By Michael Collins: With any luck, former IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah (41-7, 28 KO’s) could be getting another world title shot if he can get by #4 WBC ranked Vernon Paris (26-0, 15 KO’s) in a International Boxing Federation light welterweight title eliminator on March 24th at the Aviator Complex in Brooklyn, New York.
Judah, 34, may not live in Brooklyn anymore, but that’s where he was raised and he has a large fan base there. This could be tough for Paris to win a decision if the fight goes to the scorecards. I suspect it may not, because Paris is a pressure fighter and he may be able to wear down the aging Judah to get a stoppage in the second half of the fight.
Judah lost his IBF title in his last fight to Amir Khan by a 5th round TKO last July. The KO was kind of a bogus one, though, with Khan forcing Judah’s head down with his left arm and then while holding him down, Khan hit Judah with a shot on the belt line to get the stoppage. It wasn’t the marginally low blow that you had to question, it was holding Judah’s head down with his left arm and hitting him with his free hand. That’s called holding and hitting and the referee completely blew it by not seeing that.
The outcome wouldn’t any different had the fight been allowed to continue though because Judah seemed afraid to do what he had to do in order to win, and that was pressure Khan, and eat some punches in order to get a stoppage. And that’s where the worry is for Judah in the Paris fight. For him to beat Paris, Judah will have to absorb a lot of hard body shots. Paris isn’t nearly the same puncher as some of the guys that Judah has fought and lost to in the past like Kostya Tszyu, Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Khan. Paris also isn’t as powerful a puncher as Lucas Matthysse, a fighter Judah beat in November 2010 by a questionable 12 round decision. However, Paris will stay on top of Judah and not try and box him the way that Matthysse did. That’s not how you best Judah. You’ve got to slug with him and force him to work hard.
I’d be really surprised if Judah wins this fight, because Paris is all wrong for him. The winner of the Judah-Paris fight will become the mandatory challenger for IBF champion Lamont Peterson. I think Peterson is better than Paris and I think we’ll see Paris losing his unbeaten record when and if that fight takes place.