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Amir Khan: The End of Zab Judah

By Siri Kari

After much speculation in the crowd, the fight ending body shot in the 5th round that Zab Judah, 41-7, 28 KO’s, claimed was illegal replayed in slow motion. In deliberate and excruciating fashion, the audience saw Amir Khan’s, 26-1, 18 KO’s, sledgehammer of a right pulverize the beltline at Judah’s belly button as the veteran sunk to the floor in pain.

The image of Zab Judah on his knees, face pressed to the canvas was more than a fighter in pain; it symbolized what could very well be the end of a veteran’s rocky career. At 33 years old, Zab Judah has been described as many things; a fluke, and a waste of talent. I have a much kinder term for Zab Judah: Tortured genius.

Zab Judah has fought and lost against Carlos Baldomir, Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, and Joshua Clottey in convincing fashion. It’s easy to look at a piece of paper and say that Zab Judah is a boxer that wasn’t worth fans’ time, let alone a boxer of Amir Khan’s caliber. Any fan that chose to dismiss Zab Judah from the annals of boxing history are sadly mistaken.

Against each of the aforementioned fighters, Zab Judah was possibly the most terrifying fighter they had ever faced . . . for 4 – 5 rounds. Against Baldomir and Mayweather, Judah matched his opponents stroke for stroke and I was genuinely worried that Mayweather might lose. After weathering two devastating low blows from Miguel Cotto, Judah turned the fight into a war to be remembered as he went toe to toe with the undeniably more powerful Cotto. He kept Joshua Clottey, who would go on to challenge Manny Pacquiao, at bay with his superb hand and foot speed.

And yet in the later rounds, Judah’s technique would slip and his opponents found ways to beat (and often finish) him. He was the world’s best singer who could only sing one song, the legendary lover who fell asleep after two minutes.

After his loss to Joshua Clottey however, Zab Judah seemed to be a new fighter; he seemed more disciplined, more focused. In his two fights leading up to Amir Khan, Judah beat tough fighters Lucas Matthysse and Kaizer Mabuza in 12 and 7 rounds respectively. It seemed as though whatever mental demons Zab Judah had, he was on the right path to exorcise them and capitalize on his considerable boxing talents.

Which is exactly why this loss was so devastating.

From round 1, Zab Judah was never in the fight. Amir Khan quickly dominated the much older fighter with crisp jabs and straights. Despite Zab Judah’s claims of unintentional head butts (interesting since Judah was the shorter fighter), the majority of the blood on Judah’s face was from his head reacquainting itself with Amir Khan’s gloves. There was no sign of the brilliance, brief or sustained, that was a staple of Judah’s career. He simply looked old; Zab Judah has no place in the current boxing world. His attempts to reform his fighting style and iron out the mental kinks in his game have come too little too late.
With his recent win streak, Amir Khan was Judah’s last chance at remaining relevant in a boxing world that has left him far behind. To many, the image of Zab Judah on all fours on the canvas as Amir Khan celebrated was just another loss in the veteran’s up and down career. To those who have followed Judah, however, the image is something far harsher.
It was the hardest way to say goodbye.

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