By Sammy Rozenberg
This past Saturday night changed the face of the welterweight division. Zab "Super" Judah is once again considered as one of the elite boxers in the game. Judah showed that this time around, there was no clowning and he was all business. He came in with the kind of determination that we all saw early in his career.
The odds were stacked against him with Spinks' hometown crowd of 20,000 plus jammed the arena to see Cory keep the unified welterweight crown in St. Louis. Zab was so hungry for this fight that he only took $150,000 dollars, a tiny sum when compared to the $1.2 million Cory Spinks made for the rematch.
Zab beat the man who beat the man (Mayorga) who beat the man (Forrest) who beat the man (Mosley) who beat the man (De La Hoya) and now is considered the man in the welterweight division. Zab now stands as one half of only two unified champions in the sport today, Bernard Hopkins is the other. BoxingScene caught up with Zab after his huge win over Cory Spinks to throw a few questions his way.
BoxingScene: Zab, what was the difference this time?
Zab Judah: I came in here hungry, I was determined to to win. When I'm determined and hungry, I can't be beat. I came here with one thing on my mind and that was to take Cory out and bring these belts back to Brooklyn.
BoxingScene: Did you feel that you needed to get a knockout in this fight instead of letting the fight go the scorecards in Spinks' hometown?
Zab Judah: I wasn't even think about that, I said all week to everyone that I was gonna knock him out. I knew after the last fight that I was knocking him out. I prepared for a knockout and I came out aggressive from the start.
BoxingScene: You said that after you dropped him in the last round of your first fight, you knew that you could knock him out in any round.
Zab Judah: Oh yeah, I knew that if I could hurt that bad in the last round with only one punch then I can hurt him with the same punch in any round of the fight.
BoxingScene: Plenty of big names coming to the division, they have to fight you since you have all the gold. How do you want to fight next?
Zab Judah: Everybody, I don't duck anyone. I'll fight anyone. All they have to do is contact my promoter Don King and put their name on the contract.
BoxingScene: Who is the one guy you would want to fight the most out of the current crop of contenders?
Zab Judah: Oscar De La Hoya, we can make it happen. Bring on Oscar, I'm ready for them all. I got all the belts, if he's coming (to welterweight) then let's make it happen.
BoxingScene: The biggest fight that can happen, a fight years in the making is a rematch with Kostya Tszyu. In the past he refused to give you a rematch because of a comment you made in the pre-fight press conference (Zab said if he wins, no rematch). Now that you have all the belts, he may consider making the fight.
Zab Judah: I would love to fight Tszyu again. I showed the world what I can do tonight. I got a mandatory coming up for the IBF, he got his fight (Ricky Hatton), all he needs to do is sign a contract.