11.04.04 – By Frank Gonzalez Jr. Saturday night, Cory Spinks defended his IBF, WBC and WBA Welterweight Titles. His challenger, Zab Judah, the colorful character from the 140-pound division was making his debut at 147-pounds.
The hardcore boxing fan has to wonder how Spinks gets matched with Judah instead of a more deserving contender working hard to get a shot at the title. But, that’s boxing.
Judah vs. Spinks turned out to be a better fight than expected, with Spinks, hot off his win over Ricardo Mayorga and Judah, the always dangerous puncher. Both southpaws, both primarily boxers and amazingly, both seemingly respectful of each other. A rarity these days.
Judah is a big puncher with cocky self-assuredness, famous for his diamond filled mouth that’s as big as his punch. Spinks clearly made his bones dispensing with the rugged, power punching Ricardo Mayorga with masterful boxing skills.
What a great break for Judah, move up to Welterweight and be granted a title shot in his first outing.
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Zab Judah made his ring entrance accompanied by some Rap group who howled words into the microphone unartfully. Then, Cory Spinks, who also had a Rap group lead the way for him. It could have been a great advertisement for the Ear-Plug industry.
The Fight
Round One
A boxing match. Both tried to establish their jabs, their footwork, their range, etc. Spinks was a bit more accurate and scored more. Judah looked a bit slower then Spinks, who beat him to the punch throughout the round.
10-9 Spinks
Round Two
Judah started fast, taking it to Cory, who found his defense and avoided Judah’s dangerous left hand and scored well himself. Judah looks a bit confounded. Spinks use of the jab kept Judah neutralized for most of the round. Judah’s nose bleed compliments of stinging jabs from Spinks.
10-9 Spinks
Round Three
All Spinks, who peppers Judah with the jab and follows up with combinations that score. Judah’s nose runs with blood. Judah needs to make some adjustments or be dominated by Spinks.
10-9 Spinks
Round Four
They box, Judah losing most of the exchanges. Judah talks. Spinks starts talking back. Spinks confidence is flowing all over the ring and Judah looks outclassed until late in the round, when he came on strong and scored a few good shots but not enough to win the round.
10-9 Spinks
Spinks’ corner yelled at him for, “playing into Judah’s mind games by talking.” They warned him to stay focused.
Round Five
Suddenly, Spinks looked to have slowed down and lost his focus. Judah started to turn the tempo in his favor, outworking Spinks and scoring more effectively and frequently.
Judah 10-9
Round Six
Spinks goes into low gear and lets Judah dictate the action. Judah scores much better and his confidence was starting to swell. Spinks looked like a different fighter than the one who fought the first few rounds.
Judah 10-9
Round Seven
Judah still in charge. Spinks looked uninspired and lost most of the exchanges and the confidence he was showing earlier. Judah popped his jab, attacked with combinations and out hustled Spinks again. The tide had turned.
Judah 10-9
Round Eight
Spinks took an earful from his corner during the break and came into the eighth with more focus. He was taking back the momentum as he out boxed Judah and was scoring more effectively until suddenly, Judah pops him with a big left hand that rocks him. That hurt Spinks and I saw Judah steal the round on account of it.
Judah 10-9
Round Nine
They boxed in the center ring. Judah scored well and looked to be taking control. Spinks was holding his own when after an exchange, Judah gets arrogant and looks away from Spinks to someone in the crowd, in a show of no respect. At that moment, Spinks jumped all over him and scored some good shots and stole the round with aggressive power punching. That should have taught Judah some manners. Judah’s cockiness worked against him and gave Spinks a serious wake up call.
Spinks 10-9
Round Ten
Judah out worked Spinks in the beginning of the round but midway into the round, Spinks started to find his range and scored with some good shots and does the better work until the bell sounds. Judah scored well in spots but not as effectively as Spinks. Too hard to score, both did about as much damage as the other did.
Even 10-10
Round Eleven
They both throw some big shots, Judah catches Spinks with a few that look good but don’t hurt Spinks. At one point, in close quarters, Judah lands a big left on Spinks jaw, Spinks counters with a straight left of his own that puts Judah on the canvas. Judah got up quickly and showed true warrior spirit as he tried to land some big shots and even up the score. He caught Spinks a few times but during those exchanges, Spinks landed a few nice punches himself.
Spinks 10-8
During the break, Spinks corner told him, “Box. Don’t do anything stupid, just box.”
Round Twelve
Spinks boxes like it were the first round. He scores here and there and repels some of Judah’s firepower. All is going well for Spinks, who was winning the final round until an exchange near the ropes late in the round changed things. Caught in a momentary brawl, Judah cracked Spinks with a big, wound-up left hook to the cheek that sent Spinks to the canvas…hard.
Spinks got up quickly but gingerly.
Judah went after him and scored a few more shots but Spinks stood on his feet and survived the last 20 seconds. Joe Cortez separated the fighters as the bell rang. Cory Spinks raised his arms in victory. Judah strode confidently to his corner.
Judah 10-8
As the scores were read, Spinks raised his arms confidently. Judah looked uncertain in his corner.
The Official Judges scores:
Chuck Giampa scored 114-112 for Spinks.
Dave Morretti, 114-112 for Spinks.
Doug Tucker had it a suspicious 116-111 for Spinks.
I had it 114-113 for Spinks. I could see how it could have been scored the other way since it was really a close fight overall. Both scored knockdowns and both won series of rounds, Spinks dominating the first four rounds, Judah taking the next three, then back and forth until the 12th.
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Spinks was gracious during the post fight interview, giving Judah credit for being, “Super.” He will learn a lot from this fight about what areas of his technique he needs to refine. Its mostly mental I believe. He seemed to lose his focus and confidence in some rounds. He might also want to add some new wrinkles to his offensive arsenal since he tends to be predictable at times. As he admits, he can only get better. He looks like a good champion so far. In time, he has the potential to be a great champion and possibly the most successful fighter to wear the Spinks name.
Zab Judah put on an impressive performance against the man who owns all the major titles in the division. Judah showed that while he may not have deserved a shot at (all the major) titles in his debut as a Welterweight, he was, at least, worthy of it because of the warrior proved to be. If he learns to control his ego, he might not lose a round for showing off and turning away from his opponent as he did in the 9th round against Spinks.
I’d like to see Judah take on some of the other elite fighters at 147 like Mayorga, Margarito or Vernon Forrest. Zab Judah gave Spinks a serious run for his money. Whether you like him or not, none can deny that Zab is a warrior. He will be making some noise. The way Judah looked against Spinks, I think he ranks among the top five contenders in the 147-pound division.
Spinks become a giant overnight when he won all the belts against a strong and colorful champion (Mayorga). Spinks is pretty quiet for a giant. He doesn’t have the kind of personality that invites too much press and that may be a turn out to be a good thing. Too much hype can be sickening. Against Judah, Spinks faced adversity, persevered and successfully defended his title. He has shown some of the chinks in his armor in the process. He seems to lose his focus suddenly and give away rounds. He also showed a lack of creativity during those staggering moments. But he also showed his heart is big. He can take a big shot, get knocked down, get back up and stay handle his business.
Both Judah and Spinks deserve a lot of credit for showing what true warriors are. Good arguments can be made that this fight was close enough to be called a draw. Does it deserve a rematch? I think so, but with the politics of Boxing–deserves got nothing to do with it.
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Agree or disagree?
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