By Ja Lang G. Greene

At one point just a few years ago, both Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Zab Judah were undefeated up and coming fighters assigned the task of ushering the sweet science into the new millennium. As with all things in life there are many twists, turns, and forks in the road that change sure things into  forgotten footnotes of the past.

Now heading into the April 8th mega fight, only one of the combatants is deemed the can’t miss prospect. The Floyd Mayweather express has continued to steamroll and is gaining more momentum. Once considered a fighter that couldn’t pack a gym, Mayweather is primed for all the luxuries that come with being considered the best fighter in the world pound for pound. The stars have been aligned for Mayweather and he has racked up wins against a plethora of quality opponents, gaining the respect of even some of his most cynical early critics.

The road has not been as smooth for Judah. Zab is best known to non boxing fans as the man whose legs betrayed him after being knocked down by Kosta Tszyu thanks to constant ESPN / Fox Sports video clips. Heading into the biggest fight of his career, Judah is desperately searching for the defining moment of his career and a way to stay at the top.

There are four reasons that Zab’s quest for greatness will be fulfilled Saturday night. It will take a major amount of intestinal fortitude, grit, determination, and Brooklyn savvy to pull off one of the biggest upsets in the last twenty years. Zab can do it.

4. Recent Events in Boxing

Never before have boxing “experts” been so completely off base in making pre-fight predictions. If the last couple of years serve as any type of precedent, then the smart money is to go against the grain. The overwhelming majority of writers picked Roy Jones Jr. heading into the second fight with Antonio Tarver. Wrong. Jeff Lacy was considered the dead on favorite leading up to his fight with Joe Calzaghe. Wrong. Carlos Bladimir was considered a minor stepping stone before the fight with Zab and emerged victorious. Fans and media were wrong again. With the current state of boxing and the level of parity between fighters, anything can happen, especially with a pugilist that is near the elite level and has tasted some of the divine fruit.

3. Speed versus Speed

When Floyd Mayweather decimated Aturo Gatti in a classic mismatch, Gatti could be heard saying to Buddy McGirt between rounds that Mayweather was “so fast.” There aren’t many in the sport that can neutralize the speed advantage that the pound for pound king possesses. Enter Zab Judah, who has displayed scintillating speed during his career. While Zab is not as fundamentally sound as Mayweather, the speed that Judah has can mount an offense that Mayweather hasn’t seen from a pure quickness standpoint. In boxing, a fighter doesn’t need to have the quicker hands or feet, but as Tarver showed in his second fight with Jones, being the first to land matters the most.

2. Focus

After losing the undisputed welterweight crown there was a mountain of excuses issued by supporters of Judah. These reasons ranged from Don King asking the champ to handle all of the promotional duties leading up to the title defense, Bladimir being taken lightly as a fringe contender, and Judah looking ahead to April 8th and not being in the best physical condition. If you cannot get motivated for the highest wage in your career that is a sad case, however, if Judah doesn’t come in motivated in the biggest test, stage, and challenge of his career would be totally career ending as a top level elite fighter. Add the fact that the normally media friendly Judah has been inaccessible to the media leading up to the fight, further illustrates the true focus.

1. The Role of the Underdog

Zab Judah seems to relish in playing the role of the underdog. When the nonbelievers and doubters start to surface after a loss, Judah goes back to the gym and rattles off a string of victories and builds his resume back to respectability. He has never lost two consecutive fights and seems to strive when he is allowed to fly under the radar. Heading into the Kosta Tszyu fight, Judah was considered a betting favorite and got knocked out in the second round. After winning some fights and getting another title shot against the then welterweight champ Cory Spinks, Judah was considered the sure bet to claim the throne. He went on to lose a decision. Once again Judah put his career back no track with victories and earned another shot at the title this time knocking out Spinks to claim the welterweight throne in a fight where the predictions were mostly split.

Will Judah continue this streak and become 3-0 after a loss? Can he use being the underdog as motivation for greatness? Tune in on Saturday and see if Zab can be Super.

Comments can be sent to jalanggreene@boxingscene.com