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Zab Judah hasn’t fought since December of 2013, but he isn’t retired yet. In fact, he’s eyeing a September return.
Doing a Paulie
Perhaps taking a page from fellow Brooklyn boxer Paulie Malignaggi who returned after a long layoff, but unsuccessfully, last week against Danny Garcia, Judah announced on Monday that he has signed with promoter Greg Cohen and is determined to return this September in one of Cohen’s CBS televised fight cards. According to Judah, he has never contemplated about retirement and he believes that things will be great again if he puts 110% effort to it.
Coincidentally, Judah’s last fight was against Malignaggi in a battle of Brooklyn boxers. Malignaggi beat Judah by unanimous decision, giving him his first back to back defeats since 2006 when he dropped two consecutive bouts to Carlos Baldomir and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Prior to his loss against Malignaggi, Judah lost a competitive bout against Danny Garcia, who beat Malignaggi last weekend.
New York’s Finest
Judah is one of New York’s finest boxing products, having won five major world titles in two weight classes. Judah was also the former undisputed welterweight champion of the world after knocking out Cory Spinks in 2005. Judah also holds notable victories over Micky Ward, Junior Witter, DeMarcus Corley, Lucas Matthysse and Vernon Paris. He’s also fought the likes of Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey and Amir Khan although he lost those fights.
Although Judah hasn’t fought in over a year, he has been training. In fact, Judah was one of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s chief sparring mates in the latter’s preparations against Manny Pacquiao last May. In fact, it was during the Mayweather camp where Judah felt that he still had a lot left in his gas tank. After sparring with the best pound for pound fighter in the planet, Judah believes that he still has the ability to compete at the highest level.
Picking a Date
Judah said that he will be fighting at 140 but is still looking for an opponent as two choices have already backed out. He adds that he picked September for his return since he will be celebrating his 19th anniversary as a pro boxer on September 20th. Despite the long mileage, Judah says he still has the quickness and reflexes to compete with the best. He points out that at 37, he is younger than Floyd Mayweather Jr. But the question is if he as good as Money May?
Judah left the Mayweather camp in top form and with a renewed passion to win another world title before hanging up his gloves. He said that he wasn’t on top of his game when he lost to Malignaggi in 2013. But after the Mayweather camp, he is determined to go out in a blaze of glory.
