Zab Judah Memphis Media Lunch Quotes

21.05.07 – The fans go with the winner. When Trinidad fought Hopkins, at the beginning of the fight, everyone was chanting “Tito, Tito, Tito,” but in the fifth round, everyone was chanting, “Hopkins, Hopkins, Hopkins.” In St. Louis, (vs. Cory Spinks on 2/5/2005 in Cory’s hometown), it was a bigger place than The Garden and 23,000 people were against me, but by the end of the night, those same 23,000 people were with me.

“When you fight at home, there are a lot of distractions. The wife is asking me to run to the mailbox, pick the kids up at school. Friends call me to ask for tickets or they just want to hang out. My experience last time I fought at The Garden was there was a lot of running around, doing interviews, friends calling to hang out. You live and learn.

“I lost in the little Garden (Theater) but I never lost in the big Garden.

“Cotto is a one-dimensional fighter. I have a 12-round fight to face. All of the talk is that I will come in and try to knock him out early, but I’m not coming in to knock him out in the first round. I want to punish Cotto the whole fight.

“I want to prove that Zab Judah is still great. I want to prove that I can go strong after seven rounds. I know Cotto will be in the best shape of his life but it won’t be enough.

“If a riot does break out, they’ve got us outnumbered, but other than that I’m not worried about anything.

“I am having an excellent camp. Even my friend Pernell Whitaker has been here. We have been going back to old school training.

“This is a fight of redemption and I can’t wait.

“The one-year layoff was great. I let my body rest.

“I will win because speed kills. He can try to catch punches all night, but that will not work. The idea is to hit and not be hit.

“The Peterson brothers have been in my camp sparring with me. If those guys can’t hit me, there is no way Cotto will be able to hit me.

“After I whack out Cotto, I hope to talk Mayweather into another fight. If he is still retired, I will try to talk him into coming back. “

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Miguel Cotto, the undefeated World Boxing Association champion and the pride of Puerto Rico, defends his title against two-division world champion Judah in the main event of “X-Plosive!” Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Prize Fight Boxing, “X-Plosive!” will be broadcast live, Saturday, June 9, on HBO Pay-Per-View, from the main arena at Madison Square Garden. (NOTE: The Boxing Writers Association of America’s 82nd Annual Awards Dinner takes place the night before, Friday, June 8, at the Copacabana in New York.)

Remaining tickets, priced at $500, $300, $200, $100 and $50 and include a $4.50 facility charge, can be purchased at the MSG Box Office, TicketMaster outlets & TicketMaster phone (866-448-7849), and online at www.ticketmaster.com / www.thegarden.com

This marks the third consecutive year Cotto (29-0, 24 KOs), of Caguas, Puerto Rico, has headlined at the ‘Mecca of Boxing’ on the eve of New York’s annual National Puerto Rican Day Parade. Judah (34-4, 25 KOs), from Brooklyn, is no stranger to dethroning world champions. He has promised a major urban renewal of the welterweight division, beginning with the demolition of the defending champion.

The Cotto vs Judah pay-per-view telecast, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, has a suggested retail price of $44.95, will be distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and will be available to more than 61 million pay-per-view homes. HBO Pay-Per-View is the leading supplier of event programming to the pay-per-view industry. For your daily Cotto vs Judah fight week updates, log onto www.HBO.com