After being kept apart at the press conference, the weigh-in and even a meet-and-greet at Modell?s because of bad blood between the two camps, Zab Judah and Danny Garcia finally met on Saturday night in a title unification match.
What unfolded was extraordinary and lived up to the prefight drama, with Garcia dominating the first half of the fight, putting Judah down in the eighth round, and Judah hurting Garcia with a left hand that had Garcia spinning into the ropes in the 10th, in retreat in a sudden, dramatic turnaround. The two exchanged so many hard shots and were both competing at such a high level in the final rounds that when the final bell sounded, the two combatants smiled at each other and embraced.
Garcia won a unanimous decision by the three judges? scores of 115-112, 114-112 and 116-111 to retain his WBA and WBC junior welterweight titles before 13,048 loud fans at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. But the Brooklyn-born Judah seemed to have won over the crowd, making a dramatic, even surprising comeback that seemed to counter any of the criticisms fans might have leveled against the 35-year-old fighter beforehand ? mainly that he was too brittle and couldn?t take a punch. Judah proved that he could take a punch, and then some.
?Whew!? the 25-year-old Garcia, out of Philadelphia, said in the ring after improving to 26-0. ?It was a hell of a fight. I came to Brooklyn and I had to beat the hometown guy. He?s a crafty veteran with power and the strongest fighter I’ve fought. He hit me with a good shot in the 11th. I wasn?t expecting that, but I?m a true champion, and I had to fight through that to be a true champion.?
Judah went down from a straight right hand midway through the eighth round just as he had landed a straight left himself. Judah fell straight back onto his backside and rose to his feet but his left eye was bleeding profusely.
Judah (42-8) seemed to make a stand in the ninth, fighting back and landing several hard shots. Judah continued the comeback in the 10th, landing a straight left that had Garcia momentarily in retreat. Judah then seemed to hurt Garcia with another left that had his rival spinning into the ropes. Judah continued to apply pressure in the 11th and 12th rounds, causing Garcia to exhale deeply several times as he tried to tame the suddenly revitalized opponent after he had pounded him for the first eight rounds. A head butt in the 12th round caused blood to pour down Garcia?s face in the final minute or so.
?Danny Garcia is a great young fighter,? Judah said in the ring. ?I was on my ?A? game tonight. We gave it our best shot. You will see me again. Why would I go anywhere??
Garcia seemed to stun Judah briefly with a hard right hand midway through the fifth and hurt Judah again with a right cross that caused Judah to do that little dance with his feet that fighters do when they are stung. Judah shook his head but he was clearly in trouble.
Garcia went after him in the sixth round, landing a series of whipping rights that caused Judah to flitter around the ring, at one point even turning his back to Garcia as he tried to get away. Judah was getting hurt with such frequency that Garcia even looked to referee Steve Smoger to see if he might stop it.
