by James Slater – It seems as though Zab Judah will not now be fighting Mexico’s Antonio Diaz on the under-card of the September 19th Mayweather-Marquez bill. There also looks to be some doubt as to whether or not “Super” Judah will box on the bill at all.
Speaking with The Desert Sun, Diaz has explained how angry he is due to the way Judah pulled out of their scheduled fight yesterday. Apparently, as you will see from the interview with Diaz, Judah backed out of the fight Wednesday, claiming that a lack of money and/or interest in the fight is the reason. Diaz believed Judah was taking the fight with him by way of a tune-up for a bigger fight (possibly with Shane Mosley, although the latest on that is Zab balked at the money he was offered there), but now he has seen his own big chance vanish. And he sure is mad!
“If it was just a tune-up fight, why didn’t he just take the fight?” Diaz asked The Desert Sun. “I think what it is is, he’s scared. He’s scared of losing. There was no way he could beat me. He even said in one interview that he knows I’m bigger and stronger, but he was going to be able to out-box me. As it looks, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t confident of that.”
As fans know, the Diaz fight is now the second bout scheduled for September 19th that Zab has put paid to. Originally, he was set to face Matthew Hatton, only to (according to the Hatton camp) demand that Hatton come in at a lower than originally agreed weight. And now the Diaz fight looks off also. Does Judah WANT to fight?
33-year-old Diaz, having won his last seven fights, was certainly up for the fight, and maybe the man who has wins to his name over such top fighters as Micky Ward, Cory Spinks and Emanuel Augustus would have proven too tough for the possibly fading 31-year-old southpaw from Brooklyn. Now it seems we will never get the chance to find out.
As for Diaz, he says he was offered another fight on September 19th – against 19-year-old orthodox prospect Saul Alvarez, but that there is not now enough time for him to properly readjust to facing a righty when he has been training for a southpaw. Apparently, Diaz says he will face the young fighter everyone is talking about in Mexico, but at a later date.
As for the big September 19th bill, Diaz says he will likely just watch it at home; a huge disappointment to him when he was at one time set to fight on the card.
“I’m very disappointed,” Diaz said. “Zab Judah has a name. Alvarez is making a name for himself but he doesn’t have that Judah name. That Judah name on your record is good for big money fights.”
We will now have to wait and see what Zab Judah does next, but it’s worth bearing in mind how he has not fought since November of last year. What is he waiting for?