Zab Judah's career is a ready-made script for both the popcorn painting Cinderella from Brooklyn and the moral essay Where Arrogance Leads. A key role in the fate of Zab was played by his father. Joel Judah is a three-time world kickboxing champion, “the best fighter in the family,” according to Zab himself. Thanks to the efforts of Joel, all seven of his offspring tried their luck in the ring.
Nature, in spite of the steady expression, did not cheat on the son of a champion. A left-hander with two machine guns instead of arms, a puncher punch, angelically light on his feet and possessing a supernatural ability to create in the ring without restricting himself with classic combinations and stances - this is Zab Judah.
Impressive arithmetic obeyed Zabu in the amateur ring: 110 wins in 115 matches. The path in the professionals at first also promised a brilliant future. Two series of 14 victories, winning the US welterweight title, then IBF welterweight belt, several successful defenses. And finally, Judah approached the unification battle.
Zab had no opponent of the caliber of the then holder of the WBA and WBC belts of Russian Konstantin Tszyu. In the first round, Judah twice carried out attacks that could knock out any of his former rivals, but Kostya remained on his feet and went on the counterattack. Having missed the cross to the right four seconds before the gong, Zab jumped up, not having time to turn on his head, and laid bare one of his main drawbacks - the lack of composure in stressful situations.
Judah’s performance, following the premature rise, Dance of the Little Swans, provoked referee Jay Neidi to stop the fight.
Discouraged, Zab threw a tantrum right in the ring, practiced throwing chairs, pushed Neidi, received six months of disqualification and ... returned to win again.
Judah took away the IBF, WBA and WBC belts from Cory Spinks. The shadow of Floyd Mayweather Jr. loomed before him, foreshadowing the fans a grandiose confrontation between two self-confident improvisers.
However, the passing battle with a completely non-stellar Argentinean Carlos Baldomir turned into a sensation. The first half was left to Judah, but the second working Latin American reworked Zaba, mainly due to a counter right. The judges unanimously preferred Baldomir, inflicting another brutal blow to Judah’s self-esteem.
The match with Mayweather still took place. The expected fountain of sparks from the collision of such bright comets did not happen. Champion character and mental stability inherent in the handsome, for Zab has never been found. And on one "physics" Judah did not leave.
May adapted to Zab's actions before the middle of the fight and began to bombard him with blows for every taste. Judah answered in a boorish way, bending Floyd with a blow to the causal spot and adding to the back of his head.
Zabu did not help win this, Mayweather, who did not flinch, became less likely to get closer and calmly brought the match to victory with a slight margin. Judah got another disqualification (for participating in a fight that arose after his hit below the waist) and returned to loud statements about the upcoming comeback.
Here Zaba’s ambiguous past smoothly flows into his obscure present. A disgusting walking lifestyle (of which there is a scandal with an abundance of swearing live on a radio broadcast or a fight with the famous rapper Basta Rimes), as well as the loud slap in the ring did not appease Jude of one thing - the level of ambition. The challenge he threw to Miguel Cotto sounded as impudent as previous statements about Tszyu's holey defense, predictions of Baldomir's knockout or voiced intentions to be on a par with Mohammed Ali through victories over Mayweather, Mosley and De La Hoya.
Miguel Cotto, with all its unconditional advantages, has no epic victories. Statistically, his career is licked to a brilliance, but in fact it contains an inconclusive victory over the swift Pauli Malignaggi and the beating that Puerto Rican inflicted on Ricardo Torres in the second round of their fight. Cotto is on the verge of the pantheon of fame and in order to cross it, he needs to defeat iconic boxers. Such as Judah, in front of whom the same door slammed self-confidence.
The first rounds against Zab could be a nightmare for Cotto. If Miguel does not yield to the American in terms of the force of the blow, then it is difficult to compete with Judah in speed. Obviously, Cotto's favorite weapon, strikes on the hull, will slow Zab in the second half of the battle. But given the far from ideal protection of Miguel and the rival’s high-speed handicap, Cotto may simply not hold out until the second half in an upright position.
A victory over Cotto, if it happens, is unlikely to remove all questions about the status of Judah in the boxing world. Defeat will not add color to the faded halo of a superhero with a rag cloak. In addition to the reputation, Zaba has nothing to lose. But for Cotto, the stakes are high as never before.
Akbar Murataliev