Zab Judah and The Ghost Victorious

From Newark, NJ., at the Prudential Center, also known as The Rock, Golden Boy Promotions, Main Events, Super Judah Promotions and HBO, presented world class boxing on HBO “Boxing After Dark.” In the 12 round jr. welterweight main event former two-division world title holder Zab “Super” Judah (40-6, 27KOs) got up off the canvas to claim a split decision victory over Argentina’s powerhouse Lucas Martin Matthysse (27-1, 25KOs).

The opening round saw the fighters getting a feel for one another as they danced around the squared circle measuring and gauging one another. Matthysse and Judah threw numerous jabs as both looked quick with Zab getting the edge in speed. They each fired off a few combination’s but nothing significant connected in the first three minutes of boxing.

The match was technical in the beginning as the jr. welterweights circled each other in the center of the ring in a pretty uneventful first couple of rounds. Matthysse is known as a guy with much power but there were no signs of it early as he circled to the 33-year-old Brooklyn NY., native’s left and seemed apprehensive of Zab’s power.

It was more of the same in the 3rd round until “Super” Judah landed the best punch so far in the closing seconds of the period, a good left-uppercut that put a smile of acknowledgment on the Argentinian’s face. Zab was complaining of head butts and to conclude the 3rd their heads came together again opening a cut outside Judah’s left eye and in frustration Judah yelled out to third man in the ring Earl Brown, “I told you man.”

The jab fest continued while Lucas and Zab were mainly throwing one-two’s consisting of the jab in front of their respective power hands. The former jr. welterweight champion Zab Judah was having a hard time figuring out Matthysse who was moving and boxing, in a pretty even contest that lacked excitement. The 28-year-old Lucas Matthysse was concentrating on the body while Judah focused on the head landing some good left crosses to Lucas’ head in the 5th round.

The storyline continued into the 7th as the reluctant warriors refused to engage in prolonged exchanges. Matthysse, from Buenos Aires, AR., landed a straight-right up top right on the button and Judah walked right through it. Between the 7th and 8th Matthysse complained to his corner that he had cramps in his legs.

Judah connected on two beautiful counter left-hands to the head of Matthysse as Zab began feeling it and delivering more strikes. Lucas just could not land anything of significance as the defensive dual continued and Zab out pointed his foe.

In the 10th round out of nowhere Matthysse finally connected with a right-hand to the kisser of Zab that wobbled him before he fell to the canvas for the knockdown. After Judah got to his feet and the fight resumed he was looking to clinch and move. Matthysse followed up his first bit of success with a huge left-hook that buzzed Zab again. Lucas was attacking and landed some heavy blows as Judah reacted like a wounded animal firing back hard combination’s of his own while trying to survive the round, which he did.

Judah’s power punches seemed to have no effect on Matthysse as he walked right through them and heading into the 11th round things all of a sudden did not look good for Judah who’s body language wasn’t encouraging.

At the outset of the 11th round Matthysse met Judah in the middle of the ring and blasted him with a straight-right that rocked back Zab as Lucas encroached. Judah stopped punching as he was in full retreat mode and his eyes looked scared. Matthysse landed another thudding right-hand to the side of Judah’s head that pushed him into the corner. Matthysse battered Zab, who was holding on by the skin of his teeth, for the remainder of the round with punishing strikes.

Heading into the 12th and final round it seemed the fight was up for grabs and Matthysse clipped Judah, who barley made it to the final bell, with heavy right-hands, winning the round in a close fight that saw Lucas come on strong at the end.

114-113 Matthysse, 114-113 Judah and 114-113 Judah, is how the judges score cards read giving Zab “Super” Judah a split-decision victory in a fight he in which he struggled to survive. With the win Judah improves to 40-6, 27 knockouts giving him the #2 ranking in the WBO and IBF jr. welterweight division.

“Matthysse was a tough fighter, I expected the fight to go down like it did,” said Judah in the post fight interview with Max Kellerman. “He is a very tough and heavy handed,” relayed Zab.

When Kellerman asked Judah about the knockdown, Zab replied, “I mean listen, things happen but God is great.”

Kathy Duva, Judah’s promoter, said before the fight that if Zab was victorious they would seek a fight with South Africa’s Kaiser Mabuza for a vacant title that was stripped from Devon Alexander. If Zab wants to rejuvenate his career and compete with the three headed monster known as Tim Bradley, Amir Khan and Devon Alexander, he will need to go back to the drawing board and make adjustments because nothing looked super about Zab Judah on this night.

In the 10-round lightweight co-main event, former featherweight titlist Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (27-1-1, 18KOs) defeated 29-year-old Woodland, CA., resident Vicente Escobedo (22-2, 14KOs), making his foe taste the canvas twice en route to a decisive win.

The 29-year-old Gilroy, CA., native Robert Guerrero came out aggressive landing some good straight-lefts and right-hooks. A cut opened up right off the bat on the head of Escobedo above the left ear from an accidental clash of heads that had blood streaming down the side of Vincente’s face.

Unlike Guerrero’s last fight against Joel Casamayor, this fight moved at a high pace and Robert was throwing fully extended power shots with steam on them. Escobedo was attacking with straight-rights, right-hooks and hybrid right-hook-uppercuts. Guerrero was getting the better of the exchanges in the early goings as both men were slanging heavy leather.

At 2:43 of the 3rd round Guerrero thumped Escobedo on the jaw with a left-cross that floored the Woodland, CA., pug. Escobedo took the eight-count and got his legs back under him, although he was hurt one more time with a Guerrero left-hand he lasted the round.

Guerrero seemed to be the more powerful of the two and was getting off his punches first as he had Escobedo on his heels. Vicente landed some good power punches in the 4th round but the blows were having no effect on “The Ghost,” who was creeping forward. Another cut opened above Escobedo’s right eye when the brawlers bumped skulls again, just before Guerrero shoved him to the floor with a stiff arm.

“The Ghost” hurt and wobbled Escobedo in the 5th round with a hard straight-left and knocked him down again in the 6th round with a resounding left-uppercut as Vincente showed his toughness rising to his feet once more.

After Escobedo fully recovered he had his moments, landing some hard power punches in the late rounds but Robert showed a good beard. After getting dominated in the first half of the fight, Vincente came on strong at the end but it was too little too late as Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero won a unanimous decision with scores of 100-88, 98-90 and 96-92, improving to 28-1-1, 18 knockouts.

With the victory Guerrero will look to claim a world title by securing a bout with the winner of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Michael Katsidis fight on November 27th.

All Photos by Tom Hogan