Suppose zabdiel Judah had lazer like focus, let's say going down the stretch during later in fights as rounds wore on? His mental stamina was low for whatever reason have you: too bored in there, self sabotage, concentration problems, over confident- whatever have you... He was a great little explosive southpaw with extremely gifted reflexes and speed kills. Imagine in the kostya tszyu bout: had the ref allowed him to get up ONCE MORE (not saying it was a bad stoppage though) however he shoulda been practicing in training camp as to do what you gotta do if you eat a flush shot from kostya resulting in a kd: forget pride and take the knee or else just knowingly gather his wits while being on one knee due to the flash knockdown. The way he fought Micky ward and Corey Spinks was brilliant. Some other fights where he coulda adjusted pains me to see. Like the Mayweather fight: ahead on all scorecards, again did it to himself, ticked away the chances of winning by dq-ing himself out of sheer frustration. What if he stayed composed? Would Floyd be a victory notch on his career resume? Also during the Miguel Cotto fight he was too much of a gentleman, shoulda blasted cotto s balls with some equally hard shots to even the playing field. Again it was his composure and temperament that got tested. His over all effectiveness of fighting choices left him lackluster instead of great. Can you think of other fights where he did it to himself? If so, can you list them? Where do you rank Zab judah- pound for pound at junior welterweight? And lastly how would he fare against the hawk Aaron Pryor?
Tis a play on words isn't it lol? Yeah I'll give you that one. I should have rephrased it "his aggression towards referee Jay Nady was absent minded" lol.
If Nady had let Judah fight on there is a very real possibility that Tszyu would have done him permanent and career ending damage. Tszyu was quite simply a level above Judah and was also a stone, cold killer once he had his man hurt. Jay Nady did Zab a big favour in stopping that. It saved Zab’s career.
Judah was a great talent... could have been truly great IMO. But had a very honest, decent career anyway. Fastest guy of my generation (prime Roy is a little before my time).
I agree, Zab Judah was an amazing talent and ulltimately a very good fighter with focus and stamina issues. His reflexes and speed were great and he had an incredible uppercut. To me, Zab fought it out way more than he had to. Realistically, I think he could have beaten Tzsyu if not for the mental errors and getting caught, I don't think he was in that bad of shape, he got caught doing a stupid move, he popped up too quickly doing a stupid move (in my opinion). Maybe Zab could have gone even closer with Floyd if he kept it together past the middle of the fight . Additionally, I think he was in the fight with Cotto until the low blows began to add up. His fight with Ward is awesome too. Great fighter to watch even if his career came a little short of where it could have.
I don't think his dad was a very good trainer and he might've had better results if he ditched him as a prospect. If he fought a perfect fight, he possibly could've beaten Tszyu. The problem there is that he would've gotten mauled by Hatton shortly thereafter. And his chin was bad to the point where he never would've been able to protect it. He just randomly would've been nailed by fight altering punches at different points in his career if he got a do over.
When I first saw him he reminded me of a Sweet Pea with pop and he boxed much more. I really thought he was going to be a great boxing champion but I think his focus and discipline at times let him down.
I used to hold Judah in low regard until I stumbled on a lengthy YouTube interview with him and found him a surprisingly thoughtful and likeable person. From his own account of his career though, he was not exactly a paragon of Hagler-esque focus and self discipline.
