By Lem Satterfield
Southpaw IBF junior welterweight king and five-time titlist Zab Judah refused to speak to the members of the British press during Wednesday's national conference call promoting his HBO televised July 23 clash with England's WBA belt-holder Amir Khan that is slated for the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.
The promoter of the 33-year-old Judah (41-6, 28 knockouts), Main Events CEO Kathy Duva, said that the move was in protest of the fact that Judah will not receive any of the upside to the pay per view for the bout a bout against the 24-year-old Khan (25-1, 17 KOs), which will be televised by the United Kingdom's Prime Time Pay Per View's Sky Channel network.
The development occurred When British writer Jamie Jackson of The Guardian News, the third caller after the Las Vegas Review Journal's Steve Carp and ESPN's Dan Rafael, of posed a question first to Khan and then to Judah.
Khan answered Jackson, acknowledging Judah as "a big step up for me," among other things. But when Jackson asked a question of Judah, Duva broke in with, "I think that I am going to have to speak now and that I need to explain something."
"No offense to the British press, but Zab will not be asking questions until the fight is over to the British Press," said Duva of Judah, who was forced to accept a 55-45 split in Khan's favor after having demanded an even 50-50 division and requested a venue in Atlantic City.
"We, in our negotiations, were told that Zab would not be entitled for any of the revenue from the UK, and we felt that while that was insulting, and that he is certainly half of the equation, that that was what we would have to live with," said Duva. "So Zab took the fight, with that understanding that Amir would keep all of the money that came from the UK, even though they're both world champions and we've agreed on a split of the money."
David Iskowitch, COO of Khan's promoter, Golden Boy Promoter, quipped, "I guess that that means for all of the British media that you have to work on your American accents."
"So, I guess that I need to ask my question with an English accent?" quipped Jackson, who later asked Khan if he was angry about Judah's refusal to speak to the English press.
That's when Khan's manager, Asif Vali, jumped in.
"I think wrong for him not to be involved in the media work. Amir Khan is one of them guys who gets involved," said said Vali of Khan Promotions. "I've been on the phone and promoting the fight since the day that we announced it. He's done it in the UK, Canada, Japan, and all over the world. Why Zab doesn't get involved I have no idea. Is he really that scared? "
Judah also refused to be the first to answer questions on the call, a move Duva encouraged because she said Judah had been the first to speak during a recent press conference.
"I haven't got a clue as to why he's acting this way. I have no idea. But a promotion takes two sides. They need to promote the fight. It's not a one-way promotion, it's a two-way promotion. Amir can't do everything," said Vali.
"Amir has done four conference calls so far. Amir Khan has been on the radio several times a week throughout the last six weeks and done so much stuff to promote the fight. We're very grateful to HBO for giving us this opportunity. We're very grateful to Prime Time for showing it in the UK," said Valli. "But I'm a little disappointed from Kathy's point of view. I'm very disappointed from Zab's point of view. They should promote the fight. Have you ever heard of a fighter not getting involved? He should be promoting the fight."
Duva said that Judah would have preferred an interview with American media only, and that she would not allow British television request to film Judah's training camp.
"You're entitled to your opinion. But Zab's is involved in the promotion. He's on the phone today," said Duva. "But he's not getting involved in the promotion in England because he's not involved in the revenue from England. So that is what we found to be wrong, and, again, you got your way."
A southpaw former holder of the WBA, WBC and IBF welterweight belts, as well as a former champion with WBO junior welterweight crown, Judah regained the IBF belt that he once wore with a seventh-round stoppage of 31-year-old Kaizer Mabuza (23-7-3, 14 KOs), ending an eight-bout winning streak that had included six knockouts.
Judah was coming off of November's unanimous decision over then-unbeaten 28-year-old Argentinian Lucas Matthysse (28-2, 26 KOs), who had knocked out his previous four consecutive opponents.
Khan is coming off of May's sixth-round, technical unanimous decision defense over his previously unbeaten, southpaw, Northern Ireland challenger, Paul McCloskey (22-1, 12 KOs).
"As you know, Kathy, it takes two fighters to promote the fight," said Khan. "Zab has fans in the UK as well, and if he's got fans in the UK, he's obviously disrespecting all of his fans. Zab should be involved in it and he should be answering any questions."
But Duva insisted that Judah would not participate with the British media, a contention she hoped would decrease the amount of foreign money Khan pockets.
"Amir, that's your opinion, and we respect that, and Zab means no disrespect to anyone. But we feel that he was disrespected in the negotiations, so this is something that we've decided on," said Duva.
"We were basically told that Khan is the story in the UK, no matter who he fought, Amir Khan was the star and that Zab was kind of insignificant over there," said Duva. "So if that's the case, then fine. We'll be happy to have a press conference with the UK press the morning after the fight."