07.04.06 – By Travis Marks: So they say that they are “Sworn Enemies.” IBF welterweight champion Zabdiel “Super” Judah and pound for pound king, “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather would like you to believe that their disdain for each other rivals that of the Palestinians vs. the Jews, the Capulet’s vs. the Montague’s or even the New York Yankees vs. the Boston Red Sox. This is just not the case. Zab and Floyd are friends, homeboys if you will, but this is about money and they have to get down to business.
On January 7th of this year when Zab lost his WBC welterweight championship to the unheralded and lightly regarded Carlos Baldomir, Mayweather called Judah offering words of encouragement. That was an odd occurrence since Zab and Floyd hadn’t spoken for along time before that night and had been bashing each other in the media. Floyd told Zab that a true champion perseveres even after defeat. Sworn enemies don’t act in that manner.
So how exactly did these two men become enemies? Well, throughout this promotion we’ve been hearing about the infamous sparring session in which Floyd and Zab actually got in to the ring with each other. There are so many different versions of this story that no one can really ascertain what really happened. One thing we do know is that at that moment things changed between these two ultra competitive talented pugilists..
This session was truly unique because this was just the last in a series of sessions that the two have participated in. And after each of those previous travails they maintained their friendship. Floyd and Zab have sparred with each other a combined total of six times with each man having their moments albeit most of their combat occurred were when they were much younger men
Judah’s version of the sparring session is that he was just coming off of a fight and Floyd was sharpening up for the fight with former WBO junior welterweight champion Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley in which Floyd was serious hurt for the first time in his career but still won in dominating fashion. Zab in a roundabout way conceded that Floyd got the best of him but he felt that he learned some things about Floyd that would be to his benefit. Zab contends that he was almost amazed at how much stronger he was than boxing’s version of Picasso. He claims to have easily moved Floyd back and was just physically superior. Zab also is in the belief that Floyd’s patented shoulder roll will leave him vulnerable to an attacking southpaw.
Floyd recounts the sparring session a bit differently. He claims that in the first round he took it easy on Zab. It was not a scheduled sparring match and he wasn’t trying to prove a point. After the first round, Floyd was surprised to find that Zab became a little confident and started smack talking. The competitive juices started flowing and basically Floyd tells anyone who is willing to listen that he dogged Zab until Zab’s father/trainer Yoel Judah told his son to get out of the ring. Zab didn’t want to leave but it was no longer his choice.
Slowly the friendship began to deteriorate publicly. Insults were thrown back and forth. Zab “revoked” Floyd’s New York pass. If ever Floyd supposedly came to New York and Zab found out there would be a beat down that Mayweather would be a victim of. So the gauntlet was drawn and talk of a possible fight began circulating.
Judah has been licking his chops after seeing Floyd encounter a few almost perilous moments against the two southpaws he’s fought recently. After all “Chop Chop” was able to badly buzz “Pretty Boy” and Sharmba Mitchell was able to stun him as well. “If I hurt Floyd like “Chop Chop” did, I’m finishing him. He won’t get away with that against me. Everybody knows I can finish,” said Judah. Judah almost laughs when he thinks about the fight. He says that Floyd will suffer the same fate that the great Roy Jones Jr. did when he was starched by a hard punching southpaw (Antonio Tarver) on May 15, 2004. Zab intimated that he will pressure Mayweather all night long. He believes that is the only way to be victorious. “If you allow Floyd to think and pick his shots you’re going to get destroyed,” said Judah.
Mayweather takes on a defiant tone when discussing his rocky moments against Corley and Mitchell. “Guys like Morales are in a life and death fight every time he gets in the ring. They see me get buzz one time and they make it out to be bigger than it is. I got hurt because I’m only human,” said Mayweather. “What people always forget to mention is that I gave “Chop Chop” a bad beating and I stopped Sharmba.”
Floyd is right. He was able to overcome being hurt and he won those fights going away and in dominant fashion. But Zab does possess more power than “Chop Chop” and he is more of a physical equal to Floyd than anyone he has ever faced in his career. Floyd won’t have the physical advantages that he is normally enjoys in his fights. In many ways Zab’s skills are the perfect foil for Floyd’s attack.
However, the fact that Zab has issues remaining focus throughout fights does not bode well for him. With all due respect to the reigning WBC welterweight champion, Zab lost to Carlos Baldomir because of this lack of focus. He looked passed his opponent because he was thinking about matching up against Floyd. He figured that he would dismantle Baldomir the same way he had done to Jaime Rangel, Wayne Martell and Cosme Rivera. But Baldomir withstood Zab’s assaults and embarrassed Judah in front of his hometown and the boxing public.
Give Zab credit for one thing. He hasn’t lost confident after his setbacks in boxing, and they have been many. Zab can be likened to a brilliant student that does not study. At times he will do great, at times he will be mediocre but there will be times that failure will occur. The built in excuse of not preparing oneself will hold him over and convince his supporters.
Well Zab has the biggest test of his career. He has studied for this one. This is a truly a career defining fight for Judah. The real Zab Judah will stand up and for better or worse we will know what he is truly made of. Is he an over hyped hot head? Is he an immature phenom? Or a truly great fighter who has made some disastrous mistakes and has learned from them? There are a lot of questions and for Zab’s sake he better be prepared to answer them because he’s in against a genius and he can be ruined for good.
This fight will likely play out the way the fight with Mayweather and Corley did. It will be an action packed fight where Floyd might get hurt but he will eventually begin to wear down his opponent. Zab will win fans because of how much heart he shows. Floyd will close the show and stop Judah before the final bell sounds. A rematch will be discussed but will never materialize. These two sworn enemies will embrace and they will talk about how much they respect each other and how it was all about business. We are in for a treat.
Contact Writer at travioso76@yahoo.com