By James Slater: As fans know, Zab “Super” Judah lived up to his nickname, at least partially, with this past Saturday’s impressive 9th-round TKO over the previously unbeaten and highly touted Vernon Paris. Badly needing the win, coming as he was off a 5th-round KO loss to Amir Khan, the 34-year-old Brooklynite rejuvenated his career with the victory; his 42nd, with 7 losses.
Zab also earned a shot at the IBF 140-pound title with the win, and this means he could wind up facing the winner of the May 19th Khan-Lamont Peterson rematch. Zab said post-fight on Saturday that he will be a ringside observer of that hard-to-call return fight, and he is indeed hoping to get the winner. Judah sounds especially keen on facing Khan again.
“If Khan beats Peterson again, I would hope I get my due respect,” Zab said as quoted by ESPN.com. “That rematch, if it should present itself, this time the real Zab Judah will show up. I’ll be looking to get in there and be very dominant.
“If he [Peterson] should beat Khan, Lamont is a great friend of mine, if that should be the case, we’ll go in there and do what we’ve got to do.”
In my opinion, a Judah-Peterson fight would not only be the more intriguing, sellable fight, it is also the most likely of the two to happen; if Peterson wins on May 19th, that is. For if Khan wins, many people expect him to then make the move up to 147; thus vacating his regained 140-pound belts. But even if Khan were to gain revenge over Peterson AND choose to stay at 140; who would really want to see him take on Judah again?
Sure, the 5th-round KO Khan scored over Zab was somewhat controversial in the opinion of some, due to the fact that the body shot that basically made Zab quit was delivered smack on Judah’s beltline. Some said the punch was low, but it wasn’t. In any case, a Khan-Judah II would prove a tough sell even in New York. Khan has bigger fish to fry and I’d bet he’ll vacate his IBF 140-pound strap to get these big fights if need be.
But in light of his good win over the dangerous Paris, Zab is deserving of something. Maybe Peterson will win the return with Khan in Las Vegas, and the two buddies will get it on. Or maybe Judah will target one of the other 140-pound titlists. Judah against news WBC champ Danny Garcia would be a decent match-up (although the far more deserving Ajose Olusegun, who has been patiently waiting for his earned shot at the WBC belt since late last summer, must be accommodated first), as would a Judah-Marcos Maidana clash.
Judah is a fighter who, just when he seems to be finished, manages to win another big one. It’s even possible that “Super” Judah could reign one more time before his exciting up-and-down career is finally over.