Zab Judah
On February 12, 2000, Judah won the IBF junior welterweight title by defeating Jan Piet Bergman by fourth round knockout. He successfully defended the IBF title five times before losing to Kostya Tszyu by second round technical knockout on November 3, 2001.
Judah's actions after the fight, which included throwing a stool across the ring and sticking his gloved fist into referee Jay Nady's neck, resulted in him being fined $75,000 and a six month suspension. On July 12, 2003, Judah defeated DeMarcus Corley by split decision to win the WBO junior welterweight title.
He made one successful defense of the WBO title before moving up to welterweight.
On April 10, 2004, Judah lost by unanimous decision to Cory Spinks for the undisputed welterweight championship, but Judah would defeat Spinks by ninth round technical knockout in a rematch ten months later. After defeating Cosme Rivera by third round technical knockout, Judah was upended by Carlos Baldomir on January 7, 2006.
The Ring would name Baldomir's victory over Judah the upset of the year for 2006. by unanimous decision in a fight that saw a near-riot inside the ring, when Judah low blowed Mayweather in round ten, causing both fighters' cornermen to come in the ring while police had to come in and control the situation.
Judah was fined $250,000 and had his boxing license revoked for one year. On June 9, 2007, Judah lost by eleventh round technical knockout to Miguel Cotto for the WBA welterweight title.
On August 2, 2008, Judah lost to Joshua Clottey by technical decision in a fight for the vacant IBF welterweight title.
Amateur career
Judah began boxing at the age of six and compiled an amateur record of 110–5. He was a two-time US national champion and three-time New York Golden Gloves champion.
Judah attempted to earn a spot on the 1996 US Olympic boxing team. After defeating Ishe Smith and Hector Camacho, Jr., Judah lost to David Díaz in the finals, preventing Judah from qualifying for the Olympic boxing team.
Professional career
Judah made his professional debut as an 18 year old on September 20, 1996, in Miami, Florida and defeated Michael Johnson by technical knockout in the second round.
After winning bouts over George Crain and Omar Vasquez in May and June 1997 respectively, Judah closed the year with first-round knockouts over Cesar Castro, James Salava and Ricardo Vasquez. Valdez, who had never been stopped in his career, went down four times in the fight.
In March, Judah and his opponent, Esteban Flores, accidentally clashed heads in the second round, causing a cut to open above Flores' eye and the bout was stopped in round three as Flores could not continue because of the cut. On April 14, 1998, Judah battered two-time Dominican Republic champion Angel Beltre, stopping him in the second round.
The victory earned Judah a bout against Micky Ward for the vacant USBA junior welterweight title.
Judah successfully defended the USBA title by stopping Darryl Tyson in the eleventh round on October 15, 1998. Judah captured the interim IBF junior welterweight title with a fourth-round knockout over Wilfredo Negron in January 1999.
IBF junior welterweight title
Judah's first title shot came on February 12, 2000, at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, against Jan Piet Bergman for the vacant IBF junior welterweight title.
Judah knocked out Bergman in the fourth round to win the title. On June 20, 2000, Judah made his first title defense against Junior Witter in Glasgow, Scotland. It was an awkward fight for Judah, as Witter rarely engaged in an extended exchange of punches.
By the middle rounds, however, Judah's consistent body punching slowed Witter down, and in the fifth round, Judah caught Witter with a straight left hand that hurt Witter and sent his mouthpiece skittering across the ring. Judah defeated Witter by unanimous decision.
Two months later, on August 5, 2000, at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, Judah defeated former IBF junior welterweight champion Terron Millett by fourth round knockout.
Judah was knocked down in the first round from a left hand. Judah hurt Millett with two combinations near the end of the first round.
Green beat the count, but Judah then ran across the ring and sent Green down to the canvas with a right hand, forcing the referee to stop the fight. On June 23, 2001, Judah defeated Allan Vester by third round knockout in his fifth successful defense of the IBF title. The fight would set up an unification match between Judah and WBC and WBA junior welterweight champion Kostya Tszyu, who defeated Oktay Urkal on the undercard.
Unification match with Tszyu
The much anticipated matchup between Judah and Tsyzu took place on November 3, 2001, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada for the undisputed junior welterweight championship.
Tszyu went after Judah, throwing another right hand that landed on his chin and sent Judah crashing to the canvas. Judah jumped up instinctively and tried to signal that he was fine to referee Jay Nady, but was hurt badly by the punch and fell down a second time.
When Judah collapsed, Nady waved the fight over, resulting in a technical knockout victory for Tsyzu and Judah's first professional loss.
While Tszyu celebrated in his corner, Judah was in disbelief of what just happened and became infuriated. Judah picked up his stool and hurled it towards center ring. While being restrained by his father and trainer, Yoel Judah, he broke loose and walked up to Nady and stuck his gloved fist into his neck and had to be pulled off by cornermen.
announced the official decision, and Judah screamed out in agony and again had to be restrained by a growing number of security guards and cornermen. Judah was fined $75,000 and suspended for six months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
WBO junior welterweight title
After defeating Omar Weis by unanimous decision in July 2002, Judah challenged DeMarcus Corley for the WBO junior welterweight title on July 12, 2003, at the Orleans Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In his first and only defense of the WBO title, Judah knocked out Jaime Rangel in the first round on December 13, 2003.
Fights with Spinks
On April 10, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Judah fought Cory Spinks for the undisputed welterweight championship.
He could not move forward to get inside, but was having success moving laterally. Spinks scored a knockdown in the eleventh round, but Judah came back and put Spinks down to the canvas in the final round.
In the end, Spinks defeated Judah by unanimous decision with scores of 114–112 twice and 116–111.
For the rest of 2004, Judah defeated Rafael Pineda by split decision and Wayne Martell by first round technical knockout. After Spinks was knocked down for the second time, the referee stopped the fight, and Judah became the new undisputed welterweight champion.
Undisputed welterweight champion
In his first fight as undisputed welterweight champion, he fought mandatory challenger Cosme Rivera on May 14, 2005, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Judah hit Rivera hard several times in the second round, and in the third round, he connected with a left uppercut, that caused Rivera to stagger backwards and fall into the ropes before hitting the canvas. For Judah, the fight was a tuneup bout that would lead to a lucrative bout between Judah and WBC junior welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., which was tentatively scheduled for April. Judah entered the fight as a 10-to-1 favorite over Baldomir. The stage was set when Judah unsportingly punched Baldomir on the thigh during the prefight introductions instead of touching gloves to show sportsmanship.