Quote Originally Posted by p4pking View Post
Quote Originally Posted by Dizaster View Post
I think Zab has the tools, he just doesn't take full advantage of them, and mentally drops the ball at crucial times during fights...

That IS a tool though, when you are using the term so generally. Being able to focus on your opponent and pace yourself etc. is so important. Of course Zab Judah is more athletic than Ricky Hatton, hell I have friends that are. It would be like me saying I have all the tools to beat Margarito because I'm faster and more coordinated than he is, I just couldn't take advantage of it. The sheer fact Zab is still around is a huge testament to his athletecism, as he literally is missing the entire mental part of the sport.
I think that was I was saying? Wasn't it.. Anyway, i'm sure we are on the same track... Watching him in fights, you can see that spark at different times throughout, that isn't hard to picture turning into a fire and really getting at his opponents and hurting him.. But his mindset and determination is what would turn that spark into the fire, and it never happens.. So we can watch a fighter that's 90% there and root for him, but it just doesn't happen...
Perhaps we could say Zab is missing the essential tool to beat the opponents who skill & athleticism wise, he is up to...

Like, there are plenty of fights where you say, that guy gave it his all mentally and physically, and just plain old came up short.. But he put everything he had in.... It's hard to finish with that feeling after a Zab loss.. You're left sitting there thinking, if he just did this or that,,, if he took advantage of that thing that he was clearly winning out with in that 3rd round, etc.... You can 'see' how he could have won..... You're not saying, hell he fought his best throughout the whole fight,,, but just came up against someone who was better than him in the end....

Another of the thousands of things that seperates the true remembered legends, from the guys that scrape the top for only a brief time, and spend the rest of the time hanging on trying not to fall..