What went wrong with JUDAH?

[elfag]

For like a decade now I've been hearing how talented Zab Judah supposedly is.

I don't think he's an overly talented fighter.

He has some good physical attributes but he cant adapt, he doesnt have a very high ring iq. The same thing plays out in all of his big fights, he starts off doing well the first few rounds and it all goes down hill from there, we dont see him winning any of the late rounds because hes unable to make adjustments during the fight the way the best fighters do. He doesnt have stamina issues, we've never seen him huffing and puffing inbetween rounds, he just isnt as good of a fighter as people want to believe.

[IronDanHamza]

He has some good physical attributes but he cant adapt, he doesnt have a very high ring iq. The same thing plays out in all of his big fights, he starts off doing well the first few rounds and it all goes down hill from there, we dont see him winning any of the late rounds because hes unable to make adjustments during the fight the way the best fighters do. He doesnt have stamina issues, we've never seen him huffing and puffing inbetween rounds, he just isnt as good of a fighter as people want to believe.

His ring IQ is absolute minimal, I agree.

He has gifts in the sense he has fast hands and can punch but that's where it stops for me.

He doesn't have fast reflexes and in terms of technique he's always been woeful to me.

No ability to adjust like you mentioned.

Just not very good fighter IMO and never has been.

People always say "If only he had the dedication". I don't believe that would have made a spot of difference.

[FeFist]

Feel that fighting at 147lb didn't help his career as he couldn't deal with the bigger fighters pressures. Collecting losses and beatings in that division shaved years off of his career and diminished his momentum.

If he stayed at 140lb he'd have been more than capable of establishing himself as a big name in the division as at his peak I feel he could beat the likes of Bradley, Khan, Allexander, Guerrero etc. He could even get a fight with Marquez.

[NearHypnos]

He is always doing well until things aren't going so well and he just totally unravels mentally, the guy just does not have a champion's mentality and can't keep his mind on the task at hand when things get rough even if he does have championship ability.....its pretty simple his mental makeup is what went wrong.

Imagine if Gatti had the talent Judah does.

Imagine if Matthew Hatton had that talent...with his chin. GOAT!

Anyway, Judah is just a headcase. If he doesn't overwhelm you, he's in for a long night. At least Kahn is just stupid and chinny he goes out on his shield for all thats worth... Zab just crumbles.. he's like Ortiz....except with no legit excuses.

I disagree though with him not having good reflexes. He has good reflexes and used them well with the counter left uppercut (Damn I love how he throws the counter left....) but it's really just raw talent. He's not as good defensively as he THINKS he is. Physically, he's a special fighter..reflexes aren't pernell or Floyd like, but in terms of raw talent, he's better than he gives himself credit for due to his low iq. With his tools he could have a plan a, b, c and so on... but if he's not landing the right hook and counter left... he pretty much retreats due to his low ring iq. It's like a giant not realizing he is strong and too cowardly and/or stupid to try.

[ElMeroChingon]

Extremely talented, even now. Don't agree with those who say he's past it, he looked sensational against Paris, when Judah's confidence is high it really shows man.

Paris who?

[kadyo's]

Super Zab Judah is synonymous to what went wrong. I remember almost 8 years ago when almost all people here have a judah avatar. How time flies.

[The Gambler1981]

His ring IQ is absolute minimal, I agree.

He has gifts in the sense he has fast hands and can punch but that's where it stops for me.

He doesn't have fast reflexes and in terms of technique he's always been woeful to me.

No ability to adjust like you mentioned.

Just not very good fighter IMO and never has been.

People always say "If only he had the dedication". I don't believe that would have made a spot of difference.

Dedication to the game would have allowed him to develop much better technique and utilize his physical gifts more thoughtfully. How would that not have made a difference.

[-PBP-]

Boxing fans have a tendency to fall in love with hand speed and/or power and they think any fighter that possesses either or will be the next pound for pound superstar of the sport.

I think Judah and a lot of others are victims of this mindset too.

[IronDanHamza]

Dedication to the game would have allowed him to develop much better technique and utilize his physical gifts more thoughtfully. How would that not have made a difference.

The only gifts he has is handspeed and power.

And unless he got hold of a different trainer that forced the right things into his game to make him better technically and defensively his dedication wouldn't have changed a thing.

And even then, he'd still be a mental midget with a not so great chin.

[NearHypnos]

Dedication to the game would have allowed him to develop much better technique and utilize his physical gifts more thoughtfully. How would that not have made a difference.

Dedication isn't something Judah could have used. He's just all flash, no substance. It's all mental for him.