Unfortunately I didn’t get time to write a preview of Khan’s fight with Judah. In some way’s I’m glad I didn’t, because I was seriously considering leaning towards the upset. I thought that a rejuvenated Judah, under the tutelage of the legendary former multi weight world champion Pernell Whittaker, might just have what it took to take Khan back to the dark days of Breidis Prescott. It was Prescott, an unheralded Columbian who came from obscurity, who knocked Khan out in under a minute, and then to obscurity returned. He has become nothing more than a footnote, a blip in Khan’s career.
I thought that Judah had the speed, the punch power, and above all, the experience to take Khan to a dark place. However, in the event, the only dark place visited was Judah’s own psyche, that shadowy place he has retreated to every time he has been defeated.
Judah certainly looked to have trained hard for the bout, he looked in incredible physical shape, better than I ever remembered him looking. I actually thought Judah looked pretty sharp in the first round, he was certainly moving well, and making Khan miss. However, the first time Khan landed, it was clear that Judah could be hit and hit easily. Khan utilised the much neglected body Jab from the off, keeping Judah from getting set with his own shots. Judah threw a couple of left hooks but was blocked. Khan landed the first meaty shot of the night, a pistol-quick right hand that rattled Judah’s cage. First blood to Khan.
In the second Khan continued to fire from Range. Khan was constantly shifting the angle, using his long arms and speed to land his own straight right whilst staying well out of range. There was a clash of heads which caused Judah to dab at his eye repeatedly. Again Judah could put nothing together.
By the third, it was clear that Khan’s handspeed and movement was too much for Judah, who had pretty much ceased to fire anything. Judah was backing off, he eat a left right and retreated to the ropes. A fast left rocked his head back, and a big left hook dug into his body. This was total domination.
Between rounds, Pernell Whittaker implored Judah to let his hands go screeching at him. Khan’s corner by contrast was an oasis of calm. No wonder, Khan had not taken a serious shot yet.
By the fourth Khan was beginning to put them together. Double jabs, body shots, right hooks, left hooks, they flowed seamlessly as Khan continued to keep Judah in his cage. Judah looked totally dispirited, he wasn’t in the fight at all.
The fifth proved the end for Judah. He was under the cosh, Judah complained about another clash of heads, this time imaginary. Judah’s nose was now bleeding profusely, a double right hook slammed him, then two straight rights, and then suddenly the end came. In the clinch, Khan fired a rising left uppercut which landed high on the beltline. Judah went down, and stayed down. He had hoped to get a DQ, but when he realised that the referee was counting, he made no attempt to rise. Judah did what he has always done under pressure, he folded, he punked out. At 2:47 of the fifth round, Judah’s titleist status, and his career at top level ended.
The controversy about the ‘low blow’ is non existent, the replay showed it clearly. There’s a reason that they call illegal blows, ‘below the belt,’ and that is because the belt line is legal. The shot landed slightly to the left and below the belly button, between the lower abdominals and lateral obliques, a perfectly legal shot. The shot was a good one, but I don’t believe Judah dropped from the force of the blow alone. He saw an oppurtunity to get out of there, and hopefully get a DQ win. He achieved the former.
Judah has ever been ingracious in defeat, there should be no surprises there, as referee Jay Nady will attest, Judah has always been the sorest of losers. Thankfully nobody got hit with a corner stool this time out. I felt sorry for Pernell Whittaker, who had taken on the poisoned chalice of being his trainer. As they say, you can’t polish a turd. Judah is what he is. An on top fighter who doesn’t enjoy it when the traffic flows in the other direction. Judah’s assertion that he was hit in the balls, was just that….balls.
Khan was nothing short of sensational. He boxed to order througout, working to the gameplan lain out to him by Freddie Roach, moving away from the left hand of Judah, and maintaining distance. The improvements in his movement and punch selection since he joined the wild card gym, make him a force to be reckoned with in the 140 lb division, and with Khan’s frame, probably eventually at 147.
Sure, Judah has never been an elite fighter, he’s been a belt holder and a threat to those who aren’t world class, and has failed whenever he’s stepped up. The losses to Joshua Clottey and Carlos Baldomir, both of whom were little more than big, rugged Welterweights, demonstrated that adequately. He was also a little past his prime, that is not in dispute either.
However, what was admirable is that Khan never allowed him a foothold in the fight. He took away Judah’s most effective weapon, his vaunted left hook, and punished him repeatedly, breaking his heart and beating the fight out of him. A fighter as experienced as Judah, and with the punchpower he posseses, is always a danger if you allow him to get a foothold in the fight, and to gain confidence. Khan’s execution of Roach’s strategy, ensured this never happened.
I’ve tried to temper my enthusiasm for Khan’s progress, with a little realism, but for the first time, I find myself believing that he really does have the potential to develop into a truly elite level fighter. His handspeed and punch accuracy are phenomenal, he is undoubtedly the fastest handed fighter at 140. He will face tougher tests than Judah for sure, but his movement, his speed, his workrate and accuracy are going to give anyone, and I mean anyone a hard night.
It’s hard not to begin imagining how he might do against Floyd Mayweather. Whislt I would not be mad enough to make him favourite against a thinking fighter of Floyd’s calibre, I think he would already give him a hard night’s work. Floyd has had problems against all the fast men he has faced. Oscar gave him lots of problems with his jab alone, before he began to run out of steam. Mosley buzzed him badly, but lacked the vigour and sharpness he once possessed to follow it up. Even Judah had him rocked early on, before the inevitable happened and he lost heart as Floyd found his range and timing.
Nobody goes on forever ? Floyd is 34 now, he will have been out of the ring, in semi-retirement for 16 months by the time of his next fight. It will be interesting to see just how good he looks against Victor Ortiz, who is young, strong, fresh, hungry and ambitious, not to mention being on a career high, having caused a shock upset against reigning champion Andre Berto.
Those are a combination of attributes that we have not seen Floyd face since taking on Ricky Hatton ? though Hatton had arguably already peaked by the time he beat Kostya Tszyu, and that was also four years ago now. Lord doesn’t time fly?
Freddie Roach stated in the post fight interview, that he thought that Khan could win the fight now if they fought, as he stated, ‘it’s a matter of styles making fights.’ Khan is never likely to be able to outwit Mayweather, he’s not a thinking fighter, but he may not need to. Floyd would only have to have slipped a bit for him to be facing an uphill battle with six rounds to go.
I cannot help but remember how uncomfortable Floyd looked against a bullrushing Ricky Hatton for the first two rounds. His face was a mask of anxiety at the end of the second. Floyd was assisted by both Hatton’s lack of speed and variety in his work to keep the pressure on Floyd, and the able assistance of pernickerty referee Joe Cortez, who appeared to have something approaching a man-crush on Floyd, prior to, during and after the bout. His constant intervention broke up Hatton’s rhythmn and unsettled him certainly aiding Floyd in finding his range and timing. The flagrant use of the elbow by Floyd during that fight should also have been penalised as he was warned again and again about it.
Floyd is often a low starter, Khan quite the reverse, and it’s easy to envisage Floyd being well down on the scorecards against Khan coming to the halfway mark. It is what would happen from there on in that would be interesting.
As for Khan against Pacquaio, given that the two are stablemates, I do not see that fight happening, at least not whilst Roach is training Khan. However, if they did, I think Pacquaio’s combination of speed, aggression and power would overwhelm Khan. Khan would get countered often and hard, and would ultimately get beaten down. If Khan’s punch output is prolific, Pacquaio’s is prodigious.
I doubt the fight will happen yet. Floyd has mentioned that he would be prepared to travel to England to face Khan. I’m sure Floyd would rather the fight now than in another year’s time. His reflexes, so vital to his evasive style, are only going to worsen from here on in, whilst Khan looks to be improving. Khan looked beatable against Maidana at times, and looked quite ordinary against McCloskey, but he won nonetheless. Against Judah, everything seemed to gel.
I’d like to see Khan take on Timothy Bradley, the WBC and WBO champion, in what would be a superb unification battle. This would be a real test of how far Khan has come. Bradley is seasoned, physically strong, and is unlikely to choke under pressure. Bradley will be there competing until the very end. If Khan can get past Bradley, which is not a given at all, then he will have learnt more lessons. I personally think that Khan is capable of dominating Bradley. Khan will always struggle against rugged power punchers who are capable of walking through his shots. Bradley’s work relies on the cumulative effect of many shots, and Khan is not easy to land follow up shots on. He can be picked off with right hands as we have seen against Maidana, and he can be stunned, but he fires plenty back to keep people honest.
I think Roach will want Khan to have at least one more, and quite possibly two more to allow his still developing charge to reach something approaching the apogee of his powers, before he let’s him enter the ring with Floyd. If Floyd scrapes by Ortiz, I won’t be surprised to see him retire. I think his unbeaten status means a lot to him, maybe even more than the money.
I never thought I’d ever be mentioning Khan in the same paragraph as Floyd Mayweather, after that devastating loss to Breidis Prescott seemed to make a nonsense of any notion of him ever joining that elite band at the top of the sport. Khan may or may not turn out to be the future of the sport, as the scintillating lights of Mayweather and Pacquaio begin to dim, but the fact I am even thinking about it, is a testament to his progress.
