Zab had a Plan from the Start.

Zab “Super” Judah is the ideal definition of rebuilding from the bottom and ending up on top. Boxing and the welterweight division have evolved over the last few years and Judah has much to do with this. When Judah had the pleasure of fighting Kostya Tszyu in the junior welterweight division, I really had Judah handing Tszyu an extremely difficult fight. At the surprise of skills and patience, Tszyu landed a shot that made it to the SaddoBoxing homepage’s upper left hand section. Judah jumped up; his mind wanting to walk one direction but his body was pursuing another path and you could see Judah suffering from the result of a crispy clean power shot. This was Judah’s first professional test and it proved to be a concrete lesson on his conquest to rescue his once promising career. Yes, Judah displayed immature behavior and an attitude and even went as low as tossing his corner stool at the referee. That was a major fight with all three major belts on the line and as upsetting as it may have seemed, it was not Judah’s time to wear his crown.

The sanctioning bodies dealt with Judah’s disrespect in an acceptable fashion and from there, some wondered if that one blow, not only the loss, but also the blow, would have an impact on this young fighter’s belief system. It may seem minor, but some fighters are shadows of their former combatant selves and you can attribute that to taking a heavy shot. Questioning your own skills, ring bashfulness and trying to prove everybody else’s new opinion of you wrong can all play serious mental games with you. Judah had to endure all of this; he holds a reputation of bravado and cockiness, a level below Floyd Mayweather Jr. At times, Judah is even overlooked when people decide to test the debate waters and mention his name, usually following with a, “Yeah, I forgot all about Judah, make him number five.”

Judah has been a man with outstanding skills, even during his early days when Pernell Whitaker would be at the ringside. Labels and indications were placed on him to be the next Whitaker with power in his punches. Judah has outstanding boxing skills, and like Mayweather Jr., he shares the pedigree of a boxing family. In time, I often wonder that if the Tszyu lesson did not land on Judah’s doorstep, would he be as loud as Mayweather. After losing to Tszyu, the outcome of his rudeness pushed him into a mini vacation and this would give him time to rediscover his original plan on becoming a king in the boxing world.

Omar Weis was Judah’s opponent after the Tszyu fight, and it was a proper choice in selection. Judah had a chance to box and pulled out a win through decision. He advanced his level of competition by taking on a respectable fighter, DeMarcus Corley and again, no easy knockout, just a match to instill Judah on the basics of boxing: the more rounds you fight, the better you become. However, all that seemed unimportant when the Cory Spinks fight landed in Judah’s hands. He did not seem to be there and he allowed Spinks to dictate the fight. Somewhere there, Judah realized the key towards beating Spinks; it happened too late, towards the end of the fight, when Judah introduced Spinks to some powerful shots.

Did Judah complain? No. He packed his desire up and entered the ring with Rafael Pineda, followed by Wayne Martell. He coasted on a scorecard win by defeating Pineda, while putting a nice show of knockout punches on Martell. The union of applying himself and using patience were starting to pay off for Judah. Now, compare this to his lack of thoughts around the fight with Tszyu; his maturity, compared to then, has risen to a polite and humble level.

Judah’s next match was the true testament to his hard work; the match he had been waiting for and wanted more next to the Tszyu match: the rematch with Spinks. He even accepted the match in Spinks’ hometown of St. Louis, Missouri and received a lesser purse. In that fight, we witnessed the traces of skill we used to see during Judah’s early days in his professional career. He was confident, on point and surrounded himself with a win and three belts and on top of that, he earned it with a TKO.

Now, the determined Judah is back, and he finally realized that he was too young to suffer from boredom and lack of challenges in a sport he was raised to love. He has all three belts and the first choice on whom and what will come his way. One of the best to ever do it, Whitaker is in Judah’s corner to offer him priceless wisdom on the sweet science. It is always admirable to see the former greats donate support to the next generation.

Judah is limitless now, with the openings of starting his legacy right before him. We have the future outcomes of Judah going up against Shane Mosley, Oscar de la Hoya, Antonio Margarito, and all of the gifted junior welterweights who might be looking upwards for a match; the champion is always in the eyesight of the hungry. There is a sound in the boxing world that Sharmba Mitchell is the next quality foe to enter the ring with Judah, and this will be a test for both fighters, so the results could be breathtaking. If the fight pans out as I am wishing it to, this will be Judah’s third fight in 2005. You have to allow yourself into the ring with Judah and marvel at his bright and intense comeback.

Shaun Rico LaWhorn can be reached at filmmaking_mentality@msn.com