Zab Judah: I’m Here and I’m Ready!

Added on Oct 06, 2010 by Brian Blake in

Boxing

When it comes to life inside the squared circle for the 32 year old Zab “Super” Judah, he’s pretty much experienced it all. Despite being a champion in two different divisions, Zab Judah is, to an extent, starting over.

To say that he’s a completely different person than the kid that turned pro in 1996 might be a bit of a stretch, but it’s safe to say that he now sees things both inside the ring and out in a different light.

“Life is about growing up. As you get older, you mature. I’ve been to the highest of the highs; I’ve been to the lowest of the lows. At this point of my life, I just choose to walk a different path,” Judah recently stated in a media conference call. “I’m doing everything by the book, I’m doing everything I was asked to do in the past and didn’t do. I’m walking the right path in my life. I’ve pretty much seen it all. I want to do everything right for my son, Zab Jr., to set a good example.”

Judah surely looks to make his little boy proud on November 6 when he takes on the undefeated Lucas Matthysse in the HBO televised main event at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

Matthysse, who hails from Buenos Aires, is just the second fighter from Argentina to meet Judah in the ring. The first was former Welterweight Champion Carlos Baldomir who defeated Judah via unanimous decision in 2006. Judah made it very clear that he plans to even the score when it comes to Argentinian pugilists.

“I want this to be known, I did lose to Carlos Baldomir and he was an Argentinian fighter. You must know that I have something to get back! So to the Argentina people I say, ‘I’m gonna get mine’, Judah added.

The similarities between Matthysse and Baldomir do not extend past the homeland they share. When it comes to their fighting styles they come from opposite ends of the spectrum. Baldomir rode his high work rate to victory against Judah while Matthysse heavily relies on the explosive power he possesses that has resulted in 25 of his 27 wins coming by way of knockout.

Despite Matthysse’s impressive knockout ratio, Judah heads into this bout confident that he’ll be able to withstand everything the younger fighter has to offer.

“Lucas Matthysse is a great fighter, I’ve watched him. He has great hand speed. He has good combinations, he’s very aggressive, but we are very well prepared for Lucas. This is going to be a great fight.” Judah went on to explain, “Lucas Matthysse is a young, up and coming fighter. He’s knocked out a lot of fighters early, but when you start comparing those guys that he’s knocked out to a Zab Judah, it’s a different comparison.”

Judah makes a very valid point in the fact that Matthysse has yet to defeat someone of his caliber. It has been almost three and a half years since the last time someone has ended the night early against Zab which came against Miguel Cotto in a welterweight bout. This fight against Matthysse will be Judah’s second in his return to the junior welterweight division after spending the past five years as a full fledged welterweight.

His third round TKO victory over Jose Armando Santa Cruz seemed to be an indicator that the drop back down in weight was the shot in the arm that Judah’s career had been in need of.

“I didn’t get beat out of this division; I bowed out of this division. I vacated my 140lb title and left it to go to Welterweight to fight for something else. I left this weight class a champion and I’ll come back to get the championship. Everyone knows that it’s just a matter of time before I’m looking at one of the titles or all of the titles. Sometimes I do get selfish and I want all of the titles, I’m back to one of my selfish moments.”

It remains to be seen whether the once dominant junior welterweight can reclaim the championship form he once held in this division.

The simple fact is that if he is going to reign over the division, he first must make sure he’s ready to reign over Mattysse.