As Tim Bradley passed on the opportunity to face Amir Khan on July 23rd, the search was on to find a replacement for the ?Desert Storm.? Zab Judah, who holds the IBF junior welterweight title, believed that he was the frontrunner to land this fight. As of Wednesday, if you went by his Twitter page (@SUPERJUDAH), he seemed hopeful that he would indeed get a chance to unify his title with Khan, who holds the WBA belt.
By Thursday afternoon, his outlook wasn?t nearly as positive.
He told Maxboxing, “I feel like this; we?re both champions. I feel like anything come down the line should be 50/50. He was willing to give Timothy Bradley half, 50/50, just to fight him but for some reason, they kept pushing the Bradley fight like hotcakes. Well, what?s the difference? I got a belt; I got a major world title belt- y? know what I?m sayin?- in the same weight division. But for some reason, they want to lowball me. They want to lowball me and short change me and say, ?Ah, no, no, 50/50.? I?m not asking for anything crazy.”
It was reported that in the negotiations with Bradley, Khan?s side was willing to share half the proceeds of the money coming in from England through television rights. However, Judah states, “They?re talking about foreign sales and all that; alright, keep all that bullsh*t. I just want the American rights, 50/50, a regular split and that?s it. You keep all your U.K. bullsh*t. I want everyone to know this deal is not me. It?s not me that?s not making this fight happen. I don?t want nobody saying, ?Oh, Zab Judah don?t want to fight Amir Khan.? Amir Khan can?t beat me! He can?t beat me! A good Zab Judah, a bad Zab Judah, there?s no way he can beat me- he can?t! He just came out of the Olympics a couple years ago. I turned professional at 18 years old. I?ve been doing this. I?m a five-time champ of the world. I don?t know what he?s talking about. [To Khan] You?re far from my level.
“His mouth done wrote a check his ass can?t cash.”
The others in contention to land this fight are Robert Guerrero and Erik Morales.
“They?re using me for leverage with HBO to make HBO think that Zab Judah?s the one not making it happen,” said the man who stopped Kaizer Mabuza to win this IBF crown a couple of months back. “If they do a 50/50 split, right now, I?ll sign the contract- right now. I?m talking about right now! No ifs, ands or buts about it. All I want is the 50/50 split. I?m not going to do nothing else. I feel like I worked myself back up to get back to this position; it?s only right. He got a belt; I got a belt. If I was a contender, I?d take 60/40, 80/20, whatever, but right now, I worked myself back into the position where 50/50 is good.”
Judah just might be too risky for Khan. For all his flaws, one thing he still possesses is the ability to punch hard and fast. Khan?s history of hitting the canvas is well known. In Guerrero, they are facing a fighter who has never had a major fight above 135 pounds and Morales is an older fighter who is long on guile but short on speed and quickness. Guerrero and Morales would essentially be in-house promotions for Golden Boy Promotions and would probably come cheaper than Judah would.
“They?d rather give their fighters peanuts to fight each other, rather than going with a top-notch fighter and putting the best fights on that boxing needs to see,” said Judah, who seems to be speaking for the fans on this issue. “See, that?s what?s wrong with boxing these days. A lot of these fights are too orchestrated; they need to stop all this orchestrated bullsh*t and let fighters fight. Let fighters fight. This is the game that we in. Promoters, stop being so greedy. They?ve made enough money, y? know? How much money are these promoters going to make? The ball bounces from Golden Boy to Bob Arum, from Golden Boy to Bob Arum. That?s how the ball bounces. The ball bounces but two ways. That?s it. It?s a one-way game played hundreds of times and it?s not fair.”
When asked if there were any updates on the Khan situation on Thursday, Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer replied via email- “No news.”
But Judah wants to make it clear what will get a fight done between him and Khan.
“50/50, American rights and you keep your U.K. bullsh*t. You can keep all the U.K. rights. You keep your U.K. rights. All I want is 50/50 and let?s go to work,” said the born-again Christian, who went back to Brooklyn for this interview.
MARGARITO
After undergoing a procedure at the John A. Moran Eye Center in Utah earlier this week, it looks like Antonio Margarito will resume his boxing career and possibly go ahead with a rematch with Miguel Cotto later this year. It was feared that his career was over after suffering a fractured orbital bone near his right eye but after undergoing cataract surgery under the auspices of Dr. Alan Crandall, he could begin working out in a few weeks.
“Far as I know,” said his promoter, Bob Arum, “I talked to the doctor, it went extremely well. He?s going to be fine; he?s going to be back in two weeks for a final check-up. The doctor is 100 percent optimistic that he?ll be able to start sparring, I guess, within a couple of weeks.”
In the wake of the possibility that Margarito would have to retire, Arum announced that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.- should he defeat Sebastian Zbik for the WBC middleweight title on June 4th- would be paired with Cotto in the fall. Of the current situation, the veteran promoter said, “First of all, Chavez hasn?t beaten Zbik and secondly, we?ll figure it out. We?re going to figure it out. Maybe Chavez fights Cotto and then the winner fights Margarito. We?ll work all that out. Everybody will be on the scene June 4th.”
SORRY
Through his Twitter account (@OscarDeLaHoya), Oscar De La Hoya apologized to the likes of Bob Arum and even Manny Pacquiao for any pain he may have caused them and their families. He also implored Arum that they put aside past grievances and work together for the good of boxing in the near future.
When he was informed of this cyber-apology on Thursday afternoon, Arum was surprised. “First I?m hearing about it,” he said around noon, “but I mean, if he?s apologized, I appreciate it. But again, I don?t know anything about it.”
OK, a few thoughts:
– I really hope Oscar gets rehabilitated from whatever is afflicting him but here?s the thing; when you?re in rehab, I thought that you were cut off from the rest of the world and stuff like cell phones and computers were confiscated. I find the fact that he?s still tweeting to be a bit odd but perhaps this is the 21st century way of taking one of the 12 steps.
– Oscar sure likes to reach out to Arum through Twitter, doesn?t he?
– Honestly, Bob is so old-school, the best way to get to him is on MySpace or to through his Sky Pager.
– Back on a serious note, while it?s great that both sides in this ?Cold War? are shaking hands, hugging it out and saying (and tweeting) all the right things, till we see them co-promoting and putting on the fights the fans want to see, this is all just posturing and nothing else.
FRIDAY FLURRIES
For all this talk of Tim Bradley not being a draw (which I don?t disagree with one iota), Amir Khan isn?t all that big of, one himself, in the States. His fight last December against Marcos Maidana at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas sold all of 3,195 tickets, according to official numbers from the NSAC. And the hotel ran a promotion where they gave away free room and tickets that weekend…Jamie Kavanagh and Ramon Valadez headline the June 23rd installment of the ?Fight Night Club? at Club Nokia at LA Live…Hearing that Diego Magdaleno will take on Alejandro Perez on the July 15th edition of ?ShoBox?…The July 30th installment of ?Top Rank Live? will take place from Denver and feature ?Mile High? Mike Alvarado…Chris Arreola faces Kendrick Releford on ESPN2?s ?Friday Night Fights.? Meanwhile, ?Solo Boxeo? is showing Israel Vazquez vs. Rafael Marquez II and Daniel Ponce de Leon vs. Cornelius Lock…I saw the commercial with Michelle Obama during the NBA playoffs and I have to say, her shoulders are like Tommy Hearns circa 1981. What?s her workout plan?…Honestly, I don?t know what to think of Mike Brown being the new Lakers coach. I hope this sits well with Kobe because if it doesn?t, uh oh…I never watched ?Oprah? (I swear I didn?t) but anyone that can have a 25-year run in television should be applauded. Back in September of 1986 when she started that show, I was taking my first steps into Montebello High School…I can be reached at [email protected] and I tweet at www.twitter.com/stevemaxboxing. We also have a Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/MaxBoxing.
