Sharkie´s
Week in Boxing: Who says nice guys never win?
Showtime´s Tim
Smith / Tszyu vs Judah / Bojado vs Lucero
By Frank Gonzalez
05.11
- Every so often in Boxing, we get a big fight that
we will talk about for a long time. Douglas vs. Tyson,
Holyfield vs. Tyson, Barrera vs. Hamed and a few others.
This weekend, the much hyped contest between Zab Judah
(27-0-1 NC-21 KO’s) holder of the IBF’s
Junior Welterweight title and Kostya Tszyu (27-1-1-22
KO’s) owner of the WBA and WBC’s version
of the title, proved to be one of those.
In the preflight interviews, Judah
said that this fight wasn’t about Tszyu, that
it was bigger than Tszyu. The fight was about him
making history. To listen to him speak English, his
first language, is to understand who he is, where
he’s from and what he is all about. Zab had basically
discounted Tszyu in his vanity. He was the favorite
that most people were saying would win. Zab was asked
if he would give Tszyu a rematch if he wins the fight
and Judah said arrogantly; “Winner take all,
ya know what I’m saying.” The only regard
Zab has is for his own image, which may do well among
the underclass in the hood, but in the eyes of the
rest of humanity, reeks of poor sportsmanship and
excessive bravado.
Tszyu was humble during the interviews.
In his best English, which is obviously his second
language, he credited Judah as a great fighter, and
assured Boxing fans that he trained well for this
fight. His soft demeanor hid the ferocity of his abilities.
Knowing he was a three to one underdog coming into
the fight, he made no remarks about it. If you wanted
more, you had to look at his body language, which
was that of an honorable man, the antithesis of everything
Zab Judah, with all his gold chains, poses and posses,
stands for.
I was surprised that Judah’s
ring entrance did not include the usual ‘gangsta
rap,’ but a patriotic tune instead, as Zab entered
with an American flag wrapped around his neck like
an ascot. Among his entourage was the vile Mike Tyson,
a fellow Brooklyn born fighter and stable mate under
shared manager Shelly Finkel.
Tszyu’s entrance music was a
woman dressed in questionable taste singing a song
saying that “Today; I’m going to knock you
out.” We laughed, thinking it odd that Tszyu
would have such a song for his entrance. We had different
predictions for the fight too. I thought it would
go the distance, with Zab winning a questionable decision.
My friend had Zab winning by knock out in the fourth
round.
The
under card fight featured the young and heavily touted
Panchito Bojado - Photo: Tom Casino/ Showtime
- (8-0-0-8 KO’s) against Mauro Lucero (34-8-1-22
KO’s). Lucero threw himself to the canvas from
a non-punch early, throwing the fight in an obviously
fixed match. 18 year old Bojado was embarrassed and
noted that the punch he did hit Lucero with wasn’t
even a hard one, and he didn’t understand why
Lucero “took a knee.” Really? It was more
like took a nap for the count of ten. Bojado looks
very much like Fernando Vargas little brother might
look. He may be a great “up and coming”
fighter, but we’ll never know if he really is
good if he is never tested. So far, I’ve seen
all of his fights and none of them were competitive
at all. Lucero at 29 years old, who lost five of his
last eight fights, was being call! ed the best competition
Bojado had faced to date. Lucero’s obvious dive
might have exposed the fact that Bojado was is a fighter
who is being “made” by his handlers in typical
“scam” fashion. Building an impressive record
on a diet of hand selected, easy and fixed contests.
With the fight scheduled for 10 rounds and only going
one, this left Showtime with a time gap to fill before
the main event.
Showtime’s Tim Smith,
who looks like a relative of Jabba the Hut from Star
Wars, took the microphone and bored viewers with a
tedious account of the latest gossip in the sport.
We couldn’t help but notice that he wasn’t
even speaking from familiarity, but reading words
from prompt cards. Showtime’s Tim Smith is by
far the worst commentator on the program. He even
makes Bobby Cyz look insightful. I expect better from
Showtime, a premium cable network. I think I’d
rather see Miller High Life commercials that are at
least funny, than have to watch such unimaginative
programming. After much uninformative banter and 45
minutes of clips and interviews of Zab Judah boasting
and Kostya Tszyu’s un-American humility, the
fighters were finally introduced.
In the 1st round, Zab got some good
shots off which I felt slightly rattled Tszyu. Kostya
showed a good chin though, and maintained his composure,
surviving what ended up being the most Judah would
offer up in the fight. We had Judah winning the first
round, 10-9. I’ve seen Tszyu fight before and
was unimpressed with his lack of piquancy. I knew
he was tough, and could take a punch, but was beginning
to wonder if Judah might prove to be too much for
the Russian born Aussie fighter from Down Under.
Instead of showing what the respective
corners were saying to their fighters between the
round, we got Bobby Cyz. In his usual artless manner,
praising every breath Judah took during the 1st round,
then showing a replay of his one solid punch to Tszyu’s
jaw and remarking how incredibly fast and precise
Judah is. You can always count on Cyz to make mountains
out of molehills. It amazes me how Showtime has put
together such a poor cast of characters to provide
color and analysis for its Boxing programs.
In the 2nd round, Zab got on his bike
and ran around Tszyu, who controlled the tempo aggressively
as he chased Judah about the ring, hitting him often
with clean shots. Tszyu was clearly winning the 2nd
round, and with less than 10 seconds left, jabbed
with his left and then threw a right hand that caught
Judah on the button, making his head snap sideways
as he fell flat on his back.
The referee, Jay Nady began the count
and as he reached the count of 4, the bell rang to
end the round. Judah jumped up instinctively, but
was still too wobbled by the punch and fell down a
second time in twisted, punch drunken fashion. At
that point, Nady stopped the fight. It was over; Kostya
Tszyu had knocked out Zab Judah in 2:59 of the 2nd
round.
Seconds later, as Judah regained consciousness,
he was in disbelief of what had just happened, and
went into a rage, throwing his wooden stool into the
center of the ring and kicking up a fuss. While being
restrained by Yoel Judah, his father/trainer, he broke
loose and walked up to referee Jay Nady and stuck
his gloved fist into his neck. Nady pushed away as
security jumped into the ring and tried to contain
Judah, who in Tysonesque fashion was going berserk.
On the other side of the ring, Kostya Tszyu was smiling
happily as the winner of a title unification bout
should, unimpeded by Judah’s lack of grace. Judah
was finally escorted out of the ring after kicking,
screaming and crying like a spoiled baby who couldn’t
have his way.
Tim Smith conducted the post fight
interviews, starting with Kostya Tszyu.
Tim Smith: Was Judah’s speed
a factor in this fight?
Kostya Tszyu: He was starting the
fight cold. No, his speed wasn’t an issue. I
know I lost the first round. He hit me with some good
shots. I was not impressed with his punching power
though. When I knocked him out, it wasn’t even
with a very hard punch, just a well-timed blow. I
am happy to have unified the title. This was my destiny.
I trained for hours and hours for this fight. Now
I have unified the title of Super Lightweight Championship.
I am very happy to have won this way against such
a great opponent.
Tim Smith: Does he deserve a rematch?
Kostya Tszyu: Do you remember the
press conference, where he was asked the same question?
He answered that “Winner take all.” Now
I answer the same way. It’s like a boomerang.
But you never know what’s going to happen, we
will see.
The knock out was called a TKO, as
referee Jay Nady had waved Judah out after he fell
down again after initially wobbling to his feet. Nady
remained calm and behaved professionally in spite
of being attacked by Judah shortly after the stoppage.
During a post fight interview by Tim Smith, he was
asked about his decision to halt the fight the way
he did. Nady explained that Judah was down, and as
he was counting, Judah got up and fell down again,
a clear indication that the fighter was hurt. He also
said he was concerned about Second Concussion Syndrome,
and how when a fighter loses his equilibrium that
way, he could be seriously hurt if hit again.
Smith went on to interrogate Nady
into answering whether there is a definite rule according
to the Nevada State Athletic Commission that states
a fight should be stopped if a fighter falls twice
from the same knock down. Nady said that a fight could
be stopped at any time at the referee’s discretion,
and that his only interest was the fighter’s
safety. Tim Smith then asked if Nady thought there
would be action taken against Judah for his emotional
behavior after the stoppage. Nady said that would
be up to the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Smith
then asked if Nady wanted action to be taken. Nady
reiterated that it was not up to him, but the NSAC.
Smith prodded Nady some more, asking if he personally
wanted to see action taken against Judah to which
Nady said; “No, I don’t want to see anything.”
After failing to extract the answers
he wanted from Nady, Smith went to Judah’s dressing
room to interview the loser. If the way it reads sounds
bad, imagine what it was like having to record this
interview word for word on paper.
Tim Smith: How badly hurt were you?
Zab Judah: (in stumble bumble stuttering
English) I mean…I’m in a world title fight;
I got hit with a good shot. But I got up with no count,
I mean, I went down, but for sure I was up. I just
feel I wasn’t even given a chance or a count.
Tim Smith: There is no standing 8
count in Nevada.
Zab Judah: He just stopped it…4
and that’s it?
Tim Smith: So you thought it was an
early stoppage?
Zab Judah: It was an early stoppage…I
mean… you see how quickly I got my head back
together, and um you know, I was ready to go back,
you know what I mean?
Tim Smith: Did you get up too quickly?
Zab Judah: Yeah, you know what I mean,
yeah, maybe from my lack of experience, I got up quickly,
but you see shortly after that I was ready to go again,
know what I mean? He just waved it off, that was crazy.
Tim Smith: Ok, we’re going to
take a look at the knock down, so tell me what’s
going on Zab? (The final scene of the fight was shown)
Zab Judah: Ok, you know what I mean.
(Stumbles for words) I was pulling back, I bet you.
I got hit by a good shot. I went down…maybe I
got up too fast…
Tim Smith: You’re a little wobbly…
Zab Judah: Yeah, I mean, you’re
hurt…ok. I mean, ok, you know. I was wobbly,
you know what I mean? It’s what type of fight…I
got up too fast you know…they got to give you
time to get up…this is not like some…you
know…this is a world title fight.
Tim Smith: What are you saying to
the referee?
Zab Judah: He already stopped it…I
said what are you stopping it for? You know what I
mean…I’ve seen fighters roll around on the
floor…he just never gave me a chance. Big as
this fight is. They should never been stopped it like
that.
Tim Smith: But you were really wobbly
here Zab…
Zab Judah: Ok, I’m on the floor
Tim…I can’t be wobbly on the floor, cut
it out man, don’t try to be smart. Look, look,
he didn’t even start the count on me…look,
look…
Tim Smith: Do you think he stopped
it because you went down a second time?
Zab Judah: I mean…I gues…I
don’t know what was going through the ref’s
mind…look, look, I’m back…I’m
saying to him what are you doing? Hey, I can’t
cry about it…know what I mean…all I can
do is come back…I’m a young fighter, Kostya
Tszyu is a legend…know what I mean? I’m
just happy to be in there…I thank God no one
was hurt…and I’ll be looking for a rematch.
Tim Smith: After the fight, your emotions
got the best of you and you went over and had a few
words with the referee, do you regret doing that?
Zab Judah: Yes, of course, I mean,
you know what I’m saying…I don’t mean
to harm any body at a championship fight…it’s
just that it’s a big fight…and you gotta
understand with a big fight like this …with stakes
on the line….you got to understand emotions are
involved, know what I mean? So…anything I did
to the referee…or anybody else…I apologize
for…(His trainer can be heard in the background
saying the referee owes Zab an apology.)
Tim Smith: This was a highly anticipated
match up, a controversial ending, would you like to
see it again?
Zab Judah: Of course, I mean, I’m
a true champion…I’m pretty sure Kostya Tszyu
is a true champion and I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t
want to win a fight like this…you know what I
mean…this is a mega fight…the best this
division has to offer…I mean what are you going
to do now…fight other guys? I mean…I feel
we should do it again because we are the best out
there that happened…it was a controversial fight,
you know what I mean? I went down, of course, but
I got up like the soldier I am. And maybe I might
have over reacted a little bit, I’m sorry for
that, but I was still able to keep on continuing.
You got to feel me on this… on a big fight like
this…emotions are involved…I mean for him
to come over and wave it off, I just was like, over,
it can’t be over? I mean this is a mega fight,
so for him to stop it like that I felt was uncalled
for.
Steve Albert ends the show asking
Mark Ratner, the director of the Nevada State Athletic
Commission if any action would be taken against Zab
Judah. Ratner said he and the commission would view
the tapes and see. How insightful.
I confess that it was a real treat
for me to see poetic justice. I thought Tszyu fought
smartly against a very over rated fighter who has
been coddled by his managers, promoters and hype makers.
Like other mouthy fighters who build their resumes
on easy or fixed opponents, once they get in the ring
with a real legitimate fighter, they are exposed.
I remember Naseem Hamed, whose ego was only exceeded
by the size of his mouth, exposed by Marcos Antonio
Barrera. Poetic justice.
If I were Kostya Tszyu, I wouldn’t
even consider giving the arrogant, self-serving Judah
a rematch for a long time. And when I did, it would
be for a huge purse.
Maybe there is a moral to this story
that unfolded Saturday night. Hopefully young fighters
will learn that every facet of a fighter makes a fighter
what he is. Skill, stamina, heart and a sense of honor
are the traits to aspire to. The long-term benefits
out weigh the short-term hype.
