Zab Judah: "Miguel Cotto is Tailor Made For Me"

By Mark Vester

Former three-time champion Zab Judah (34-4, 25KOs) makes his long awaited return on April 13 at Fitzgerald's Hotel & Casino in Tunica, MS. On the other end of the ring is journeyman Ruben Galvan (27-11-2). The event will be televised on ESPN's Friday Night Fights. 

Judah steps in the ring for the first time since April 06, when he faced Floyd Mayweather, Jr. in Las Vegas. Mayweather dominated Judah to a unanimous decision verdict, but along the way an in-ring brawl took place involved Judah and members of both camps in the tenth round. As a result of the brawl, Judah's license was revoked for a year (up April 8) by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The commission also fined him $250,000 dollars.

Could another Carlos Baldomir incident take place on April 13? Can an upset happen?

Not on this night.

When Baldomir faced Judah in Jan. 06, he was unbeaten in his last 19 fights and had not tasted defeat since 98. Mr. Galvan on the other hand is 3-4 in his last seven fights, and was even knocked out by a 19-0 Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr in only three rounds. There is certainly no comparison between Baldomir and Galvan. If Galvan makes it past the first round with Judah, it's only because Judah let him.

Judah already has a pay-per-view fight lined up against unbeaten WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto on June 9, in New York's Madison Square Garden.

After serving out his one year sentence for the Mayweather incident, Judah is back and oozing with confidence.

In a recent interview with Joe Tessitore of ESPN, Judah spoke about his current position in the sport and his feelings on the June bout with Cotto, a fight that Judah views as his chance for redemption with an opponent that is tailor-made for him.

"What I'm saying now, I'm gonna back it up," says Judah. "I know that when I put 100 percent of Zab Judah into it it's gonna shine. Who would have ever thought that one year later Zab Judah would be coming back with a tune-up fight and then back for the WBA welterweight championship of the world and a chance to redeem himself against a tailor-made fighter," Zab added. "Who would have ever thought that?"