah's boxing style is that of a slickster — he is known for his speed of hand and foot, as well as his power, especially with his left hand (Zab fights from a southpaw stance). He punches in combinations. Judah is typically very relaxed in the ring, and consequently his punches flow more easily than those of most fighters. Judah has a tendency to lose concentration and showboat during contests, however, and sometimes can lose his composure when he is losing a fight.

Rise

Judah was the 1994 New York Golden Gloves champion, 139 pounds-novice, and the 1995 New York Golden Gloves champion, 139 pounds-open. He was also 1995 National PAL gold medalist at 139 pounds. He had a brilliant amateur career, in which he won 110 of 115 contests. His trainer was his father Yoel Judah, an ex kick-boxing world champion, who is not known for training any other marquee fighters other than his son and, recently, Ricardo Mayorga. Judah made his pro debut as an 18 year old on 9-20-96 in Miami, and TKO'd Michael Johnson in the second round. Judah's early promise manifested itself with 21 straight wins before the IBF put him forward as a contender for its world light-welterweight championship (140 lbs). He won, knocking out veteran Jan Bergman in four rounds. Judah then notched up some impressive defences, against England's Junior Witter and fellow American Terron Millet, who many believed was the rightful IBF champion (the IBF had stripped Millet, after Millet was deemed to be out of action for too long, with injury). Zab removed any doubt as to who laid claim to the title, by destroying Millet in four rounds, though Zab did have to pick himself up off the canvas in round 1.

vs. Tszyu

In November 2001, Judah put his IBF junior welterweight title on the line against WBC and WBA champion Kostya Tszyu. There was much clamour in the boxing world to see the contest; many wondered whether Judah's speed and silky skills would negate the hardened Russian-Australian's power and strength. Judah was considered to have won the first round of the fight convincingly but appeared hesitant to engage his opponent in the second round. With only seconds remaining in the second round, Tszyu connected a right-handed blow to Judah's chin, which forced him to retreat. Tszyu then struck again, with a straight right, knocking Judah down flat on his back with his head slamming hard against the canvas. Attempting to beat the referee's count, Judah rose from the knockdown almost immediately, and a bit prematurely: almost as soon as he rose to his feet, his legs wobbled beneath him (also known as the Zab Chicken Dance), and he stumbled awkwardly across the ring, falling once more.[1] Referee Jay Nady waved the fight off.

Controversy & suspension

Judah's actions protesting the stoppage led to him being suspended and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. As both camps flooded the ring following the stoppage, Judah protested Nady's decision. At one point, Judah pushed his gloved-fist into the throat of Nady, and then returned to his corner, picked up the ring stool and threw it across the ring at Nady. As a consequence of his outburst at Nady, Judah was suspended from boxing and fined.

Judah's return to boxing

After his suspension concluded in 2003, Judah challenged fellow southpaw Demarcus Corley for the WBO Jr. Welterweight Title and won a close split decision. In April 2004, he challenged reigning undisputed Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks, but lost a narrow decision. The fight was very close and both men were knocked down, but Judah accepted the loss. In the rematch, in Spinks's hometown of St. Louis, Judah connected with several of his big left hooks, TKOing Spinks in the ninth round to become undisputed welterweight champion. He showed grace in victory, saying he did not want to hurt Spinks, as Spinks was clearly defenseless, but allowed to continue by the referee for a few seconds longer to try and recover as it was Spinks' hometown. Judah's first title defense was a third round blowout of Cosme Rivera on the Felix Trinidad-Winky Wright undercard. Judah knocked Rivera down several times before the fight was stopped.

vs. Mayweather; Fine & Suspension

Judah was scheduled to defend his undisputed welterweight championship against Floyd Mayweather Jr. on April 8, 2006. However, that fight was put into jeopardy after Judah lost the WBC welterweight title by unanimous decision to mandatory challenger Carlos Baldomir on January 7, 2006. The IBF, however, continued to recognize Judah as champion even after the loss, since Baldomir did not pay a sanctioning fee to that organization. In a risky move, promoters Don King and Bob Arum agreed to move forward with the April pay-per-view for Mayweather-Judah.

The hype for the event revolved around a friendship between both fighters that went sour when Judah became jealous of Mayweather's quick rise in the sport. In a surprise to many, the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, sold thousands of tickets within a few days and the anticipation for the bout remained strong.

Despite what many experts had predicted, the fight turned out to be competitive, and packed action from the fighters and their camps when a riot broke out at the end of the tenth round.

The fight started off well for Zab Judah (34-4, 25 KOs), who used his southpaw style, speed, and reflexes to get off first with his punches and won three of the first four rounds. As the fight went on, Floyd Mayweather (38-0, 24 KOs) figured Judah out and dominated the remainder of the fight with accurate punches to the body and head of Judah. Mayweather’s accurate punches caused Judah's mouth and nose to bleed profusely for most of the fight.

As Mayweather began busting Judah up with hard punches in the 10th round, Judah landed a vicious low blow that caused Mayweather to crumble in pain, followed by a punch to the back of Mayweather's head. As Mayweather went down from the low blow, his uncle/trainer Roger Mayweather charged the ring to go after Judah which prompted Yoel Judah to charge the ring and a riot broke out in the ring between the camps of both fighters. Mayweather stood in a corner, while Judah engaged in the riot. As the punches flew from the camps, police and security charged the ring to break up the melee. Roger Mayweather was thrown out of Floyd's corner for charging the ring.

Once order was restored, the fight was restarted with 5 seconds left in the tenth round. Mayweather stuck to his game plan by winning the remaining rounds to win the IBF welterweight title by way of unanimous decision. The final scores were 116-112, 117-111, and 119-109, all for Mayweather. On May 9, 2006, Zab and his father and trainer, Yoel Judah, were fined and had their licenses revoked by the Nevada Athletic Commission for their roles in an April 8 melee that erupted during Zab's fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Zab was fined $250,000 which was his entire cut of the $1 million paid by Top Rank to promoter Don King to deliver Judah for the fight. Yoel Judah was fined $100,000 and also had his license revoked for a year. He and Zab were allowed to reapply for licenses April 8, 2007.

Nearly robbed

New York Police linked popular rapper Fabolous to a crew of robbbers who targeted Judah twice. According to police reports, the Street Fam Crew is made up of 20 members, all former drug dealers from Fabolous' Brooklyn neighborhood. In 2006, three men tried to rob Judah as he stood next to his yellow Lamborghini on West 27th Street at 10th Avenue in New York City. The three rolled up in a minivan at about 5 AM, and hopped out. One pulled a black handgun on Judah, and told him to put his jewelry on the hood of his car. Judah ran instead. The muggers followed in their van, but crashed into a tree a block away. All three scattered, but one was captured by a Homeland Security agent on his way to work, and another was grabbed by a nearby cab driver. "A bunch of idiots that didn't have no control over what they were doing; they messed with the wrong guy," said Judah.[2]

vs. Galvan

On April 13, 2007, Zab (34-4-0, 25 KOs), made his long-anticipated return by facing Ruben Galvan in Mississippi on ESPN2. It ended in under a minute. There was no feeling-out process with Judah, only full-on attack. Judah stalked Galvan around the ring and at first opportunity, he savagely attacked Galvan with blistering combination which would become the end of the fight.[3] Seconds later, Galvan was bleeding from a gash in his forehead and the fight was called to a halt. The doctor observed the fight and called it off, thus the fight was declared a no contest. Somewhere amidst slashing hooks and a crushing right uppercut, Galvan sustained a cut which he felt was substantial and the result of a foul. Despite fight video suggesting it was indeed a punch that caused the cut, the fight was ruled a “no contest.”[4]

vs. Cotto

On June 9, 2007, Judah took on undefeated WBA Welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (30-0, 25 KOs) in New York City before a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden for the WBA Welterweight Title. Judah was effective early, as he hurt Cotto with a left uppercut approximately 1:20 into the fight. He snapped back Cotto's head with two more straight lefts thereafter, but Cotto stopped his momentum with an accidental low blow about 25 seconds later. [5] The left to Judah's groin sent Judah face-first to the canvas, writhing in pain in a neutral corner. [6] Judah didn't even use a minute of his allotted five-minute recovery time before informing referee Arthur Mercante Jr. to start the action again. Cotto connected with another accidental low blow about 1:10 into the third round, though, a right that appeared to hurt Judah even more than the initial low left. He took about 1:15 to recover from that foul, which cost Cotto a point. He also suffered a cut to his right eye early in the contest, and seemed to get pummled from then on. Cotto knocked Judah down in the 11th round. [7] Judah got up, but was met by a barrage of punches by Cotto which prompted the referee to stop the fight, giving Cotto the victory by TKO.[8] Judah argued that the illegal blows played a role in his defeat. "He hit me hard twice and the referee didn't do anything about it," he said. "I thought they were intentional. Those low blows took a lot out of me. I want a rematch."[9]

Scrap in a nightclub

Judah got into a scrap at Stereo nightclub in New York in August 2007, swinging at the Chelsea hot spot after he was hit first by someone who approached him.[10]

vs. Vazquez

Judah fought Edwin Vazquez (22-10-2, 8 KOs) at the Hard Rock resort in Biloxi, Mississippi, on September 7, 2007. Despite suffering a cut over his left eye, Judah easily defeated the overmatched Vazquez by a ten-round unanimous decision. Judah rocked Vazquez several times over the course of the contest. Judah injured his left hand midway through the fight, however, and was unable to finish off Vasquez.[11]

vs. Davis

On November 17, 2007, Judah, weighing in at 150 pounds, beat Ryan "Dangerous" Davis (20-7-2) via 12-round unanimous decision for the vacant IBC Jr. Middleweight title in the Turks and Caicos Islands.[12][13]

Future

It was originally reported that Judah's next opponent would be Puerto Rican fighter Carlos Quintana (24-1, 19 KOs), on the undercard of Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor II in Las Vegas on February 16, 2008. But the fight was dropped. and rumors of Judah possibly fighting Oscar De La Hoya began to emerge. However, in December, it was reported that Judah would face former welterweight champ Antonio Margarito (35-5, 25 KOs) in a battle of former champions with nearly identical records in March. The fight was previously pitched by Top Rank to Showtime, who turned it down.[14]

Professional Championships

Professional Championships

before=DeMarcus Corleytitle=WBOLight Welterweight Champion| after=Miguel Cotto| years=12 Jul2004– 13 Dec2003 }}

Preceded by Terron Millett (stripped)	IBF Light Welterweight Champion 12 Feb 2000– 3 Nov 2001	Succeeded by Kostya Tszyu
Preceded by Cory Spinks	WBC Welterweight Champion 5 Feb 2005– 7 Jan 2006	Succeeded by Carlos Manuel Baldomir
	WBA Welterweight Champion 5 Feb 2005– 7 Jan 2006 Title vacated after loss to Baldomir	Succeeded by Luis Collazo
	IBF Welterweight Champion 5 Feb 2005–8 Apr 2006	Succeeded by Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Olympic Highlights

• Attempted to qualify as a Light Welterweight for 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Results were:
  • Defeated Hector Camacho, Jr. points
  • Defeated Ishe Smith
  • Lost to David Díaz (points)
  • Defeated Larry Nicholson (points)
  • Lost to David Díaz (points) at Box-Offs

Religious heritage

There is some confusion about Judah's religion. Judah has been referred to in the press as "the best Jewish fighter of all time." [15] Judah's father is an avowed Israelite, or Black Jew[16], and Judah's family has declared themselves Jewish.[17] If Judah is considered Jewish, then Judah was one of four top Jewish boxers in December 2007, the others being Dmitry Salita, the undefeated junior welterweight (27-0-1), Roman Greenberg, the undefeated heavyweight (27-0-0), and Yuri Foreman (24-0-0), the undefeated middleweight. At the same time, in 2006 Judah thanked his lord and savior Jesus Christ after his fight against Mayweather. Such a statement would suggest that at that point in time, at least, he would not be recognized as being Jewish by the mainstream Jewish community, even by the most liberal standards. ^[1] [18] [19]

Literature

In literature, a character in "Shanda: the making and breaking of a self-loathing Jew," by Neal Karlen, says: "Zab Judah is the only Yid champ left!""Chapter 1: Uncle Tom Jew"

See also

• List of male boxers
• List of WBC world champions
• Notable boxing families
• Reigning boxing champions

References

External links

• Zab Judah Fight-by-Fight Career Record
• Professional boxing record for Zab Judah from Boxrec
• Boxing Gurus bio
• Showtime bio
• "No Contest: Zab Judah Too Super For His Own Good," 4/14/07
• Video of Zab Judah's fight against Mayweather