11.09.07 – By Jimmy Bryght: Former world welterweight boxing champion Zab Judah beat an out-classed opponent last Friday evening in notching a surprisingly boring decision over Edwin Vazquez as televised on ESPN2.
Whoopie. I think I’ll wet myself..
Is this the best that ESPN can do? Aren’t there any more up-and-comers that could have filled this spot? Or does Judah just like seeing himself on TV? For all the trash-talking that he does, you’d think that Judah would actually be at least partially interested in making an effort to impress someone other than himself. You can’t take a super soaker to a gun fight. I would have rather watched my own forlorn expression reflected in the microwave as my wife berated me for neglecting to take the ground turkey out of the freezer to thaw before she got home.
That would have been far more entertaining than seeing Jab “Chicken Dance” Judah and his endless entourage poor into the ring in shameless self-promotion of a fight that he could have won blindfolded on a hospital bed. Very unimpressive. Now I know how Elvis felt when he used to empty his revolver into the TV set.
The bout itself was ten rounds of industrial sized yawn. Although he was never hurt, Judah never bothered to lay the leather upon his feather-fisted, soft-chinned opponent after receiving a cut over his left eye due to an accidental head butt. You have to wonder what Zab was afraid of. Is he so terrified of losing again that he refuses to get nasty with a tomato can who couldn’t even add ice to a glass of tea? After a performance like that, he’d be lucky to be invited back to Friday Night Fights, much less HBO or ShowTime. Where’s the warrior spirit? Zab says that he injured his left hand early in the bout, but I have the distinct feeling that was just another one of his patented out-of-pocket excuses as to why he fought like a jobber.
Don’t get me wrong, Judah is capable of being great. Can he box? Oh, yeah. Can he punch? Sure, sometimes. Is he professional? That’s debatable. But, he’s always a showman. Or at least he used to be. If nothing else, Zab Judah is a loudmouth. He may not be able to beat a Top 10 fighter, but he’ll sure give you a show. He’ll give you ego, overconfidence and a wonderfully dizzy knockout dance just before the referee waves his arms and rescues Judah from a continued beating. Sorry, I just can’t get that fight against Kostya Tszyu out of my head.
Judah looked as much the club fighter as his opponent did. How is anyone going to take him seriously after this bout? Because of this lackluster performance, he’s going to have to make a serious effort in his next comeback fight. He’s going to have to fight a bigger name as well. Maybe Paul Williams or Demetrius Hopkins. At his best, Judah would give Kermit Cintron fits. There are alot of good fights out there for Zab, he just has to get on the ball because his name is only going to be good for so long. Another fight like the Vazquez debaucle and he’ll end up shining my shoes.
In other news…
Finally, the IBF impresses me…and then lets me down again. Instead of just installing a mandatory challenger for world champion Wladimir Klitschko, the much-maligned organization has announced that they will hold a four-way heavyweight tournament to decide who will face “Dr. Steelhammer” for the red belt. While I think this is a wonderful idea, the federation went about it in a very familiar way; by backstabbing other ranked contenders. As of August 27th, the rankings are as follows:
1. not rated
2. not rated
3. Calvin Brock
4. Chris Byrd
5. Nikolay Valuev
6. Vladimir Virchis
7. Hasim Rahman
8. Lamon Brewster
9. Ray Austin
10. Eddie Chambers
11. Alexander Povetkin
The tournament selectees are Brock & Byrd (both Klitschko knockout victims) and Chambers and Povetkin who are, for the most part, untested. This leaves the other fellas in between without an opportunity. If the IBF is going to have rankings in the first place, shouldn’t they stick to their own ruling by allowing the top four guys fight for the number one spot? In the tournament, Chris Byrd takes on Povetkin and “Fast Eddie” Chambers will battle Calvin Brock. While some may argue that these are the best matchups available, I can’t help but think about the long-range consequences of the IBF’s antics. None of these guys has what it takes to defeat Wladimir Klitschko anyway but, as it is, the division is hurting enough to warrant such an action. Frankly, I’m tired of the IBF.