Zab Judah what went wrong?

[bojangles1987]

He did OK he was the man at welterweight and when past prime beat the monster Lucas. He acheived much more than fighters like Froch whom was a paper champ in comparison yet is hailed as some sort of atg.

Lucas wasn't a monster when Zab fought him, don't rewrite history. Lucas was some nobody Argentinian who had never fought a 12 round fight that Zab was supposed to run through. And nobody walked away from that thinking better of Zab, because many thought Lucas won.

And LOL at Judah achieving more than Froch.

[DumpkinsPlus5]

He lacked mental focus..you can have all the talent in the world but if you dont have it upstairs you will never be great

That's really all there is to it. If you watch his fights it's easy to see that he was mentally weak. Zab is one of those guys where he needs everything to go his way the entirety of the fight to look good. Obviously, if you fight guys who are good enough, you won't be in control the entire fight. When Zab lost momentum he just couldn't get it back. He would stop throwing punches and get dominated.

I believe the phrase is "Don't go gently into that goodnight."

Well Zab was the opposite. He'd grab two pillows, a comforter, turn the fan on, and tuck himself in with a smile on his face.

[hectari]

What went wrong his brain, he is a mental midget in the ring who gives up when things dont go his way, its a Brooklyn thing, Shannon Briggs, Mike Tyson are also the same front runners they start getting lackadaisical when they cant impose their will early on.

[sunny31]

To me he didn't have the chin he needed for his style of fighting. Plus he lacked a winning spirit, I think those are the two main problems.

In terms of style, he is essentially what I call a 'power boxer', a little bit like Shane Mosley. I think people sometimes mistake Zab for a pure boxer, he isn't. Power boxers tend to have lapses in concentration, and tend to be more hittable than a pure boxer. They are also more dangerous and explosive. Problem with Zab is that when he stepped up to the elite level, those guys don't just go away. His first lesson was Tszyu, who he gave a shellacking for 3 minutes, but Tszyu hung in there and we all know what happened next.

I think IT happened because Zab would have lapses in concentration as I mentioned earlier, but you can't do that when you are a little open like Zab and don't have the chin. Shane Mosley had the chin for that style, but than I also think Zab lacked that winning mentality, because not every fighter who has that style has had a great chin.

But increasingly as Zab's career went on, and he became aware of his shortcomings, he would rather lose a points decision, than take some risks and possibly turn a fight around but increase the possibility of getting Ko'd. So those scenarios exposed his mental fragility I feel. He didn't have the confidence or the tools to turn those situations around.

Guys like Cotto - it isn't enough just to hurt them a couple of times and win a round or two early. They aren't going to get deterred that easy, he was never going to beat guys like that.

His only elite win was against Corey Spinks - but Corey was a pure boxer, someone who wasn't going to go after Zab. Even then he lost the first fight, but credit to him he did come back and win the rematch, which is a great win. Realistically that was as good as it was ever going to get for Zab.

He beat a lot of GOOD fighters - but in a lot of those scenarios it was because his talent was so much greater that it got him the W, but I have never seen a great fighter that has got through on talent alone, at some point you have to tick those other boxes, and although Zab scored very high in certain areas, he didn't tick all the boxes...simple

[Canelo and GGG]

When faced with adversity he was as likely to fold as rise to the occasion. That's how a lesser fighter like Baldomir beat him. It's why he b*tched out against Khan. He also lacked the focus to compete at a consistently high level.

Yea focus is main thing here,thats why Atlas would be perfect for him,he would push zab to the limit.

[MrRolltide91]

He was a good fighter

[Canelo and GGG]

To me he didn't have the chin he needed for his style of fighting. Plus he lacked a winning spirit, I think those are the two main problems.

In terms of style, he is essentially what I call a 'power boxer', a little bit like Shane Mosley. I think people sometimes mistake Zab for a pure boxer, he isn't. Power boxers tend to have lapses in concentration, and tend to be more hittable than a pure boxer. They are also more dangerous and explosive. Problem with Zab is that when he stepped up to the elite level, those guys don't just go away. His first lesson was Tszyu, who he gave a shellacking for 3 minutes, but Tszyu hung in there and we all know what happened next.

I think IT happened because Zab would have lapses in concentration as I mentioned earlier, but you can't do that when you are a little open like Zab and don't have the chin. Shane Mosley had the chin for that style, but than I also think Zab lacked that winning mentality, because not every fighter who has that style has had a great chin.

But increasingly as Zab's career went on, and he became aware of his shortcomings, he would rather lose a points decision, than take some risks and possibly turn a fight around but increase the possibility of getting Ko'd. So those scenarios exposed his mental fragility I feel. He didn't have the confidence or the tools to turn those situations around.

Guys like Cotto - it isn't enough just to hurt them a couple of times and win a round or two early. They aren't going to get deterred that easy, he was never going to beat guys like that.

His only elite win was against Corey Spinks - but Corey was a pure boxer, someone who wasn't going to go after Zab. Even then he lost the first fight, but credit to him he did come back and win the rematch, which is a great win. Realistically that was as good as it was ever going to get for Zab.

He beat a lot of GOOD fighters - but in a lot of those scenarios it was because his talent was so much greater that it got him the W, but I have never seen a great fighter that has got through on talent alone, at some point you have to tick those other boxes, and although Zab scored very high in certain areas, he didn't tick all the boxes...simple

Good post green k sent,what do you think about my theory about Atlas,would he help Zab?

[boliodogs]

He had fast hands and good boxing skill and good punching power especially in his lightning straight left and left upper cut. He also had a fairly weak chin and poor powers of recover. If you hurt Judah he stayed hurt for a while. He was an inconsistent trainer and when things got tough he often seemed to give up. I think he could have defeated Baldomir if he had tried harder. He was well ahead on points when Baldomir hurt him and he only needed to win 1 more round to win the fight. He just ran away and lost all the late rounds and the fight. He stayed down to try to get a DQ win over Khan when he could have gotten up and continued. It sure looked like he gave up against Clottey as well. He was a world champion at 140 and 147 so he did OK. With a better chin, a bigger heart and a better attitude he might have really been great.

[mani1]

Lucas wasn't a monster when Zab fought him, don't rewrite history. Lucas was some nobody Argentinian who had never fought a 12 round fight that Zab was supposed to run through. And nobody walked away from that thinking better of Zab, because many thought Lucas won.

And LOL at Judah achieving more than Froch.

What has Froch acheived that is better than being the man at welter? he won 3 titles 2 were vacant 1s got a disgraceful gift against a green Dirrell who hasnt done any thing much. lost to a faded one eyed Kessler coming off a bad loss to Ward. lost every round to the champ Ward.went life and death with old age pensioner glencoffe. Barely beat a shot to **** Kessler. Is it his wins over Abraham or glass Jawed Groves or the Killer Bute whom loses to every good fighter he has faced?

Or do you count Pascal and taylor as some sort of atg wins?

I guess the super 6 hype means his resume is atg.

Even after the super 6 the paper champ was at best the 3rd best considering he was out manned against Kessler and Lost every round to Ward.

Though a case could be made he was the 5th best at 168 considering he got a disgraceful gift against Dirrell unless you consider rabbit punches and hittinh well after the ref has called break as scoring shots. Also Bute was hyped as some sort of killer despite Bika being his best win.

[boliodogs]

Lucas wasn't a monster when Zab fought him, don't rewrite history. Lucas was some nobody Argentinian who had never fought a 12 round fight that Zab was supposed to run through. And nobody walked away from that thinking better of Zab, because many thought Lucas won.

And LOL at Judah achieving more than Froch.

I thought Lucas beat him. Froch had the ruggedness,full time dedication to boxing and the will to try to win no matter what that Judah needed. Froch had only 2 points losses to the very best compared to Judah's numerous defeats often by KO.