By Paul Strauss: Zab Judah might have turned his life around and become a more mature, responsible parent and member of society, but he hasn’t changed inside the ring. When the going gets tough, he still looks for a way out, and Saturday night he got it when a low blow landed in the fifth round of his one-sided loss to Amir Khan.
The end was already apparent when Judah turned away from the action, giving the impression that he was once again head butted, as he was in the first round of the fight. To make a claim the accidental head butts and low blow didn’t happen is to miss the point. Judah was getting the crap beat out of him, and he had no answer. Or, better yet, he possibly knew the answer, but just couldn’t execute.
Judah allowed Khan to get off first with a jab, lead rights, and multi-punch combinations. Only occasionally did he manage to throw a “one punch” counter, some of which landed. However, the punches didn’t have the effect he had hoped. As a result, he became noticeably frustrated and discouraged. In his corner, Pernell Whitaker pleaded with him to throw more punches. Judah was doing the work of avoiding some of Khan’s shots, but he failed to make him pay. Whether he couldn’t deal with Khan’s speed, or just didn’t want to take the risk, only he knows.
Khan did a great job fighting aggressively and with speed. He also used his strength and size to push Zab down when needed, so that Zab couldn’t counter. He probably should have been warned for the tactic, as well as those times when he got Zab in a headlock. But, it didn’t happen, and Judah should have acted accordingly.
In the post-fight interview, Khan expressed the opinion that he thought Timothy Bradley was afraid of him. He also said Judah was a better fighter than Bradley. Probably neither statement is true. Undoubtedly the two will meet sometime in the not too distant future. Bradley will have trouble with Khan’s speed, jab and size. But, it’s doubtful he will fight scared. He will do his best to get and stay in Khan’s face.
On the other hand, in Judah’s post fight interview, he tried hard to come up with a plausible story that he thought referee Vic Draculich was giving him time to recover from a low blow, that’s despite the fact that a “count” was being administered? Judah might have gotten religion, but he’s still telling fibs. It will be a surprise if promoters put him in another big fight.
In other action on the card:
Peter Quillin TKO 5 Jason LeHoullier
James Kirkland TKO 2 Alexis Hloros
Ronny Rios TKO 1 Noe Lopez Jr
Gary Russell Jr UD 8 Eric Estrada
Bryant Jennings UD 6 Theron Johnson
Josiah Judah MD 6 Rafael Jastrzebski
Jamie Kavanagh UD 6 Marcos Herrera