Judah had his foe in trouble and easily won the first round. Then things became disastrous a round later when Tszyu landed his trademark right hand on a retreating Judah and sent him to the canvas. Zab was shaken and fell to the mat again after trying to get up. Referee Jay Nady had seen enough, and called a halt to the bout, making Kostya Tszyu the unified champion of the Jr. Welterweight division by way of 2nd round TKO.  

Judah felt the stoppage was premature and with his dreams of becoming unified champ down the drain he became enraged and went after Nady, placing his glove on the referee’s throat. A stool was thrown, a ruckus broke out in the ring, and the MGM Arena was witness to the disappointment that Judah felt. As bad as he felt nothing could change the fact that the young Brooklyn native’s career was set back with his first loss.

That was over two years ago and in that time Zab ‘Super’ Judah has slowly been rebuilding his career. He returned to the ring 8 months later in Tunica, MS against battle tested veteran Omar Weis. Judah put on a solid performance and even dropped the rugged Weis, winning on all cards by scores of 97-92, 97-93, and 96-93.

The Judah express appeared to be back on track and next up was a showdown with fellow southpaw DeMarcus ‘Chop chop’ Corley, owner of the WBO Jr. Welterweight crown.  It was no secret that neither fighter was fan of the other, and the press conferences leading up to the bout were full of trash talking from both sides.  Some expected Judah’s speed to lead him to victory while others felt the Corley would catch Judah on the chin and put him to sleep.  Judah established superiority early, dropped Corley in the 3rd, and boxed and brawled his way to a split decision win. Corley was known as having fast hands of his own but he was stuck in mud that night, as Zab seemed to do as he pleased over the course of 12 rounds.

Judah’s next outing was against Jaime Rangel and he passed the test with flying colors, scorching Rangel with a single shot and registering a KO at 1:12 of the first round.

Judah appears to be back in rare form and he’ll need to be at the top of his game when he meets his next foe, unified Welterweight Champion Cory ‘Next Generation’ Spinks on April 10th in Las Vegas. Spinks is coming off the biggest win of his career, a 12 round upset decision over smack talking Nicaraguan Ricardo Mayorga.

Spinks had never raised too many eyebrows in the boxing industry and was a heavy underdog going in. Spinks would go on to surprise many, showing superior movement, boxing skills, and mental toughness as he was unfazed by Mayorga’s antics in scoring the biggest win of his young career.

In Spinks vs. Judah we have two young men colliding from different paths. Spinks has just entered boxing’s elite while Judah has been slowly working on getting back the glory he once had as a Jr. Welterweight champion.  Both fighters are southpaws who know how to trade on the inside and work from the outside.

The edge in power goes to Judah but Spinks appears to be the more durable fighter. Boxing fans have different opinions on this one, but the majority seem to think that Spinks will follow up his win over Mayorga with yet another classy effort in defeating Judah.

Credit must be given to both men, as this is a dangerous test for both lefties.  If I had to make a prediction I would go with Spinks, but win or lose its nice to see Judah back in the spotlight once again. May the best man win.