10.04.06 – By Travis Marks, photo by CJ Cansler: He dominated and outclassed, Arturo Gatti, Diego Corrales, Phillip N’Dou, Angel Manfredy, Demarcus Corley, Sharmba Mitchell and Genaro Hernandez. He used his boxing skills to out box Jose Luis Castillo (in their second bout), Carlos Hernandez, Victoriano Sosa and Goyo Vargas. He went toe to toe with both Jesus Chavez and Emmanuel Augustus and forced their respective corners to stop the bouts. But the performance put forth on Saturday night challenging IBF welterweight champion Zabdiel “Super” Judah, a natural southpaw might have been “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s best to date.
He didn’t shut out Zab Judah like he’s done to so many opponents, but he did something that most boxers don’t do when things are going wrong, he stuck to the script.
Along with his brain trust (head trainer and uncle, Roger Mayweather and strength/conditioning coach, Leonard Ellerbee), Mayweather devised a game plan on how to approach the fight in a way that would result in his hands being raised in victory..
From the very first round of the fight it was apparent that Floyd was neither faster of hands, nor held the edge in punching power. The fact that the Judah’s power was coming from his left hand did nothing to help the situation. However what was evident is that Floyd’s strategy was to pressure Zab Judah and be the aggressor. This plan seemed to be working in Zab’s favor as he continuously caught Floyd coming in with his vaunted straight left hand. Zab promised to check Floyd’s chin and he did that. In fact Zab hit Floyd with some of the cleanest shots he’s ever been hit with and Pretty Boy was able to withstand them.
Mayweather’s plan had him looking like the lesser fighter early on in the fight. He looked confused for the first time in his career. His patented shots were not landing and he just looked a little slow. Zab saw every punch coming; he timed Floyd and counterpunched well. Zab even scored an unofficial knock down of Floyd when he caught the Pretty Boy with a counter right hand to the top of the head in the second round. While Mayweather was not hurt, he was indeed hit and his glove touched the ground, that’s considered a knockdown.
Although referee Richard Steele did not score the knockdown officially, everyone saw that Floyd was in for a tough night. Mayweather returned to his corner knowing that he had lost the first two rounds. Roger Mayweather and Ellerbee implored their fighter to stick to the game plan and reassured him that things would work out to his benefit.
The focused challenger again pressed the action in the third round. He began to solve the puzzle that Zab Judah had placed before him. The right hand leads and left hooks long known as the most effective punches against southpaw began to hit their target. The round was competitive with both men having their moments but Floyd landed more punches and looked to have done more in the allotted three minutes.
When Judah hit his opponent with a well time straight left in the fourth round Floyd looked hurt. The crowd went into a frenzy and Zab sensing that the opportunity to possibly end the fight was before him attacked with reckless abandon. Floyd avoided the flurry that ensued. After weathering the storm, Mayweather returned to his plan of pressing the action.
Floyd no longer looked bewildered as he took the fight to Judah in the fifth round. Instead the fight began to look like every other Pretty Boy fight. The combinations started landing on both the head and body of Judah. The defense was so sharp that Zab punch output went down and the champion became hesitant. His counterpunching was well timed and his feints became effective as Judah reacted to them. At times Zab tried to impose his physical strength against him, but Floyd did not allow it. A shotgun straight right hand staggered Judah and was catalyst for a constant stream of blood running from of the champion’s nose.
As he became prominent in the boxing world, we always heard Floyd saying that he is the smartest boxer in the ring. Judging from his record and his level of domination we can’t really question him, however on Saturday night we saw exactly what he was talking about. He went from looking rather pedestrian in the ring to the dominant fighter that we have grown accustomed to. His ring intelligence allowed him to break a gamed Judah down. Make no mistake about it; the Zab that fought Floyd on Saturday night would have beaten every welterweight out there. It’s unfortunate that it has to take a talent the level of Mayweather to bring that out of Judah.
As talented and accomplished as Mayweather is, it’s seems as if he’s still learning in the ring. That does not bode well for his future opponents. That list includes Antonio Margarito, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosely, Oscar De La Hoya, and Winky Wright. As long as Mayweather sticks to the script it will be quite some time before someone beats him.