Zab Judah, at 35, is Inspired By Marquez and Hopkins

By Mike Coppinger

Zab Judah has been left for dead more times than anyone can count at this point. But he fights on and has another big opportunity on April 27 when he takes on unified junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia at Barclays Center in his hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. on Showtime.

"I’m very overwhelmed to be able to go in there for the first time and represent for my people," said Judah, whose win over Vernon Paris last March was his first fight in Brooklyn, though that bout was at the small Aviator Arena. "Kids that I went to First Grade with, kids I was in the projects with, people I knew from incarceration. People from all over the world are going to come and support and it’s in my hometown, my backyard. I feel very blessed to be doing this; I work so hard to give people the great, spectacular Super Judah that they want to see."

Judah is written off time and again, failing to win in his very biggest fights. But his win over Lucas Matthysse, though it was a controversial decision, shows that he still has plenty left in the tank and is ready for another puncher in Garcia.

“I went 12 rounds with Lucas Matthysse, one of the biggest, strongest junior welterweights out there. I went 12 rounds with Floyd (Mayweather)," said Judah, who now lives in Las Vegas.  "When people say (I’m past my prime), what does that really mean? It’s an opinion. … Never let no one dictate your pace of life. Especially someone that wakes up and puts their pants on one leg before the other just like you do. How can they tell you that you’re done or you’re finished?

“I’m just having fun. The day I wake up and I gotta go running or I gotta go to the gym and spar and my body tells me I can’t do it no more, then that will be the time I give it up. But I watch guys like (Juan) Manuel Marquez at 40-years-old knock one of the top pound-for-pound fighters out with one punch. I watch guys like Bernard Hopkins going on 50 years old still campaigning at the top level of the sport of boxing. Of course I don’t want to go as long as those guys. But I’m 35, I m fine."