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Showing the heart of a lion, Zab Judah came off the canvas to win a razor close split decision on Saturday at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, over previously undefeated Lucas Matthysse of Argentina. Judah won the bout by scores of 114-113 twice while Matthyse won on the third judge’s card 114-113.
The victory sets up a possible light welterweight match against Kaiser Mabuza of South Africa for the IBF title being vacated by Devon Alexander, who also holds the WBC title.
“It’s been ten weeks of hard training. I’ll take some time off and meet with my team now, and we’ll consider all of our options,” explained Judah at the post fight press conference.
By his own admission in the post-fight press conference, Matthyse followed his corner’s strategy and fought the first five rounds overly cautiously, taking no chances. The strategy proved disastrous winning only one round of the first five on one judge’s scorecard. If he had only won one more round on either of the three judge’s scorecards in the first five rounds, this fight would have been his for the taking.
“If this bout were held in Argentina or anywhere else worldwide, I would have got the decision. I was robbed. I want a rematch, “stated Matthyse at the post- fight press conference. “No rematch,” replied Judah. “We’re (the Judah team) moving on from this bout.”
Matthyse, now 27-1-1 (25), was unable to win for the second time in two trips to the United States. A September 2008 bout in Texas with Rogelio Casteneda Jr. ended in a three round no contest after Casteneda was cut by an accidental head butt.
Judah, now 40-6 (27), was in his second bout at light welterweight. Judah’s problem was he almost did not make it out of this bout. In contrast to the start of the bout, from rounds 9 through 12, Judah won only one round on one judge’s scorecard as Matthyse came forward and applied furious pressure with vicious body shots. Judah had the stamina to last 12 rounds, but only boxed as an eight round fighter.
Matthyse decked Judah in the tenth round and had him in serious trouble, surprising the crowd by picking up the tempo over the last four rounds. Judah was in serious trouble. Matthyse’ second major mistake was in not putting Judah away, as Judah offered no more than a punch or two of significance over the last four rounds. Many ringside reporters scored Matthyse the winner, but there was wide disagreement over the scoring of the bout.
Part of the problem was many of the rounds were close and perhaps could have been scored evenly, but none of the three judges scored an even round! One consideration of press at ringside was the three judges could have each viewed the bout from three different angles. However, all three scorecards came out 114-113, and as promoter Kathy Duva noted, the bout was scored relatively the same by the judges at ringside, give or take a round or two.
Breakdown of the Fight
In the first round, both fighters moved in circles around the ring. Zab threw right jabs. Matthyse countered with left jabs. Zab landed a bit more in the first half of the round, winning the round. Both fighters were cautious.
In the second round, Zab came forward, while Matthyse moved side to side. The crowd booed the lacked of action. The fighters settled in center ring. Both fighters traded attempts, but nothing scored. The crowd booed again. Even round.
In the third round, Judah attempted to use his height and reach advantage by throwing a lot of jabs at Matthyse’ head. Matthyse landed a straight right. Zab landed a good left uppercut, but nothing else. The bout grew boring. Even round.
During the fourth round, a cut appeared on the corner of Zab’s left eye which did not affect his vision. Both fighters traded cautious jabs. Both fighters traded a few punches in exchanges near the end of the round, but the punches lacked power. Both fighters appeared to be conserving energy. Even round.
In the fifth round, both fighters jabbed in center ring as the crowd booed. Zab landed a right hook followed by a straight left, not enough to win another cautious even round.
In the sixth round, Matthyse continued fighting a smart fight, matching Zab’s speed and tempo, punch for punch. Jab appeared to lack a knockout punch and sensing this, Matthyse became more active with his jab, landing several good body shots. Matthyse wins the round.
In the seventh round, there were a number of clinches. Zab landed a counter left to the head of Matthyse, who answered with a straight right. All jabs thrown by both fighters were hitting gloves. The crowd booed the end of the round. Even round.
In the eighth round, Matthyse accidentally head butted Judah, who was coming in low. Judah landed several effective straight lefts. Matthyse and Judah butted again. The referee checked to make sure no cuts resulted from the butt. The crowd loudly booed the butts and the brief stoppage in the action. Zab landed a left-right combination to the head, and continued landing more jabs than Matthyse to win the round. Judah’s round.
In the ninth round, Matthyse landed a left-right on Judah with Judah on the ropes. Judah got out of there, not the place to be a sitting duck. Matthyse got warned for an unintentional low blow on the border. Matthyse began landing ripping shots to the body, straight hands, left hooks, and right uppercuts, his best round of the fight, backing up Zab, who did not land any counters. Matthyse wins the round.
In the tenth round, Matthyse walked Judah down and tried to cut off the ring, landing ripping power shots to the body. A right shot dropped Judah along the ropes, which beat the count, but was clearly in trouble. Judah held wherever possible to avoid danger, and landed one good left uppercut. Matthyse wins the round.
In the eleventh round, Judah, in trouble, kept holding. Matthyse came forward aggressively landing ripping power shots, and tried to cut off the ring. Judah landed only one good left-right. Matthyse countered and Judah fell to the canvas, ruled a push. Matthyse wins the round.
In the twelfth round, both fighters were warned for hitting behind the head. Jab trying to hold on. A straight right by Matthyse starred Judah across the ring. Matthyse came forward aggressively throwing punches to win the round. Zab landed only one good straight left, but nothing else. Matthyse wins the round.
It can be said the even rounds were very close, and perhaps some of them could have gone either way, an advantage perhaps favoring Judah. Judging appeared fair, and as stated earlier, if Matthyse had come out aggressively in this bout and won one more round in the first five rounds, instead of fighting reserved as his corner had instructed,
Matthyse would have won.
“He (Lucas) did good. He’s the hardest puncher I’ve ever fought, (punching) like cinder blocks. But he cannot lose the first five rounds and still claim you won the bout. My jab kept him off balance. I did ten weeks of hard training. In the past, I relied on my natural abilities. My hard work paid off. My corner was good. When you have faith, there’s nothing you can’t do,” noted Judah.
Judah continued, “I weighed 143 pounds (entering the ring), Matthyse was 155. He was a solid welterweight, very strong. You’ll see a lot more from him in the future. Mabuza in South Africa? That’s a long flight. I have to sit down with team Judah and make the next decision. This was a good victory. I fought a solid, strong fighter. The other fighters in the division are boxers who go the distance, but they won’t beat this guy. Matthyse threw killer punches; he was looking strictly for the knockout.”
Matthyse was simple direct in his view of the bout. “I believe I won, everyone saw I won,” he told the press with an air of disappointment. “LA drones!” (I was robbed, in Spanish).”He got a hometown decision. I would fight a rematch.”
In an all-California war fought on the East coast between two fighters of Mexican descent, world ranked lightweight Robert Guerrero of Gilroy, Georgia, went to 28-1-1 (18), with a 12 round unanimous decision over Vicente Escobedo of Woodland, California. Guerrero landed crisp one-two head and body shot combinations, and also left-right body head combinations, forcing Escobedo to hold on whenever he was in trouble.
Escobedo landed power lefts and counter power lefts in exchanges. Escobedo went down in the third while Guerrero went down from a push in the fourth. Escobedo slipped to the canvas in the fourth during an exchange. Guerrero landed enough head and body power shots with both hands that had evil intent that Escobedo frequently held on when he was close to being in trouble. Escobedo was knocked down again by a left uppercut in the sixth.
In the later rounds, Guerrero waged a foot war, frequently stepping on Escobedo’s left foot with his left foot, preventing Escobedo from pivoting and countering. Guerrero picked Escobedo apart with both hands in heated exchanges. Occasionally Escobedo landed some clubbing power right left combinations on Guerrero’s left forehead to keep it interesting. Escobedo’s left ear was red and the corner of his right eye was cut. Guerrero was cut under the right eye. Escobedo’s best rounds were the ninth and the tenth, which he won with power right left combinations to the head and body as Guerrero hung on.
Guerrero landed more often to win this bout. Escobedo flashed a good overhand right, but it did not land enough for him to win Saddooxing had Guerrero winning 97-92, winning rounds 1, 2, 3 (10-8), 5, 6 (10-8) and 8, seventh round even, rounds 4, 9 and 10 to Escobedo. One happy note for Escobedo: after the bout ended, he got on his knees and lovingly proposed marriage to his fiancée and she accepted, congratulated by Guerrero and ring announcer Mike Buffer and everyone else in the ring.
Scoring: 100-88, 98-90 and 96-92 for Guerrero
Other Bouts
A scheduled heavyweight bout between 6’7″ 263 pound Polish heavyweight prospect Marius Wach of Krakow, Poland, 22-0, 10 kayos, did not take place because the scheduled opponent, Kevin Burnett of Miami, Florida, was a no-show and no substitute fighter could be located at the eleventh hour. “Burnett just didn’t show,” noted promoter Kathy Duva.
Junior lightweight prospect Adrien Broner, Cincinnati, Ohio, now 18-0 (15), scored a TKO at 1:34 of the first round by disposing of an overweight out-of-shape Ilido Julio, a Columbian out of Miami, Florida, age 39, now 40-20-1 (35). Julio, once a world class flyweight, did not appear to train for this bout. Julio appeared in trouble with the first body shot Broner hit him with, and went down twice from left-right combinations to the body. The bout could have ended in tragedy. Time of stoppage was 1:34 of first round.
Former U.S. Olympian and welterweight prospect Sadam Ali of Brooklyn, New York, went to 10-0 (6), with a second round stoppage of Gary Bergeron of New Orleans, Louisiana, now 12-7 (7). Bergeron made faces at the weigh in and all during the brief bout, peering from between his upraised gloves to try to get Ali mad.
In an unsuccessful twist, Bergeron’s attempt to use the ‘rope-a-dope’ strategy against Ali failed. Ali threw left-right combinations to the body, and left jabs to the head, and finally decked the ridiculous Bergeron late in the first with a thunderous left hook.
Bergeron tried to hold on in the second round, but Ali, who outclassed his foe, would not go for the nonsense, pushing Bergeron to the canvas instead when he tried to clinch. Ali dropped Bergeron again with a left uppercut. An Ali vicious right-left hook combination on Bergeron ended matters at 2:17 of the second round.
Light heavyweight Angel Concepcion of Newark, New Jersey, 3-0, won a four round unanimous decision over Maurice Amaro, 1-3, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The scoring was 40-36 from all three judges. Amaro had no right hand, enabling Concepcion to hold his left hand low, knowing Amaro could not get inside on him. Concepcion threw left-right power shot combinations to the body and straight punches to head with precision.
Junior lightweight Mike Brooks, Long Island, New York, went to 3-0 (1), with a four round unanimous decision over Kywayne Bell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1-6 (1).
Brooks landed left-right combinations to the body, but also missed wildly at times as his reach was short. Brooks came forward and walked down journeyman Hill, a survivor. Brooks lacked the power to put Hill away, as Hill was backed up and hit almost at will.
Scoring was 40-36 from all three judges, all for Brooks.
Junior middleweight Bastie Samir of Las Vegas, Nevada, went to 6-0 (6), with a first round stoppage at 2:47 of Damion Reed, Reidsville, North Carolina, 2-4 (1). Samir used left hooks to the body to score four knockdowns on his limited foe.
Welterweight Mikael Zewski, Trois-Rivers, Canada, went to 5-0 (4), with a four round unanimous decision over Ardrick Butler, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, now 5-3 (2). Zewski, a durable, patient fighter, threw power punches, picking his shots well.
Scoring was 40-36 from all three judges all for Zewski.
Junior lightweight Tyrone Luckey of Middletown, New Jersey went to 2-0 (1), with a third round stoppage of game but outmatched Alex Montes of San Juan, Puerto Rico, now 1-2. Montes dropped Broner early in the first for a flash knockdown with a left hook. Luckey got up and staggered Montes with left hooks.
Luckey worked his left jab consistently to the head of Montes in the second round, with good defense. Luckey dropped Montes with a straight left to the head, and then a second time with a straight left to the head. In the third round, Luckey’s left jab battered Montes senseless. A double left hook by Luckey dropped Montes. Luckey then went in for the kill with nonstop flurries as the defense of Montes caved in. Time of the stoppage was 2:55 of round three.
According to Luckey, “I had to regain my composure and get back up in the first. I was down a point so I put pressure on him. Once I got comfortable, I knew he was going to walk into my straight right or left hook in exchanges. Once I started weakening the body, I came right back upstairs with some punches till Montes folded.”
Local lightweight Mike Perez of Newark, New Jersey, went to 10-0-1 (4), with a first round stoppage of Hevinson Herrera of Miami, Florida, 14-7-1 (12). Perez landed a left hook to the head, left hook to the body, left hook to the head, and Herrera went down. Herrera beat the count but was out on his feat. Time was 1:02 of the first.
