How good could Zab have been... if?

[terrorsid]

shit judah is one of my favorite fighters he's entertaining win or lose

[J_Undisputed]

Its kind of hard to say. Skill wise,he had a natural talent for evading punches. He had good power, a low center of gravity. His chin would always be a problem, but with the right training and ring savvy, it could have been protected.
At heart Zabs a knucklehead and you could see it in some of the things he did even early on. He had good influences around him early on in Lou Duva and Ronnie Shields. They kept him humble for the most part and on a path when things went a little crazy in the ring (Like the piledriver he got from Wilfredo Negron).. Reminded him to use his skills and what he worked for in the gym and stuff like vengeance and anger would take care of themselves with the opportunity presented itself. They provided a frame for him and structure. He used to stutter really badly in the beginning and but never hesitated in the ring. It was part of him defining himself and coming into his own.
When he got close to a title fight and left Ronnie and Lou and put his father in the corner. He started getting knocked down. Not training as hard and the knucklehead tendencies became reinforced by his knucklehead father. You could tell he didn't train that hard and was dismissive of the thought of preparing like he used to and his father convinced him it was all skill and he could do whatever he wanted to his opponents. So he started stepping straight back with his hands down (Tszyu, Millet) and hitting fighters when they were already down (David Sample) ... all these things that showed lack of discipline. Theres 2 schools of thought on this... He was knuckle head who's level of competition caught up to him when it got stiffer .... or he started preparing down to his level of competition because he didn't feel he had to try as hard; a bad attitude uncaged and reinforced by his father in desire to keep the money in the family.
Looking at the later fights that he lost but still performed well early on in, like people mentioned above... kind of discredits the first theory. Considering the same kind of drop off (except on the scales) that David Tua suffered after he left Ronnie and Lou (who always tried to keep him somewhere near 220lbs).. it also lends credibility to the second theory.

Guided by Lou and Ronnie, Zab could have been something special... Lou had Sweet Pea so its easy to say he knew how far he could take Zab and who to keep him away from and how to handle the people he had to go through. Ronnie's also a good trainer and could have taken Zab the Rest of the way when Lou couldn't get up for the physical stuff. But this is all dependent on how long and far they could have kept Zab away from being a knucklehead, knowing he would be around that kind of influence every day with his dad and the people he hung around with. Its all dependent on that. (To those saying Zab beat Spinks with his dad in his corner... Even a blind chicken finds a worm sometimes...) Just my opinion of course... I could be wrong.

[Dizaster]

Haha, I knew I was open to the whole, what if he was a totally different fighter thing... What if you took someone's brain and planted it in this person with their skills...

I guess where I was thinking of it from is that there have been fighters who have had the mindset to be a superstar and have given it everything they possibly could, but the skill level or athleticism just wasn't there for them to become real champions...

Where as you see the skill aspect in Zab and glimpses of a style that could rock most fighters, but just a very lazy brain... It was almost as if he had a motivation/concentration meter that slowly got sapped down after each punch he took....
Completely opposite to most Mexican fighters where they take a punch and their physical bodies can wear out throughout a fight, but their minds are still as intent as they were when the opening bell rang to knock their opponents out..

But alas, he had a long career with enough opportunities to come good, but he couldn't get it together, or get a team around him who could straighten him out, so he's another nearly great fighter....

[DaxxKahn]

Physically he had all the tools you could ask for....Speed, decent power, good foot movement, Zab could have been a major major player in this nsport if he was able or taught how to compose himself....A shame really

[Majesty]

Zab Judah is the Lebron James of boxing. Batman skillset, Robin mentality.

[killersheep]

Zab Judah is the Lebron James of boxing. Batman skillset, Robin mentality.

I'd say he's more like Larry Bird, not for any reason really except I don't understand the comparison at all.

[amat]

Majesty?! I'm not trying to debate basketball here but that was inexcusably bad. If you said Zab was the Tracy McGrady of boxing then yea you would have a more valid point. Oh well, gah that one was frustrating.

Zab is an extremely talented fighter, obviously we know now that it was foolish for some like those on ESPN to call him Pernell Whitaker with power like they did early on. Zab's problem was that he was sooo fast, one of the fastest punchers ever that he never really grew his skillset beyond that. He still made to many mistakes and that's what cost him against the top flight opposition. Stupid mistakes like pulling straight backwards, dropping his hands after punches, never figuring out a solution to stop those right hands, loading up on single punches to much, ect. Basically he fought a lot of times like he was a knucklehead or disinterested. It culminated with the loss to Baldomir where imo he got something taken from him that he would never get back, his momentum and psyche were shot to shit at that point.

Beating Amir Khan will get it back though

But honestly Majesty, HONESTLY?!??! Did you immediately regret typing that afterwards? I hope so...

[Majesty]

Majesty?! I'm not trying to debate basketball here but that was inexcusably bad. If you said Zab was the Tracy McGrady of boxing then yea you would have a more valid point. Oh well, gah that one was frustrating.

Zab is an extremely talented fighter, obviously we know now that it was foolish for some like those on ESPN to call him Pernell Whitaker with power like they did early on. Zab's problem was that he was sooo fast, one of the fastest punchers ever that he never really grew his skillset beyond that. He still made to many mistakes and that's what cost him against the top flight opposition. Stupid mistakes like pulling straight backwards, dropping his hands after punches, never figuring out a solution to stop those right hands, loading up on single punches to much, ect. Basically he fought a lot of times like he was a knucklehead or disinterested. It culminated with the loss to Baldomir where imo he got something taken from him that he would never get back, his momentum and psyche were shot to shit at that point.

Beating Amir Khan will get it back though

But honestly Majesty, HONESTLY?!??! Did you immediately regret typing that afterwards? I hope so...

No, he is exactly like LeBron James.

LeBron James is made for the regular season, he has the best stats and mvp etc etc all that stuff. But when the post season comes, and he has to step up and its do or die, he doesn't show up or he chokes and they lose. Yet he was hyped like he was gonna be the next Michael Jordan yet he isn't even close he's been in the league 7 years only been to the finals once and got swept and hasn't even won the eastern conference since then. LeBron has all the skills in the world, but he doesn't have the killer instinct that Jordan, or Kobe, or Magic or Byrd had. Batman skills, Robin mentality.

Zab Judah is just like that, he is made for the "regular season" of boxing. He can show you all the talent get all the accolades, but then when the post season comes, as in when he is in a fight where he has to step up, dig deep or go do or die, he 'doesn't show up' or he chokes and he loses. Yet he was hyped like he was gonna be the next phenom in boxing but he hasn't been anywhere close to that. Zab has all the skills in the world, but he doesn't have the mentality if a Floyd Mayweather, of a Pernell Whitaker or all the greats they tried to put him in a class with before he'd even accomplished anything. Batman skills, Robin mentality.


That's why I make that comparison, and it should make sense.

[amat]

Ah shit, Majesty's delusions forgot to make me include this.

A FOCUSED Zab is going to beat anyone in the division.

[angsyga]

JUdah's frame of mine is always whack. His focus is not there. He is what he is, a middle of the pack boxer.

[uwey]

IMA Zab Judah talent was maxed out. he only lost to 1 fighter that he was suppose to beat. that was Baldimir. Mayweather was to skilled for him on his best day. Cotto was to powerful,did u see how thick Cotto looked compared to Zab in that fighter. Zab couldnt stand that power on his best day. Clottey was to powerful. Kosta caught him good. He only lost to supreme fighters except Baldimir. Way to small for Margo or Williams. Shane would have beat him. Oscar also. Yall act like this guy was some supreme talent with size and power. Who else could he have fought and beat. The guy is good but only a top 10 fighter. He was only equal or smaller then all those fighters. Yall must have seen something in this fighter that i didnt see.