By Cliff Rold
A second round knockdown turned out to be the highlight, and story, of the fight as 28-year old Light Heavyweight Yusaf Mack (25-2-2, 15 KO), a Philadelphia native fighting out of New York, scored a lopsided decision over 30-year old Daniel Judah (22-3-3, 10 KO) on Wednesday night at the Aviator Sports Arena in Judah’s backyard, Brooklyn, New York. It was for Judah, the older brother former World Welterweight champion Zab Judah, the third loss in his last five fights going back to 2005. For Mack, it was a second straight victory after by the rugged Librado Andrade in a brutal affair in October 2007.
Mack, who weighed in just below the division limit at 174 ¼ lbs., had difficulty getting his offense going in the first as the taller and broader shouldered Judah, 174 ½, kept him on the outside with his southpaw right jab. That strategy was less successful in the following round.
A sweeping underneath right from Mack halfway through the second buckled Judah and while the follow-up flurry was blocked, Judah still could not keep himself from the floor. Mack’s attempts to finish were countered with wise movement and defense from Judah as he cleared his head and made the bell.
His legs returning to him after the requisite sixty-second rest, Judah got down to boxing basics in the third as Mack failed to pressure consistently. Occasionally landing to the body, Mack would be dictated to by Judah’s jab and well-timed straight lefts. Mack upped his aggression in the fourth, a difficult round to score with Judah landing cleaner but Mack’s blows looking and sounding harder.
Round five brought the first sounds of restlessness from the crowd as each man spent the full three minutes posturing more than punching. Conversely, the sixth and seventh saw a return to landing leather with Mack landing hard single right hands and Judah pivoting and countering with sharp, slashing lefts. It would be Judah’s last signs of competitiveness.
Mack’s assertive approach more than carried the eighth. While the action was spotty, his jab and right hand clearly were the story of the round as Judah’s earlier countering became increased. Jab output increased in the ninth, but the counters from Judah were few and far between as Mack’s sneaky, thrusting right kept Judah from opening up. Fatigue also appeared an issue as Judah, who had come down in weight from Cruiserweight, seemed sapped of energy, his punches dragging.
As the final round commenced, it was Mack’s fight to lose and he came out with the spring in his step to show it. Choosing to punch mostly one at a time, Mack initiated a little trash talking and a dancing for the crowd. The knockout that seemed possible in the second slipped away, though a hard right did stun Judah in the final seconds.
All three judges scored the bout 97-92 for Mack, a well-earned decision victory.
It was upset time on the televised undercard as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s 22-year old Gabriel Rosado (10-2, 6 KO) provided the first loss to the record of 30-year old Irish-born New Yorker James Moore (15-1, 10 KO) by way of an eight-round unanimous decision. It was bout with its share of drama.
Moore, 154 ½, stalked tightly at the onset behind his jab while Rosado, 152 ½, chose to circle the ring and await openings for potshots. In the final minute, a hard straight left drove Rosado to the ropes but Moore’s following flurry missed. A straight right from the Irishman just prior to the bell connected flush.
The sporadic action, and tone, of the bout continued in the second and third with neither man truly asserting an edge. Increased intensity marked the start of the fourth with Moore landing a hard right to the head and another to the body. A triple right hook found Rosado’s gloves but the long right off the jab continued to do quality work. It was a right from Rosado though which would do the best work of the round. Inside thirty seconds to go, Rosado landed inside and wobbled Moore who fell towards the ropes. Rosado stalked forward as Moore covered up and then held, first along the ropes and then at mid-ring, to survive the round.
Rosado did little early in the fifth to test the legs of Moore, apparently biding his time. That time would come halfway through the round when a short right hand hurt Moore again. Rosado landed another before connecting with a sharp left inside as Moore leaned forward and a final right behind the head, forcing Moore to his knees. Moore rose in bad condition, eating another right before losing his mouthpiece and garnering a reprieve. Rosado would land one more hard right before the bell as Moore survived again.
As he had in the fifth, Rosado resisted charging in on his man at the bell for the sixth. As the seconds ticked by, Rosado resorted to more movement and a hint of showboating, drawing a smatter of boos from the crowd while Moore lobbed ineffectively. A single hard right late in the round made a case for Rosado but no such case could be made in a listless seventh that Moore carried with slightly higher activity.
Round eight saw a ceremonial touching of gloves and tentative action. Each man looked for their best stuff, Moore the jab and right, Rosado just the right, and each had their moments with that strategy. Rosado pounded out the final statement with a right that stung Moore just seconds before fate turned to the pens of the judges.
The statement turned out less than necessary as Rosado captured the duke by slightly wide but unanimous scores of 77-74, 78-73 and a more realistic 76-74.
In further televised action, Jr. Middleweights Carlos Garcia (2-0, 2 KO) of Puerto Rico and Carlos Prada (0-0-1), a former Venezuelan Olympian, produced a rookie gem as each young fighter tasted the canvas twice in a four-knockdown slugfest. It was the rare occasion to cheer a draw and the best fight of the night.
In the first, the eruption of a gem seemed possible only in the future prospects of Prada whose lead right hook twice propelled Garcia to the canvas. So hurt was Garcia that he had trouble finding his corner at the end of the round and the ring doctor was summoned to take a look. ‘Accidentally’ entering the second without his mouthpiece, the referee halted the action of the second before it even began, buying the 19-year old some precious recovery time. He used it to good affect, landing a crushing right hand of his own that had Prada’s eyes spinning. He survived the onslaught that followed as Garcia continued to crank in right hands.
Both men kept their feet in the third as the parade of rattling right hands continued. Finally in the fourth, a hurtful shot from Garcia, polished with a right to the top of Prada’s head, brought the fight to even scoring terms, literally. While official scores were unannounced on the televised broadcast, the decision returned was a draw. Each will certainly be welcome back on television in the future.
The card was carried live on ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
