A popular axiom among boxing fans reflects that in the world of boxing you are only as good as your last fight. The saying holds true for the upcoming ‘Sworn Enemies’ match-up between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Zab Judah on April 8th. In late December and early January the buzz surrounding the upcoming encounter between these two colorful fighters seemed to grow with each passing day. There was only one thing that could possibly derail this mega fight and that was Carlos Baldomir. Carlos Baldomir? I asked myself. He didn't stand a chance, let alone belong in the ring with Zab Judah, the then undisputed welterweight champion.

   As we all know, things don't always go as planned, and the Judah-Baldomir fight was no exception to that rule. On January 7th of 2006, Zab Judah was rocked and out boxed by Baldomir, who was rewarded with a much-deserved 12 round decision. Following the shocking loss to Baldomir the buzz surrounding Judah vs Mayweather quickly became a flat line. It was questioned if the fight would even come off, and more importantly, who would care if it did.

   Fast forward to March of 2006, the fight is only weeks away and the buzz it once held hasn’t really rebounded. However, I'm not buying into the "you’re only as good as your last fight" adage. Instead, I’m going to buy into the fact that Zab Judah has the biggest fight of his career in front of him and he has no choice but to step up and fight at his absolute best. The question now is whether Zab Judah's absolute best is good enough to compete with one of the world's greatest fighters.

   The Mayweather-Judah fight is surrounded by questions, most of which are aimed at Zab Judah and just how good -or how bad- he really is. Questions also point to Floyd Mayweather, but they are not negative. They are simply questions about how great he is and how great he can be.

   Nothing in the sport of boxing is a given, you can ask Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir about that. This upcoming fight is not a lock for Floyd Mayweather Jr. as no fight is in boxing. On April 8th I'll be watching and hopefully, getting answers to my questions.

Questions? Comments? Email Kenny Perrault

3-18-2006