By Sean McDaniel: Second tier welterweight prospect Matthew Hatton (37-4, 14 KOs) gets the chance of a lifetime in facing Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout on July 18th on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez bout at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas. Matthew’s brother is Ricky Hatton, need I say more for why Matthew probably got the fight?
Zab Judah
Boxing – Hatton vs. Judah on July 18th; Fury Eyeing British Title
By William Mackay: Welterweight Matthew Hatton (37-4-1, 14 KOs) will be taking on former welterweight champion Zab Judah on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez bout on July 18th at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hatton, 28, the younger brother of Ricky Hatton, has done little to deserve a bout against a top tier fighter like Judah other than being the brother of Ricky.
Judah-Rodriguez; Haye Dreaming of Scotland; Malignaggi-Fernandez – News
By Chris Williams: Former IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight and WBO light welterweight champion Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs) will continue with his comeback on May 1st, fighting B class opponent Jesus Rodriguez (19-3, 5 KOs) in a stay busy fight for Zab at the South Point Hotel Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Judah could have been facing welterweight Matthew Hatton, the brother of Ricky Hatton, but according to reports Judah wasn’t offering much money for Hatton, so the younger, less talented of the Hatton brothers went in a different direction.
Judah Wants Bouts With Ricky and Matthew Hatton
By Jim Dower: Former IBF light welterweight and undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs) is interested in fighting both Ricky and Matthew Hatton in 2009. Judah, 31, has lost four out of his last 10 fights and is no longer a relevent factor in the welterweight division. Perhaps for this reason in mind, he recently took on light welterweight Ernest Johnson, beating him by an easy 10-round decision in November.
If The Pacquiao Fight Doesn’t Work Out, Should Hatton fight Judah or Marquez?
By Jim Dower: With Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) facing a deadline of Wednesday to change his mind and take the original 50-50 purse split which had been previously verbally agreed upon by both fighters, Ricky Hatton (45-1. 32 KOs) may be facing the unhappy situation of having to choose another fighter for his scheduled May 2nd fight date. According to news reports around the boxing world, Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, will be pulling the plug on the fight and not letting it go forward unless Pacquiao takes the original 50-50 purse split deal.
Can Judah Recapture His Greatness?
By Jason Kim: With four losses out of his last eight fights, there’s major questions looming about the career of former light welterweight and welterweight champion Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs). While some people consider Judah, 31, to be totally shot, I see it differently. He’s clearly lost a step, that’s for sure, but mostly he never really had the size to compete for long in the welterweight division, and was perhaps only good enough to have limited success at that weight class.
Judah Defeats Johnson
By Chris Thomas: Making his first fight against a light welterweight in years, Zab Judah (37-6, 25 KOs) defeated Ernest Johnson (18-3-1, 7 KOs) by a lopsided 10-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Madison Square Garden, in New York City, New York. The final judges’ scores were 99-91, 98-92 and 98-92. Judah, 31, a former IBF/WBO light welterweight champion, was making his first bout at the weight since 2003.
Judah came into the fight over the 140 pound weight limit, coming in at 144. However, the new weight seemed to suit him much more so than the 147 pound welterweight class, where Judah has struggled in recent years, losing four out of his last seven fights.
Judah fought well in the early rounds, hitting Johnson with jabs, hooks and uppercuts to the head and easily controlling the fight.
Can Judah Still Dominate at 140?
By Aaron Klein: After five years away from the light welterweight division, Zab Judah (36-6, 25 KOs) will be making his return to the division on November 9th, against Ernest Johnson (18-2-1, 7 KOs) in a bout on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones Jr. Judah, now 30, left the light welterweight division shortly after defeating Jaime Rangel December 2003 and moved up to the welterweight class. At the time, Judah was the WBO light welterweight champion and considered to be the second best fighter in the division after Kostya Tszyu, whom had stopped Judah in the second round two years earlier in 2001.
Judah, a natural light welterweight, probably should have stayed at light welterweight, even though he was eventually able to capture the WBA/WBC/IBF welterweight title after only four fights in February 2005 with a 9th round stoppage over Cory Spinks. Judah’s lack of size would come back to haunt him, however, as he was beaten by Carlos Baldomir by a 12-round decision in January 2006, losing his WBC welterweight title in the process. From there, it’s been pretty much downhill for Judah, losing his next fight after that against Floyd Mayweather Jr. by another 12-round decision loss in April 2006, and then a 11th round stoppage loss to Miguel Cotto in June 2007.
Clottey Defeats Judah, Will Zab Still Get a Shot at Margarito?
By Dean Harman: As one would expect, number #1 ranked IBF welterweight Joshua Clottey (35-2, 20 KOs) defeated former undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah (36-6, 25 KOs) on Saturday night, beating him by a 9th round technical decision to claim the vacant IBF welterweight title at the Palms Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fight was stopped after Judah, 30, sustained a wide cut over his right eye early in the 9th, and complained to the ringside doctor that he couldn’t see out of his eye. Obviously, by Judah saying that, he basically was giving the doctor the ammunition to end the fight, which he promptly did.
By Judah saying he couldn’t see, it left the doctor with only one choice – to stop the fight. It probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway if he let the fight continue, because Judah, who has now lost four out of his last seven fights, didn’t appear to be gaining momentum and looked like he was well on his way to losing by a decision. However, the referee Robert Byrd, who ruled that the cut was caused by a head butt, appeared to miss the actual cause of the cut – a left uppercut from Clottey, thus ruining what should have been a 9th round TKO win for Clottey instead of a technical decision.
Options Available For Miguel Cotto – Williams, Judah, Margarito, Clottey
By Thomas Hanson: Since his brutal 11th round TKO loss to challenger Antonio Margarito (37-5, 27 KOs), there’s been a lot of speculation about what former WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto (32-1, 26 KOs) will do next to rebound from the loss. For most boxing fans, they would like nothing better than to see Cotto get right back in the ring and fight Margarito in a rematch at the end of the year, perhaps in November or December. This would be the best scenario, because a rematch between the two of them would be a huge fight, a tremendous moneymaker for both fighters.
Cotto, though, took a lot of punishment in the later part of the fight in particular to the head, and it’s uncertain that he would want to risk getting back in the ring with a heavy pressure fighter like Margarito so soon. It would definitely be a ballsy move on Cotto’s part if he were to do that, similar to the way that welterweight Paul Williams immediately called for a rematch with Carlos Quintana after losing his title to him months earlier. However, in Williams’ case, he didn’t take a savage beating like Cotto, and he fought more or less competitively throughout the fight, especially in the later rounds when he appeared to be coming on and starting to regain control of the fight.