by James Slater – Originally they were to meet, at welterweight, on the under-card of the July 18th Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez bill, but, as we all know, “Money” suffered a somewhat mysterious rib injury and the card was postponed and that also postponed Zab Judah Vs. Matthew Hatton – the fight that is the subject of this article. Now, according to The Manchester Evening News, the fight, rescheduled for the new date of September 19th, is in danger of falling apart for good. And according to the Hattons – Matthew and big brother Ricky – it’s Zab Judah’s fault..
According to Ricky, who has been speaking to the newspaper that circulates in his hometown, Judah and his team are now pushing for the fight to go ahead, but at light-welterweight – 140-pounds being a more comfortable and successful weight for Zab. But Matthew is and always has been a welterweight, and Ricky says his brother could never boil down to 140 and be able to fight effectively.
“They are trying to move the goalposts because they know Matthew is a welterweight,” Ricky said. “To me they are being a little amateurish. And maybe he [Zab] isn’t as confident as he sounds. Judah has been saying he wants to knock ME out when he’s not even fought Matthew! The fight was postponed last time through no fault of their own. But now they have offered the same fight and the same deal but at a different weight.”
If this is indeed the case (Zab and his team may claim otherwise, who knows) Matthew Hatton can not be at all blamed for the fight not going ahead. Why should a fighter drain himself to come in at a weight he has never boxed at before? In any case, Ricky says his brother, who has other attractive options, will not wait around forever to see if Judah will budge and agree to box at 147 as previously agreed.
“We are not going to wait around forever. There are plenty of other options for Matthew,” he continued. “There’s [still] a possible IBO fight with Lovemore N’Dou or a WBA welterweight chance. We have accepted the fight with Judah and Matthew is willing to go to Vegas a second time. But not at light-welterweight.”
Speaking of other options, Zab, too, could look elsewhere for a replacement. Interestingly, BoxRec have the Brooklyn man listed as facing Mexico’s 33-year-old Antonio Diaz on September 19th. Diaz, a former WBC and WBO welterweight title challenger, has fought as high as light-middleweight recently. Will he agree to face Zab at 140?