By Chris Robinson
With his challenge of WBA/WBC junior welterweight champion Danny Garcia now a month away, Zab Judah continues to push forward with his training camp in Las Vegas at the UFC Gym.
Fighting in his hometown, as he will be facing Garcia inside of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, the 35-year old Judah seems to be relishing the chance to pull off an upset over one of boxing’s rising stars.
Following seven tough rounds of sparring with Canadian welterweight prospect Steve Claggett (15-1-1, 10 KO’s) and talented amateur Kirk Bills, Judah and I spoke in-depth about how much he has been studying up on Garcia, how Danny stacks up against his past opponents, the importance of having the fight in Brooklyn, and what to expect on February 9th.
This is what Zab had to share…
The importance of sparring…
“Well, I think the same preparation for each fight is very important. I think that everybody has to spar and see different styles and things like that. But it’s coming along great though.”
Admitting to studying up on Danny Garcia…
“Yeah, yeah. I’m a potential stalker now. I know everything about the boy. I know everything about him. I know where his school was at, who his classmates were, everything. But on a boxing note, I’m prepared. I’m ready. Danny Garcia doesn’t bring nothing to the ring that Zab Judah has never seen before. I’m very mentally and physically prepared for this situation.”
Comparing Garcia to his previous opponents…
“We can’t say that yet. I fought some pretty elite, top-notch fighters. So far, on paper, he doesn’t match up with any of the guys that I fought, but he is a champion and we’re looking at him like he’s King Kong and we are preparing for King Kong. A lot of time, when you prepare for an unhuman, ultimate person, you come out with great results.”
Remembering himself when he was up and coming like Garcia is now…
“I was the same way. I was a little more arrogant that Danny was. I was a mixture of his Dad and him himself. I was both together in one shot. I understand the situation and I understand what he’s going through and he made his first big payday the last fight. I’ve been doing that for 15, 16 years. But like I said, we give the kid a lot of credit and February 9 we’re going to show what Super Judah is about.”
Why he is a more dangerous fighter now than in his past…
“Very much so. Mentally now. Back then I was fighting with physical ability. I wasn’t mentally in the fights. Now, I’m focused and I’m mentally in the fights. You can go to my last fights and just watch. It’s a whole different mental strategy now. I’m very much coming for it, this one.”
Recovering from the Amir Khan setback by dominating and stopping Vernon Paris…
“I just went in there and worked hard and said ‘Give me the best that was around’. People can say what they want to say; Vernon was a great fighter. If Vernon Paris would have beat Zab Judah he would have been the biggest thing in boxing. He was undefeated, he was young, he came across the same things that Danny Garcia came across.”
Bringing up his victory over Lucas Matthysse…
“I fought another guy, Lucas Matthysse. Now, people talk about him as being one of the best fighters out there. One of the best junior welterweight fighters. You’ve got to remember, where did his first loss come from? It came from me. Taking nothing away from Lucas, I have a lot of respect for him, but he is a big deal in the weight class. I did beat him and he was undefeated and he had more fights than Danny had. Like I said, I’m never going to say that we don’t respect Danny. We respect Danny, you have to respect everybody that steps through those ropes. But am I coming for this championship of the world? Yes I am.”
The kind of atmosphere to expect inside of the Barclays Center...
“I don’t know. They said, so far something like 15,000 seats are already sold, which we are expecting a sold out arena. He’s coming to Brooklyn. People should understand the stories and things about Brooklyn, New York and just know that it’s true. Coming into Brooklyn, as an amateur I never lost a fight in New York City. Everybody will tell you in New York, I never lost. I had one professional fight in Brooklyn and I didn’t lose. Probably one of my best fights today and now we’re going back again. I rep for my city and my city reps for me.”
Learning lessons from Brooklyn…
“Brooklyn taught me a lot. Coming from the poverty-stricken environment that I came from. I came from the bottom. Not saying nobody else didn’t come from that, or other cities don’t go that, but I’m just saying that’s where I came from. It’s just something where I came from and I learned a lot from it. I learned survival, I learned everything. It doesn’t make me a tough guy or anything like that. Anybody that knows me knows that’s not my life no more.”
Where he would be today without God in his life…
“Without my lord and savior Jesus Christ coming into my life, I probably wouldn’t be here. Instead of people coming out and buying tickets to come watch Zab Judah, maybe they would be coming to my grave site putting flowers there. Or maybe they would be putting flowers there or putting commentary in my books. Maybe I would be nobody. I would just be a Zab Judah that nobody never knew about. I know that the lord has saved my life and I have learned a lot and February 9th I’m coming in there just to do what I do best.”
The feeling of victory…
“Each one of them are different. Each fight, each victory, and each situation is different. Some fights are overwhelming like ‘Oh my God, I did it’ and some fights are like ‘Yeah, I knew I was going to do it; I just didn’t know how I was going to do it’. This one, I don’t know. I do feel victorious. I do feel like the win is going to happen. How it’s going to happen, I don’t know. You know what I mean. We don’t look for no knockouts. We look to win. That’s the name of the game, win. It’s 12 rounds, 36 minutes, 12 minutes of break, and that’s what we’re looking to go in there and take care of.”
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