Former 140 and 147-pound champ Zab Judah is not yet ready to call it a career. Though the Brooklyn southpaw is now pushing 40 (he will hit the big 4 0 this October) and has not fought since being decisioned by Paulie Malignaggi in “The Battle of Brooklyn” in December of 2013, Judah will fight on.
Set to face Jorge Luis Munguia of Honduras on January 21 in Trenton, New Jersey, Zab feels he can make another run at a world title. Munguia, 13-7(5) is just 28, he has been stopped just twice and he has nothing to lose in this fight. There are no instantly recognisable names on Munguia’s record and not too much is know about him. Of course, nobody, including Judah himself, knows how much Zab has left in the tank.
Judah, who turned pro way, way back in the late summer of 1996, has enjoyed some fine career and one has to wonder why he wishes to carry on. Already a four-time world champ, Judah says he can become a five-time ruler. But can he, really?
Aside from his out of the ring problems, ones he has put behind him, Judah has had some hard fights. It was way back in late 2001 when Zab was knocked silly by the long-retired Kostya Tszyu, and it was well over ten years ago when Zab fought the also long since retired Floyd Mayweather Junior. This is one way to look at his latest comeback.
Judah, unless he’s lost far more than even he knows, will beat Munguia, probably by decision, and he will almost certainly fight on. Judah was once a great fighter, a p-4-p entrant and very possibly a future Hall of Famer, but the veteran has won just one fight since 2011 – to be fair, a good win over a then unbeaten Vernon Paris in March of 2012 – and his reflexes cannot be close to what they once were.
The odds are against Zab fulfilling his dream of ruling the world once again. The January 21 fight will be fought at 140-pounds, over a scheduled ten rounds.