Friday night ESPN showcased the return of semi-retired past multi champ Zab "Super" Judah of Brooklyn, USA in with Jose Armanda Santa Cruz of California via Mexico. 

It pretty much went as expected when you pit a well preserved past champion of age 32, in with a game but limited in skills club fighter... Opens with Judah in control behind an accurate jab from the southpaw side - his quickness far superior to the plodding Santa Cruz. 

Stanza two a replay with Judah mixing the counters with combos to both body and head - Santa Cruz showing a one-dimensional attack that the polished veteran had no trouble reading. 

Midway through stanza three Judah spots a flaw in the Santa Cruz repeat actions, and instead of first stepping back before countering, he meets the banzai with a sizzling left uppercut that finds the chin, and Santa Cruz is down and in trouble. 

Once upright, "Super-Zab" is all over the game Mexican while displaying finishing qualities that begins with a power left hand that's backed with a barrage that has the Mexican defenseless. 

Referee Benjy Esteves quickly steps in with the proverbial no-mas shout at 2:33 mark of three. 

Post Scripts:   Zab Judah (39-6, 27 KOs) ~ a young in body age 32 - showed much of his earlier days albeit a more disciplined fighter than before. Looked comfortable at 140 and will now be in search of one of the big three at jr. welter, as in Tim Bradley (WBO), Amir Khan (WBA), Devon Alexander (WBC) - the preference Bradley if he's successful in his Saturday (HBO) defense against unbeaten Luis Carlos Abregu. Yes, the field is stacked at 140 lbs.
                     Jose Armando Santa Cruz ( 28-5, 17 KOs) ~ age 29 - was willing but lacked fire - had no serious answer to the Judah quickness and better skills. Wasn't ready for the big step up in talent. Only until he next shares the ring with "Triple A"  level opponent we'll know if he's as shot as he looked last noche. 

**** Televised welterweight prelims showed undefeated Alex Perez going to 12-0, 7 KOs over short notice Edvan Barros (10-10-1, 7 KOs),  and rookie Sadam Ali (8-0, 4 KOs) stopping Julius Edmonds (7-8, 0 KOs) . 

Ali of B'klyn, USA at age 21 displayed the best talent of the four prelim fighters - had Edmunds on the canvas in stanzas one and two before showing good finishing talent in number three when referee Cotton called it off at 1:14.
Perez at 6'1" showed his best offense when on the inside with the shorter Barros - while earning the semi-final, and still unbeaten after a dozen outings, his performance hinted a serious need of improvement before stepping up another rung of the ladder.