Zab Judah
Zabdiel Judah is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2019. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the undisputed championship at welterweight in 2005, and the lineal championship from 2005 to 2006. He also held the International Boxing Federation and World Boxing Organization junior welterweight titles between 2000 and 2004, and the IBF title again in 2011. Judah's career ended in 2019 when he was hospitalized after suffering a brain bleed in a stoppage loss to Cletus Seldin.
Amateur career
Judah began boxing at the age of six and compiled an amateur record of 110–5. He was a two-time US national champion and three-time New York Golden Gloves Champion. He also won the 1996 PAL National Championship. Judah beat Ishe Smith and Hector Camacho Jr., but lost to David Díaz in the finals of the Olympic trials, thus failing to qualify for the Olympic boxing team.Professional career
Light welterweight
Early years
Judah made his professional debut as an 18-year-old on September 20, 1996, in Miami, Florida and defeated Michael Johnson by technical knockout in the second round. On April 14, 1998, Judah defeated Angel Beltre in the second round. Judah accidentally butted heads with Esteban Flores in a fight in March 1999. Flores was cut on his forehead, and the match was halted in the third round. The bout was originally recorded as a technical draw, but the result was changed to a no contest in May 1999.Judah then defeated Micky Ward by unanimous decision for the USBA Light Welterweight title. He successfully defended the USBA title by stopping Darryl Tyson in the eleventh round on October 15, 1998.
IBF champion
Judah defeated Wilfredo Negron in January 1999 with a fourth-round knockout to win the Interim IBF Light Welterweight title.On February 12, 2000, he defeated Jan Piet Bergman to win the vacant IBF Light Welterweight title. Bergman went down twice in the first round, but recovered in the second round, knocking Judah down. Judah knocked out Bergman in the fourth round to win the title. On June 20, 2000, Judah made his first title defense against Junior Witter in Glasgow, Scotland. It was an awkward fight for Judah, as Witter rarely engaged in an extended exchange of punches. Witter frequently switched between fighting right-handed and left-handed, making him an elusive opponent. Judah's consistent body punching slowed Witter down, and in the fifth round, Judah caught Witter with a straight left hand that hurt Witter and sent his mouthpiece skittering across the ring. Judah defeated Witter by unanimous decision.
Two months later, on August 5, 2000, at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Judah defeated former IBF Light Welterweight Champion Terron Millett by fourth-round knockout. Judah was knocked down in the first round from a left hand. Judah rose quickly, and from that point on he dominated the fight. Judah hurt Millett with two combinations near the end of the first round. In round two, Judah sent Millett down with a right hand to the chin. Millett survived the round, but he was clearly hurt. In round four, Judah charged across the ring and inflicted a series of blows on Millett, knocking him down again. Millett got up, but Judah continued his assault and knocked Millett down again. Millett rose at the count of four, but his legs were unsteady and the referee decided to stop the bout.
In his third title defense, Judah stopped Hector Quiroz in the eighth round on October 20, 2000, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
On January 13, 2001, Judah defeated Reggie Green by tenth-round technical knockout at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Judah had trouble landing punches effectively against Green for the majority of the fight, but in round ten, he knocked Green down with a left hook. Green beat the count, but Judah then ran across the ring and sent Green down to the canvas with a right hand, forcing the referee to stop the fight.
On June 23, 2001, Judah defeated Allan Vester by third-round knockout in his fifth successful defense of the IBF title. In round two, Judah put Vester down to the canvas twice. In the third round, Judah knocked out Vester with a left hand that connected on Vester's temple. Vester went down on his knees and nearly lost his mouthpiece. The referee stopped the fight right before the closing bell. The fight would set up a unification match between Judah and WBC and WBA Light Welterweight Champion Kostya Tszyu, who defeated Oktay Urkal on the undercard.
Judah vs. Tszyu
The much anticipated matchup between Judah and Tsyzu took place on November 3, 2001, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada for the Undisputed Light Welterweight Championship. Judah entered the fight as a 3-to-1 favorite to win.With 10 seconds left to go in round two, Tszyu landed a right hand clean on Judah's chin and he backed away from Tszyu with his hands down. Tszyu went after Judah, throwing another right hand that landed on his chin and sent Judah crashing to the canvas. Judah jumped up instinctively and tried to signal that he was fine to referee Jay Nady, but was still very much dazed by the punch – evidenced by him wobbling severely on extremely unstable legs before falling to the canvas a second time. When Judah collapsed, Nady waved the fight over, resulting in a technical knockout victory for Tsyzu and Judah's first professional loss.
While Tszyu celebrated in his corner, Judah was in disbelief of what just happened and became infuriated. Judah picked up his stool and hurled it towards center ring. While being restrained by his father and trainer, Yoel Judah, he broke loose and walked up to Nady and stuck his gloved fist into his neck and had to be pulled off by cornermen. A few minutes later, Jimmy Lennon Jr. announced the official decision and Judah screamed out and again had to be restrained by a growing number of security guards and cornermen. Judah was fined $100,000 and suspended for one year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Judah vs. Corley
After defeating Omar Weis by unanimous decision in July 2002, Judah challenged DeMarcus Corley for the WBO Light Welterweight title on July 12, 2003, at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Judah knocked Corley down with a left hand in the third round en route to defeating Corley by split decision. Judah broke his left hand during the fight. In his only defense of the WBO title, Judah knocked out Jaime Rangel in the first round on December 13, 2003.Welterweight
Judah vs. Spinks
On April 10, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Judah fought Cory Spinks for the Undisputed Welterweight Championship. Judah had trouble at the start figuring out how to fight Spinks, the taller fighter. He could not move forward to get inside, but was having success moving laterally. Spinks scored a knockdown in the eleventh round, but Judah came back and put Spinks down to the canvas in the final round. In the end, Spinks defeated Judah by unanimous decision with scores of 114–112 twice and 116–112.Judah vs. Pineda
For the rest of 2004, Judah defeated the very tough veteran former champion Rafael Pineda by split decision and Wayne Martell by first-round technical knockout dropping him 5 times in the fight.Judah vs. Spinks II
On February 5, 2005, Judah would get a rematch with Spinks at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Spinks' hometown. The fight was the first major bout in St. Louis in more than 40 years, and it was a sellout. Judah was the aggressor throughout the fight. He knocked Spinks down to his knees at the bell in the seventh round, but it was not ruled a knockdown. Spinks had a strong start to the ninth round and connected with a left hand, then followed with a right hand and a combination, but Judah scored a knockdown moments later. Judah pressed the attack after the first knockdown and avoided Spinks' desperate efforts to tie him up. After Spinks was knocked down for the second time, the referee stopped the fight, and Judah became the new Undisputed Welterweight Champion.Undisputed welterweight champion
Judah vs. Rivera
In his first fight as undisputed welterweight champion, he fought Cosme Rivera on May 14, 2005, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Judah sent Rivera down with a straight left hand to the face less than 30 seconds into the bout. Rivera beat the count, but was knocked down again about 10 seconds later. Judah hit Rivera hard several times in the second round, and in the third round, he connected with a left uppercut, that caused Rivera to stagger backwards and fall into the ropes before hitting the canvas. Rivera rose at the count of five, but he was badly hurt and the referee stopped the fight.Judah vs. Baldomir
His next fight took place on January 7, 2006, at Madison Square Garden in New York City against Carlos Baldomir. For Judah, the fight was viewed as a tuneup bout that would lead to a lucrative bout between Judah and WBC Light Welterweight Champion Floyd Mayweather Jr., which was tentatively scheduled for April. Judah entered the fight as a 10-to-1 favorite over Baldomir. The stage was set when Judah unsportingly punched Baldomir on the thigh during the prefight introductions instead of touching gloves to show sportsmanship. The early rounds of the fight were close, but as the rounds passed, Judah was doing less than necessary to win, while Baldomir kept applying pressure on Judah. In round seven, Judah was hurt by a right hand and Baldomir landed a series of right hands to Judah's head along the ropes during the tenth round. Baldomir defeated Judah by unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 114–113 and 115–112 from the three judges.The Ring named Baldomir's victory over Judah the upset of the year for 2006. Judah's IBF and WBA belts were not on the line, because Baldomir did not pay sanctioning fees to the IBF and WBA. Baldomir did win the lineal, WBC and The Ring titles, while the WBA title was vacated after Judah's loss, but the IBF still recognized him as their champion.