By Dan Ambrose: Zab Judah (42-7, 29 KO’s) turns a ripe 35-years-old today, and is heading for a nice payday fight against WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia (25-0, 16 KO’s) in January on the 19th. Judah doesn’t have a lot left in the tank, which is probably why he’s being selected by Garcia’s promoters to fight him.

Judah has a recognizable name among casual fans, and is one of the few fighters at 140 that the part time fans have ever heard. For this reason you can expect Judah to keep getting fights like the Garcia one until he wears out his welcome by getting too many times. Right now, Judah has been able to keep that from happening by beating most of the average fighters at 140 he’s faced in the last three years.

For a 35-year-old, Judah is well preserved with his blazing hand speed still largely intact. Where you do notice the age and deterioration with Judah is with his ring movement. Judah’s more flat-footed now compared to in the past, and he doesn’t look good when he’s getting hit. Mabuza had Judah staggered, and Amir Khan gave Judah a beating last year in stopping him in 5 rounds. Getting Khan’s leftovers isn’t exactly an appealing option for Garcia, but Golden Boy obviously is seeing the Judah-Garcia fight aimed at fans that don’t follow the sport all that closely because hardcore boxing fans will be turned off completely by the Garcia vs. Judah fight.

Judah is too far past his prime to stand a chance in this fight, and it’s not appealing that garcia is fighting a guy in Judah that was destroyed Khan, one of Garcia’s recent knockout victims. If Judah should be fighting anyone right now, it should be Amir Khan, because he really beat him bad in a one-sided fight. Judah won’t be fighting Khan again, because no one wants to see a rematch between them because their fight was so one-sided. But who wants to see Garcia fight Judah? I know I don’t. If it were an undercard fight, then I can see it but not a main event fight, and Golden Boy will likely try and make the Garcia-Judah fight as a main event.