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In the fall of last
year former champions Zab ‘Super’ Judah and Joel Casamayor
lost crucial bouts that left many people feeling their
careers were all but done for.
In August Judah squared off with Ghana’s Joshua Clottey for the vacant IBF
belt. Despite having moments of flash and dazzle early on,
Judah eventually started to succumb to the sustained
attack in front of him. Clottey’s constant pressure and
body punching seemed to be a little too much for Judah to
handle and the bout went to the scorecards after nine
rounds due to a cut over Judah’s eye that stemmed from a
head butt. Scores of 87-84 and 86-85 twice were read in
Clottey’s favor and despite seeming pleased with his
performance you had to wonder what was next for Judah.
A little more than a month later Casamayor would engage with Mexico City’s
technical assassin, Juan Manuel Marquez. Pitting Casamayor
and Marquez against one another saw a match up of two
classy and well seasoned veterans desperately in need of a
win. Despite fighting well early on Casamayor couldn’t
keep pace with Marquez as the fight reached the late
rounds. Marquez would end up dropping Casamayor twice with
right hands to the chin and referee Tony Weeks called a
halt to the bout after the second knockdown. The win was
Casamayor’s first by way of knockout and it seemed as
though he had reached the end of his road.
While losing to
fighters such as Clottey and Marquez is certainly not
shameful, the careers of Judah and Casamayor were up in
the air following their losses. Fast forward a year later
and neither man had done much in the sport since. Judah’s
only action since was scoring a ho-hum win against Ernest
Johnson on the Joe Calzaghe-Roy Jones undercard at Madison
Square Garden a year ago while Casamayor himself had yet
to set foot inside of the ropes for a professional
contest.
With both men having
their back to the wall it was aptly fitting that they
would co-headline a card titled ‘Road to Redemption’ from
the Palms Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada this Friday,
November 6th. While each man’s competition was
questionable at the end of the day both Judah and
Casamayor were able to secure victories.
Judah found himself
in the ring with battle tested journeyman Ubaldo
Hernandez, a man who was fortunate enough to score a first
round stoppage over Ebo Elder, but unfortunate enough to
lose to the likes of Vivian Harris, Juan Diaz, Juan
Urango, and Miguel Cotto. Hernandez wasn’t expected to
give Judah too stiff of a test and he certainly lived up
to his billing on this night.
Just moments after
the bell sounded Judah leapt in recklessly with a left
hook and it was evident that he had no fear in his
outmatched foe. The action was sparse in the early going
as Judah seemed rustier than anything else. Out of the
blue Judah would score a knockdown from a left hook and
from there the Brooklyn native smelled blood. A follow up
knockdown would happen moments later and Hernandez was
barely able to hear the bell signaling round two.
Unfortunately for
Hernandez, surviving the first round meant that he would
have to see more of Judah’s attack in the second. Despite
trying to stay out of harm’s way, Hernandez was greeted by
another Judah onslaught and was floored moments later,
with referee Joe Cortez waiving the bout off moments
later.
Afterwards Judah was
all smiles as he celebrated with his family. The Las Vegas
crowd was overly supportive of Judah, who now calls ‘The
City of Second Chances’ his home. It remains to be seen
whether Judah will continue at either 140 or 147 pounds
but tonight he got all that he needed with the victory.
In the evening’s
co-feature bout, Joel Casamayor won a unanimous decision
over very game Jason Davis in a bout that was more
competitive in spots than the 79-73 scorecards indicated.
During his peak
Casamayor has faced a long list of world class fighters
including the late Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo,
Acelino Freitas, Nate Campbell, and Marquez, for starters.
He has always remained competitive and conducted himself
well but against the seemingly overmatched Davis he seemed
sluggish early on.
Sporting an 11-4-1
record and hailing from Vancouver, Washington, little was
known about Davis beforehand as the most notable name on
his ledger was that of former champion Steve Forbes, whom
he lost to via 2nd round knockout earlier this
year. Davis wasn’t expected to give Casamayor much of
anything but the kid definitely came to fight.
In the early rounds
Casamayor was slow coming out of the gates and at age 38
you had to wonder if all of the fights, both amateur and
professional, had taken too much out of it. Davis’ style
wasn’t dynamic but he did constantly press forward and
always had the Cuban veteran on his toes. In the second
round it looked as though Casamayor may have been knocked
down but it was ruled a push from Davis.
As the fight reached
its mid rounds Casamayor began to find his rang with his
left hand as he fired shots between Davis’ gloves on
repeated occasions. The younger fighter showed much grit
but not nearly enough class to compete with someone of
Casamayor’s stature. As the fight reached the late rounds
Joel was in complete control, showing glimpses of his old
self as he dominated the action with deft movement and
counterpunching from all angles. After eight rounds scores
of 79-73 read across the board for Casamayor, who improves
to 37-4-1 in his well storied career.
Although obviously a
few steps past his best, Casamayor still had plenty of
guile and fight left in him throughout. A fighter of
Davis’ class wouldn’t have been able to hang with
Casamayor for more than four rounds when ‘El Cepillo’ was
at his peak form but we simply had to take this fight for
what it was worth; a hardened and aging veteran sharpening
his skills against a willing young combatant.
Undercard Results
Judah protégé Ron
Johnson, 186, squared off with Dumont Welliver, 174, in
meeting of Light Heavyweights. Johnson would control the
first round easily but a clash of heads in the second
round would cause a nasty gash over Welliver’s left eye.
The fighter was deemed unfit to continue moments later and
the bout was ruled a no contest. It was interesting to see
both Floyd Mayweather Sr. and Yoel Judah working Johnson’s
corner. After the bout it was said that Johnson and his
people claimed the young fighter was ready for the
championship leagues at 175 pounds but those proclamations
seem to be a bit premature at this point.
Salvador Sanchez,
nephew of the great Mexican legend by the same name,
improved his record to 17-3-2 with a hard fought decision
over gritty Jose Pacheco in a battle of Featherweights.
Wearing old school trunks and sporting an afro similar to
his deceased uncle, young Sanchez had the look of a
throwback fighter down pat. Sanchez fought a poised and
tactical fight, one in which he was able to take command
because of his body punching and effectiveness with his
right hand power shots.
Zab’s brother Joseph
Judah won a fairly easy decision against Joel Gonzalez
over four rounds. Judah didn’t show anything special in
the ring but he was able to drop his older foe on two
occasions in registering a 39-34, 39-34, and 39-35 victory
on all three judges’ cards. With the win the 23 year old
improves to 5-0 with 1 knockout.
In the walkout bout
of the night, Jr. Lightweight Toddy Junior Ultrachem
defeated Brice Yeneki by scores of 40-36 across the board
to improve to 3-1. Ultrachem was just a little busier in
each round despite Yeneki’s willingness to engage.
Ringside
Rumblings
The card was
presented by Fernando Vargas' Vargas Entertainment
Promotions in association with Judah’s Super Judah
Promotions. Vargas was present during both the weigh ins
and the fights and while it was good to see him taking on
another endeavor in the sport the show didn’t come without
its hiccups. The weigh on Thursday was supposed to start
at 5 PM but didn’t get going until nearly 6:45. Two of the
bouts had to be scratched because their opponents didn’t
show up while Judah, Hernandez, Casamayor, Davis, and
Johnson all came in overweight. Still, the show went on
and it was good for Vargas to get this card under his
promotional belt. Hopefully we’ll see more shows from him
in the future. Always a fan favorite in the late 90’s and
early 2000’s, Vargas was gracious and friendly to any fans
who came his way with requests.
One ringside
observer noted that the Palms is the perfect fit for Judah
because the casino attracts a ‘young and wealthy’ crowd.
Despite having a career that has been like a rollercoaster
ride at times, Judah still does have some pull in the
sport, as evidenced by the healthy turnout of fans for the
show.
Luis DeCubas Jr., manager of Casamayor, seemed pleased with
Joel’s performance. DeCubas noted that he
would ‘be lying’ if he said that
Casamayor was still at his best but obviously sees some
meaningful fights in the Cuban’s future.
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For Fight Recaps between January and May 2009, click here...
Fight Recaps Part I
(January-May 2009)
For Fight Recaps starting June 2009, click here...
Fight Recaps Part
II
(June-December 2009)
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11-6-2009 |
