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"From Pillar to Post" - Zab Could've Quit, But He Didn't By Ryan Songalia PhilBoxing.com Mon, 11 Jun 2007  Sometimes you don't know what you have until you lose it. That's exactly what must've been going through Zab Judah's head as he sat in the corner after the ninth round of what may be the last significant bout of his pro career. But he didn't quit. The saving grace of the punishing affair he endured against Miguel Cotto was on the one occassion he could have been forgiven for opting to cop out of a fight, he chose not to. For one of boxing's greatest underachievers, it wasn't until his swan song that he decided to show how much his legacy cared. Leading up to the pay-per-view mega-fight Saturday, it was difficult to pick Judah on paper. He hadn't won a fight in over two years, with only a single round separating him from two consecutive losses. What Judah, 34-5 (25 KO), brought to the table was a style advantage that many thought would unveil Miguel Cotto's primary weakness, an inability to deal with southpaw boxer-punchers. Over the first two rounds, that's exactly what occurred. Judah was on the verge of stopping Cotto in the opening stanza, who seems to have to be almost out of the fight to get his game started. It was a left uppercut that started Cotto's early woes, followed by a barrage of left crosses that sent Cotto to the ropes. If not for Miguel Cotto's intentional low blow midway through the first round, Cotto would be on his way back to Bayamon with a TKO by 1 on his record. Instead, Miguel Cotto, now 30-0 (25 KO), followed the game plan of countryman Felix Trinidad, when he met a younger, quicker boxer in Fernando Vargas. To slow down the surging Vargas, Tito dusted off the old testicle shot to take some steam out of "El Feroz". Just like his predecessor Trinidad, Cotto will do anything to win. The third round also featured Cotto in some distress, only to be bailed out by another, more paralyzing and flagrant attempt at an impromptu vasectomy, this one eliciting a point deduction from Arthur Mercante Jr. The damage was done, however, and as the fight progressed, Judah was beginning to feel the ill effects of Cotto's sustained body assault. When Judah began reverting to false signs of bravado, you could see in broad daylight that he was beginning to doubt whether or not he would be able to pull off the upset. In a sense, he was giving up hope mentally, but not yet physically. Judah's last stand in the seventh, while futile, may have altered his perception in history in a positive way. Even with compromised mobility and equally diminished vision out of the right eye, Judah made one final attempt to salvage an improbable victory, something entirely foreign to his career in past years. As Judah took a knee in the ninth round, entirely overwhelmed by Cotto's more consistent workrate and greater physicality, you could see the submission in Zab's face. Nonetheless he arose to accept more punishment from Cotto, who was like a raging thunderstorm that blew away Judah's umbrella long before the real thunder began. With eyes closed, blood and bruising canvasing his face, Judah rested in his corner after nine rounds with his father Yoel urging him to tap into some untainted resource that could alter the tide of the bout. "You gotta show me something," exclaimed Yoel Judah. "You're getting hit too much." It didn't require an MBA to see that this fight was a lost cause for "Super Zab", but he knew this was his last chance to save face for numerous shortcomings in the ring. The Kostya Tszyu "Judah Jiggle" episode. Losing to Cory Spinks in a fight in which he had no business being on the wrong side of the verdict. An inexcusable, inept performance against Carlos Baldomir that earned him "Upset of the Year" indignations. Finally, the drubbing against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a bout he didn't belong in, given his recent history. This fight was his final opportunity to fulfill the lofty expectations he was capable of unlocking, and he wasn't going to let go until the powers that be wouldn't allow him to hold on any longer. That moment came at :49 seconds of the eleventh round. Upon rising from a knockdown, Judah was just a standing target for Cotto's unrelenting attack. Referee Mercante Jr. halted the bout, rescuing Judah at the correct point. Who knows whether we will ever see Judah again at this level. One thing that can be said is that Judah hung in there until he could no longer sustain, never stopped trying, and could not place blame on the couldashouldawouldas of a younger Zabdiel. Judah exhibited a heart that seemed vacant at times until now, but it was too late to make the difference. Simply put, the better man won. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ryan Songalia.  |
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