Zab Judah: A career of missed opportunity?

[eagle]

Now before i start i've gotta admit to not being a big fan of Zab. But in saying that i think he has terrific speed and ability, and could still be a top P4P guy. I feel he probably would be if he was just a tad smarter.
The first thing he did wrong was take Kostya tszyu too lightly. I feel Zab could have won theat fight if he'd thought it thru more. After a dominant first round he didnt press home his advantage and let kt back into the fight. Then when he got knocked down instead of taking a knee he tried to be macho and get up quickly. Which lead to his downfall.
He also made mistakes against Spinks and Baldomir which were two fights he should have won.
The Cotto fight is his last chance to show the world just how good he is. A win and his name is back up with the big boys, a loss and he may be cast off to the life of a journeyman, and seen by all as a waste of talent.

Anyone got thoughts on Zab, and do you guys think he'll be switched on enough to beat cotto. He certainly has the ability.

[Unknowndonor]

It's always a crap shoot with Zab. Which Zab shows up?


Would the real Zab Judah, Please stand up.

[eagle]

Surely he has to be up for this tho right? Otherwise his claim to fame will be the only guy to have done a chicken dance in a world title bout.......

Bit harsh but in reality he has the talent to be a great fighter, much more than he already is.

[Unknowndonor]

Surely he has to be up for this tho right? Otherwise his claim to fame will be the only guy to have done a chicken dance in a world title bout.......

Bit harsh but in reality he has the talent to be a great fighter, much more than he already is.

He sounds like he's ready, from the interviews. And he's actually promoting a little without over-doing it. He better let it all hang out. But still, it's a crap shoot at best with Zab.

[THE THIRD MAN]

You can say that again! Zab has all the ability that any fighter could wish for, what he doesn't have is the smarts! Floyd is a smart thinker in the ring, Zab isn't and he never learns his lesson.
Who knows which Zab will turn up against Cotto, Miguel Cotto won't know himself!
A career of missed opportunity? You betcha! He could have the fight of his life and beat Cotto or be kissing the canvas by round 2. This is his last chance come June 9th. Who knows?

[eagle]

You can say that again! Zab has all the ability that any fighter could wish for, what he doesn't have is the smarts! Floyd is a smart thinker in the ring, Zab isn't and he never learns his lesson.
Who knows which Zab will turn up against Cotto, Miguel Cotto won't know himself!
A career of missed opportunity? You betcha! He could have the fight of his life and beat Cotto or be kissing the canvas by round 2. This is his last chance come June 9th. Who knows?

Does he need new trainers around him to get his head right?

[SweetPea]

Does he need new trainers around him to get his head right?

I don't think that would make a big difference.
A trainer can come up with a good gameplan, a trainer can correct your technical flaws, etc.

A trainer can't give you intangibles. A trainer can't give you the ability to fight thru adversity, to come back strong when things aren't go your way, etc.

Zab has great talent, but he lacks the intangibles that the great ones have.... and that's why he'll never live up to his potential.
He could still upset Cotto though....

[amat]

Zab has been at a stalemate since he fought Tszyu. He had progressed nicely and everything but still had prospect tendencies like dropping his hands, looping shots while coming in, backing straight out ect. Well, Tszyu took advantage of it. OK, he was still a bit green. But he has not fixed any of those bad habits, it's like he's still green. He's been given the fight of his life time and time again, and just never learned. Not to mention the intangibles that SP alluded to. I think he's a wasted talent. I don't think there are many versions of Zab some claim, it's just Zab. Speed, power, athleticism all coupled with bad habits, lack of intangibles and a fucked up promoter

[ICB]

I don't see how he could of really done any better in his career only against Spinks and Carlos but others he would of lost to even if he could of kept his composure for whole fight.

[eagle]

I don't see how he could of really done any better in his career only against Spinks and Carlos but others he would of lost to even if he could of kept his composure for whole fight.

He had KT in deep trouble in the first round and if he'd kept fighting like that he could have got a decision but instead showboated a little and got cracked. Snd KT is my favourite boxer

[ICB]

I don't see how he could of really done any better in his career only against Spinks and Carlos but others he would of lost to even if he could of kept his composure for whole fight.

He had KT in deep trouble in the first round and if he'd kept fighting like that he could have got a decision but instead showboated a little and got cracked. Snd KT is my favourite boxer

Thats 1 round though i mean Tony Tucker has good first round vs Tyson he still lost Judah would of lost to Kostya even if he wouldn't of been cocky i mean Kostya was on his way to winning round 2 anyway and like i said except for maybe 2 fights i don't see how Zab really could of done any better in his career.

[Ice Man]

I don't see zab as a "wasted talent" nor even a "wasted career". I think Zab is getting a bad wrap b/c we haven't seen him win since 2005(?) which was only two fights. People (it seems) to have a "recent" memory. Not to acknowledge that Zab only has been stopped once in a fight, Held his own against the best P4P fighter in the world (seemed to do better than Oscar in the beginning of the fight, by actually hitting Floyd). And that Zab is 11-4 (9 KO) in Championship fights (not the best, but pretty good). Have we forgotten that Zab defeated Mickey Ward, Terron Millet, the akward Junior Witter (who is undefeated since the Zab fight, i think ) the rugged Cosme Riverea, and Demarcus Corley...so, yeah zab lost his last two fights, shit happens, but that cannot erase a good career.

peace

[eagle]

I don't see zab as a "wasted talent" nor even a "wasted career". I think Zab is getting a bad wrap b/c we haven't seen him win since 2005(?) which was only two fights. People (it seems) to have a "recent" memory. Not to acknowledge that Zab only has been stopped once in a fight, Held his own against the best P4P fighter in the world (seemed to do better than Oscar in the beginning of the fight, by actually hitting Floyd). And that Zab is 11-4 (9 KO) in Championship fights (not the best, but pretty good). Have we forgotten that Zab defeated Mickey Ward, Terron Millet, the akward Junior Witter (who is undefeated since the Zab fight, i think ) the rugged Cosme Riverea, and Demarcus Corley...so, yeah zab lost his last two fights, S*** happens, but that cannot erase a good career.

peace

So u dont think Zab could have done better given his great talent?

[Ice Man]

in a word, yes. He still shouldn't have lost to Baldomir

[amat]

I don't see zab as a "wasted talent" nor even a "wasted career". I think Zab is getting a bad wrap b/c we haven't seen him win since 2005(?) which was only two fights.

Well yeah but he lost those fights because he gave up on himself which is far from encouraging.

People (it seems) to have a "recent" memory. Not to acknowledge that Zab only has been stopped once in a fight,

Yeah but how many more times has he just shut down? He shut down versus Pineda, Baldomir and Mayweather and could have been stopped in all of them imo.

Held his own against the best P4P fighter in the world (seemed to do better than Oscar in the beginning of the fight, by actually hitting Floyd).

Floyd was just figuring him out those first 3 rounds, and besides, the whole thing is he completely shut down when faced with any adversity. IMO, he did not hold his own at all.

And that Zab is 11-4 (9 KO) in Championship fights (not the best, but pretty good).

Only 1 of those wins is against anyone anywhere near the top 10 of the division, Spinks.

Have we forgotten that Zab defeated Mickey Ward, Terron Millet, the akward Junior Witter (who is undefeated since the Zab fight, i think ) the rugged Cosme Riverea, and Demarcus Corley...so, yeah zab lost his last two fights, shit happens, but that cannot erase a good career.

That list in itself is not bad until you realize Zab is so damn talented and that only 3 of those names are worth anything and they still don't account for much when you realize how much talent Zab has.