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Judah receives support
BY WALLACE MATTHEWS, newsday.com
STAFF WRITER
January 9, 2006
The first person to call Zab Judah on Saturday night after he had blown his $5-million showdown against Floyd Mayweather was Mayweather himself.
The junior welterweight champion, who would have split $10 million with Judah on April 8 in Las Vegas, watched in the same shock and horror as the Theater at Madison Square Garden crowd as the Brooklyn-born Judah lost a listless unanimous decision, and his WBC welterweight title, to Carlos Baldomir of Argentina, a 25-1 underdog.
Somehow, Mayweather wasn't angry, but supportive. "He said what happened tonight was crazy," Judah said. "He said, 'You fought good. You're still a champ, hold your head up.'"
By contrast, Judah's promoter was upbeat. "I think that's on ho-o-o-old," Don King said when asked about the status of the Judah-Mayweather fight. "The pause that refreshes. Now Zab will have to redouble his efforts, dust himself off, and find a way back up there."
Not surprising. After the bout, Judah's camp charged King with having more than a passing influence on the outcome of the fight. "They took the fight from us," said Yoel Judah, Zab's father and manager-trainer. "Look, we been having a bad time with Don, a bad week, and you saw what happened. It was a setup."
King laughed off the charges. "Let 'em blame me, everybody else does. The Johnstown flood, World War II, the Lindbergh kidnapping, they all blame me. It was a great night of boxing, so blame me for that, too."
BY WALLACE MATTHEWS, newsday.com
STAFF WRITER
January 9, 2006
The first person to call Zab Judah on Saturday night after he had blown his $5-million showdown against Floyd Mayweather was Mayweather himself.
The junior welterweight champion, who would have split $10 million with Judah on April 8 in Las Vegas, watched in the same shock and horror as the Theater at Madison Square Garden crowd as the Brooklyn-born Judah lost a listless unanimous decision, and his WBC welterweight title, to Carlos Baldomir of Argentina, a 25-1 underdog.
Somehow, Mayweather wasn't angry, but supportive. "He said what happened tonight was crazy," Judah said. "He said, 'You fought good. You're still a champ, hold your head up.'"
By contrast, Judah's promoter was upbeat. "I think that's on ho-o-o-old," Don King said when asked about the status of the Judah-Mayweather fight. "The pause that refreshes. Now Zab will have to redouble his efforts, dust himself off, and find a way back up there."
Not surprising. After the bout, Judah's camp charged King with having more than a passing influence on the outcome of the fight. "They took the fight from us," said Yoel Judah, Zab's father and manager-trainer. "Look, we been having a bad time with Don, a bad week, and you saw what happened. It was a setup."
King laughed off the charges. "Let 'em blame me, everybody else does. The Johnstown flood, World War II, the Lindbergh kidnapping, they all blame me. It was a great night of boxing, so blame me for that, too."
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