Zab Judah: Older, wiser and more mature.

An older, wiser, better Judah By Franklin McNeil Gone are the gold chains, the diamond-studded mouthpiece and bad-boy persona. Former junior welterweight and welterweight champion Zab Judah is no longer the brash, sometimes reckless youngster who demolished opponents with exceptionally fast hands and punching power. That fellow was disposed of more than a year ago. Judah is now a 32-year-old man with a young son, Zab Jr., and an entirely new outlook on life. He has matured. The process began nearly two years ago when Judah left his native Brooklyn, N.Y., and moved to Las Vegas. No longer surrounded by negative influences, Judah began to shed all trappings of his big-city lifestyle. "No diamonds," Judah told ESPN.com. "I took out my teeth and everything. Mentally, I'm different. I have a son now; he's 17 months old. "I had to ask myself: 'What kind of vision are you showing your son?' He's going to grow up thinking, 'Oh, it's just cool to be cool, be bad, have diamonds and girls.' I have to show him something different. I have to set my life at a different pace." The motivation he gets from raising his son has helped steer Judah to get more from his boxing talents than title belts. To achieve this goal, Judah returned to his pro boxing roots -- partnering with Main Events, the New Jersey-based promotion company where he began his professional career. With Main Events president Kathy Duva at his side, Judah is not only looking to regain the greatness that made him a champion 140-pound fighter, but to further develop his own promotion company -- Super Judah Promotions. "One of the reasons Zab decided to come back to Main Events is that we agreed to work with him together as partners in this promotion," Duva said. "It's very important to Zab to play that role, to learn the business, to become more aware of the decision-making process. We are very happy with the way this is working out." Judah, the fighter and promoter, will display his talents Friday against a determined Jose Armando Santa Cruz at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. The bout, which will be fought at a catchweight of 143 pounds, will air on ESPN2 at 9 p.m. ET. Fight fans can expect to see a different-looking Judah, who owns an eye-opening 38-6-0 record with 26 knockouts. There won't be a large entourage accompanying him into the arena, which was often the case previously. Only those individuals directly involved in his business affairs get to tag along now. Nor will he rely solely on his physical talents to succeed. Judah is a smarter fighter inside the ring; he now dictates the pace of a bout -- boxing when he wants, slugging when he deems it necessary. Opponents will have to adjust to him, not the other way around. Judah has worked extra hard on every aspect of his game and vows the proof will be evident Friday. Chalk it up to maturity. "I had to buckle down, train, prepare, get my mind ready, get my body ready," Judah said. "I will get in there and show the world that I have the best jab, the best left, my skills are not to be messed with. "Come Friday night I'm going to show y'all a great show. I promise." Santa Cruz isn't convinced Judah will be able to keep that promise. He has goals of his own and intends to accomplish them. While the Michoacan, Mexico, native has spent most of his fighting career at lightweight, Santa Cruz has recently found success just north of the 140-pound limit. He has won each of his past two bouts, both by early stoppage, fighting at 143 pounds. The victories have bolstered Santa Cruz's confidence, but he knows Judah represents a major step up in competition. A win will give Santa Cruz a much-needed career boost. He took no shortcuts while preparing for this fight and intends to shock the boxing world. "I'm a hungry fighter too," Santa Cruz (28-4-0, 17 KOs) told ESPN.com. "I know he's a really good fighter, but that motivates me more. "I know he really trained hard for this fight; he will give his all. He's one of the best fighters in the world. If I beat him it will be a great accomplishment for me. It will get me ranked." Judah's handlers expect an impressive performance that will get him in the junior welterweight title conversation. With Judah focused on the 140-pound division, Duva has already begun working diligently to secure a title shot in the not-too-distant future. Duva believes having the highest-profile fighter in the division will make her job easier. Her goal is to keep Judah busy; his is to keep winning. "Our plan with Zab is that he's told us he wants to move down to junior welterweight, a division that gets an awful lot of attention," Duva said. "There are a lot of fighters in that division, but not a single one of them is a marquee name. "There isn't a single guy other than Zab Judah who people on the street would recognize. People know his name. "Zab has made a commitment to come back down to that weight and get the activity he needs to achieve his goals. We're here to make sure he gets that with a series of fights."