Not so very long ago, IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah said that he wasn’t interested in facing WBA champion Amir Khan on July 23rd and that he was looking at bigger opponents.
Telling fans asking about the possibility of him facing Khan at the time:
“No khan we going bigger then that!! No disrespect!!”
Given that there are only two obvious names bigger than Khan he could probably have been referring to and that one of them has already beaten him soundly, it seems likely that Judah was referring to Manny Pacquiao.
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Mentioned as a possible backup opponent for Pacquiao by Bob Arum if Top Rank failed to secure the services of Juan Manuel Marquez for November, Judah obviously took this to mean that he was in with a good chance of securing the fight.
Since then Marquez has signed to fight Pacquiao and Judah is once again without an obvious next opponent. Never one to be dissuaded, Judah then said:
“I don’t think he is scared of me he just wanna take another fight first!!! And if so then what that say about Pac-man? Because he wanna fight him”
Despite his optimism however, the chances of Judah ever securing a bout against Pacquiao currently look slim to say the least.
To begin with there are several other names in the running who are likely well ahead of Judah in the queue or will be in the near future. Tim Bradley for example, will almost certainly be ahead of Judah should he sign with Top Rank in the coming months. Recent signing Kermit Cintron will also be in the running after a tune up or two.
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Also Judah lost to both Joshua Clottey and Miguel Cotto, fighters Pacquiao had little trouble with. Selling him as a respectable opponent then might be tricky since to date he has only beaten a couple of above average opponents since his last loss. There is also the fact that Judah has a well earned reputation for lacking consistency from one fight to the next. Advertisement
Luckily for Judah however, while chasing Pacquiao might appear to be a lost cause, a fight with Khan apparently isn’t.
Amir Khan, perhaps at the behest of either his or Judah’s promoter, provided him with the perfect excuse to change direction yesterday when he said to BoxingFutures:
?Judah is a runner like McCloskey, I don?t want to fight another runner; I want to fight a guy who comes to fight.’
‘Guerrero and Zab Judah?s names have come up. But for me Guerrero is a better fight than Judah cos Zab is a runner,?
Whether or not Khan really believes Zab to be a ‘runner’, he is also a much bigger name that lightweight interim champion Guerrero. Furthermore he also holds the IBF light welterweight title, and Khan has stated on numerous occasions that his priority is to unify the four major titles, meaning a bout with Judah at some point becomes inevitable anyway.
Eagerly taking Khan’s bait, Judah responded with:
“Oh yea my last twit was too you Amir Khan you anit gotta assume you can find out HOMIE!! I LOVE This type of Stuff Lil BOY!!” “And remember I did not start this Amir Khan did but I will finish this. Fighting is something I was born to do…so let’s do it BOY!!!”
And perhaps taking things a shade further than he needed to: “What a way to wake up wit a kid trying to get a replacement fight and calling ME a Runner BOY you must of Bumped ya monkey ass head”
So long as the two sides can agree on the money then, Khan vs. Judah is beginning to look like a strong possibility.
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