Zab Judah
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Zab "Super" Judah, (born October 27 1977), of Brooklyn, New York, is a 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.
Style
Judah's boxing style is that of a 'slickster' - he is known for speed of hand and foot, as well as possessing power, especially with his left hand (Zab fights from a Southpaw stance). Judah is typically very relaxed in the ring, and as such his punches flow easier than most fighters. Having said that, Judah has a tendency to lose concentration and showboat during contests.
Judah vs. Tszyu
In November 2001, Zab Judah put his IBF junior welterweight title on the line against WBC and WBA champion Kostya Tszyu. 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, 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 unfortunately for him, a bit prematurely: almost as soon as he rose to his feet, his legs appeared to melt beneath him, and he stumbled awkwardly across the ring, falling once more.Controversy and suspension
Following Judah's difficulties referee Jay Nady immediately halted the bout, as Judah rose again on unsteady legs, protesting the stoppage. As both camps flooded the ring, Judah continued to protest 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. None of Judah's post-bout fury appeared to be directed at his opponent.As a consequence of his outburst at Nady, Judah was suspended from boxing. His stumbling attempt to beat Nady's count was converted into a six-second long compressed digital clip, which predictably spread like wildfire across the Internet on various boxing fan message boards. Dubbed "the Zab Dance", it has tarnished Judah's reputation ever since.
Judah's return to boxing
Since then, Zab Judah has returned to the ring and quietly worked his way back into the good graces of boxing's alliance of promoters, television networks and others. In 2004 he challenged reigning undisputed Welterweight Champion Cory Spinks but lost a narrow decision on the scorecards. The fight had none of the attendant controversy of Judah's previous title fight against Tszyu.Then, 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 and that Spinks was a great fighter.
Judah's first title defense was a third round blowout of Cosme Rivera, with Judah knocking Rivera down several times before the fight was stopped.
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.
Even with the loss, however, the Mayweather and Judah camps decided that the fight would still take place.
Judah vs. Mayweather
After Zab Judah was upset by heavy underdog Carlos Baldomir in January, a future bout with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. appeared to be memory. 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 (36-0, 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 tenth 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. 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 gameplan 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 can reapply for licenses April 8 2007.
See also
External links
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