We are now less than a month away from the Amir Khan-Zab Judah junior welterweight unification tilt, set to go down at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. As each day passes the tension in the air continues to build, as evidenced by the extreme amount of trash talk coming from both sides.
Judah has never been one to shy away from a challenge but it's pretty admirable to simply see him back on such a stage, gracing HBO's airwaves against a man regarded as one of the sport's most promising champions at the moment. In the past five years Judah has lost some hard fights to the likes of Floyd Mayweather, Miguel Cotto, and Joshua Clottey yet a move back down to 140 pounds has served as somewhat of a renaissance for his career.
Now into his sixteenth year as a professional, Judah doesn't seem to mind the path he has traveled one bit.
"I'm from Brooklyn, I don't have a problem taking the long, hard, grinding road. I wasn't the golden boy. I wasn't the guy always in the light, the guy always first picked, but somehow I made my way back to the top," stated Judah in a recent statement to the press.
His outstanding skills always evident, Judah has had notable moments in his fights, even in his losses, yet has seemed to fall short when facing boxing's elite. But while Khan has an abundance of upside, there are those who still aren't completely sold on the British star, pointing to his first round meltdown against Columbian puncher Breidis Prescott in the fall of 2008 as proof.
Those with logic will concede that Khan has grown tremendously as a fighter since that debacle yet Judah still has several questions that he would like to ask the 24-year old.
"July 23rd is about this; what can you bring as far as your skills? What can you bring as far as your brains? What can you bring as far as your knowledge of boxing? What can you do inside that square ring? What do you do when you look across that ring and there's a hungry lion named Zab 'Super' Judah looking you dead in the eye, anxious for the bell to go bing? You either fold or you play cards. I'm going to play to win," Zab stated with confidence.
Interestingly enough, when I spoke to Judah last month before the Khan signing he didn't seem too interested in the bout at the time, instead turning his attention to Amir's stable mate Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino star is getting ready for a November 12th date of his own against Juan Manuel Marquez and Judah fully believes that when the dust will have settled that trainer Freddie Roach, who works with both Khan and Pacquiao, will simply want nothing more to do with him.
"I plan to be [Khan's] worst nightmare. After this fight I plan on Team Khan having a 62-hour watch on Amir Khan. I plan on being the Freddie Kreuger of his dreams. I'm pretty sure after this fight Freddie Roach would never put his golden boy and marquee fighter, which is Manny Pacquiao, against me in the ring."
Source: http://www.examiner.com
Now into his sixteenth year as a professional, Judah doesn't seem to mind the path he has traveled one bit.
"I'm from Brooklyn, I don't have a problem taking the long, hard, grinding road. I wasn't the golden boy. I wasn't the guy always in the light, the guy always first picked, but somehow I made my way back to the top," stated Judah in a recent statement to the press.
His outstanding skills always evident, Judah has had notable moments in his fights, even in his losses, yet has seemed to fall short when facing boxing's elite. But while Khan has an abundance of upside, there are those who still aren't completely sold on the British star, pointing to his first round meltdown against Columbian puncher Breidis Prescott in the fall of 2008 as proof.
Those with logic will concede that Khan has grown tremendously as a fighter since that debacle yet Judah still has several questions that he would like to ask the 24-year old.
"July 23rd is about this; what can you bring as far as your skills? What can you bring as far as your brains? What can you bring as far as your knowledge of boxing? What can you do inside that square ring? What do you do when you look across that ring and there's a hungry lion named Zab 'Super' Judah looking you dead in the eye, anxious for the bell to go bing? You either fold or you play cards. I'm going to play to win," Zab stated with confidence.
Interestingly enough, when I spoke to Judah last month before the Khan signing he didn't seem too interested in the bout at the time, instead turning his attention to Amir's stable mate Manny Pacquiao. The Filipino star is getting ready for a November 12th date of his own against Juan Manuel Marquez and Judah fully believes that when the dust will have settled that trainer Freddie Roach, who works with both Khan and Pacquiao, will simply want nothing more to do with him.
"I plan to be [Khan's] worst nightmare. After this fight I plan on Team Khan having a 62-hour watch on Amir Khan. I plan on being the Freddie Kreuger of his dreams. I'm pretty sure after this fight Freddie Roach would never put his golden boy and marquee fighter, which is Manny Pacquiao, against me in the ring."
