"I feel like right now, I'm one of those guys who's still in the picture. My names is always there; my name is always credible, but it's a fight that a lot of fighters don't want to take. I mean, I understand, but as long as I got that window of opportunity to come in there and shine, that's all I need...I'm just letting them know I'm staying here. I ain't going nowhere. You know? It's like a path and these guys are going to have to make a decision to either go through or turn around. If you don't want to take the detour route, then come this way, but just know there's a couple of dogs in the alley that bite and bite hard," stated former undisputed welterweight champion Zab "Super" Judah as he talked about his eagerness to step into the ring with IBF jr. weterweight champion Juan Urango. Check out what else he had to say about his future plans and much more.
BT: What's good Super?
ZJ: What's up?
BT: Congrats on that easy win over Hernandez last month.
ZJ: Thanks man. I appreciate it. I appreciate it.
BT: No doubt! It had been damn near a year since you were last in the ring. How did it feel to be back in there?
ZJ: It was good. It felt good. I took my time. I could have probably got it over in the first round, but I wanted to be relaxed and just go in there and do everything right.
BT: Did you feel any ring rust in there? Did you feel like maybe you should have got a few more rounds in with the guy.
ZJ: No, I was very anxious. I trained very hard for the fight. I put in my mind that I was going up against one of the top-notch guys and I had that kind of preparation for the fight, so I was ready to go.
BT: The main reason why I wanted to hit you up is because there's been a lot of action going on in the jr. welterweight division recently. I think some people forget that you're still one of the top names out there, so I wanted to get your take on some of these fights that just happened. Take your boy Paulie for example. What did you think of his performance the other night?
ZJ: Paulie did good. Paulie did good. He went in there, I mean, I thought he won the first fight, but he went in there the second time and showed he was a good champion. I mean, that's what happens with us Brooklyn boys. We have to go in there and prove ourselves because they don't give us nothin'. So yeah, he went in there and did a good job. The way I feel about this division, I just feel like one of those superheroes that was so dominant and a force to be reckoned with that people try to forget about you. You know, you got that one person that you be like, "Oh my God. No, let's not even think about him coming back. Please. He's problems." You know what I mean? I feel like right now, I'm one of those guys who's still in the picture. My names is always there; my name is always credible, but it's a fight that a lot of fighters don't want to take. I mean, I understand, but as long as I got that window of opportunity to come in there and shine, that's all I need.
BT: (Laughing) Yeah, yeah, like when Superman was killed off by Doomsday. People forgot just how important and how valuable he was to them.
ZJ: You know what? I was always told, no matter what, a real champion climbs back to the top because they know what it takes and they know how to do it. A lot of times, these fighters that are on top that never lose, when they lose, they never know how to fuckin' come back. I mean, look at Cotto. Cotto was undefeated, but he's been knocked out more times in his last fuckin' fights than ever before. I mean, he's been getting the shit beat out of him, you know what I mean? That's not the case with Zab Judah. When I lost my first fight to Kostya Tsyzu, I bounced back and won another world title. Bounced back, bounced back, won another world title, so it's like, you know, it's a difference.
BT: There's a lot of guys running around talking about being the man at welterweight right now. First there was Cotto and now Pacquiao's staked his claim, plus Shane and even Berto, but the funny thing is that the last guy to actually hold all of those belts was Zab "Super" Judah.
ZJ: You gotta also remember this, you gotta also remember this, at 140, me and Kostya Tszyu was the first fighters to go in there and fight for the undisputed world championship in like 50, 60, 70 years, you know what I mean? I was a participant for that right there at 140 and then I went to 147 and took it, you know what I mean?
BT: Now you're getting back to your roots. Now you're getting back to the 140-pound division. Obviously you're going to be much stronger at the lower weight, but do you feel like you're more comfortable back at 140. I mean, you were at 147, I know a lot of people don't think that's a big deal, but those 7 pounds make a big difference when you're talking about guys who are coming down from 170 or 180 pounds.
ZJ: Yeah, well, I thought at 147, I was giving away a lot, but I felt like my speed and power kind of made up for it, you know what I mean? But as I went on and I was fighting guys like Clottey and them, and Cotto, and I'm fighting these guys at 47, but these guys are coming down from 180 and 190. I'm like what he hell? Anybody that knows me knows the most I've ever been...I've never been over 157, ever in my life, you know what I mean? So for these guys coming in from 80 and all that, that's kind of a big thing for me, so I said let me get back down to 40. I'll have the speed and I'll have the power advantage to go in there and bang it out with anybody. But you know what? There's only a few guys that I really have my eyes set on eye. I don't really have a desire to fight none of these new guys. Guys like Amir Khan and these guys, I mean, yeah, they coming up and they fresh, so of course they're going to look sharp. They ain't been through nothing. They ain't been in no exciting championship fights. I mean, he fought Dmitriy Salita. What the hell? That went one round. I mean, I done been in brawls with cuts and been knocked down and these guys haven't even been through that. Why would I even put my likeness and name up against a guy like that? I don't think that does anything for me. The only reason why I'm going after Juan Urango is because he's a champion; he's a flat-footed guy who seems very slow, a tailor-made fight for Zab Judah, you know what I mean? So why not go in there and take the title and I can go back and campaign for the guys of my caliber, the Ricky Hattons, the Manny Pacquiaos, the Mayweathers. Let me get back to doing my thing. And Cotto. Cotto wants to come back. These young, new guys that's never been touched, it's all like a video game. Their speed is on 100 and their health is on 100, but they ain't never been touched yet.
BT: Yeah, I was going to say that Dmitriy Salita didn't give a very good representation of Brooklyn (laughing). You know, you mention these younger guys and to some extent, I do have to agree with what you're saying. It's almost like there's such a big rush to create new stars that they're forcing some of these younger guys into situations that they may not be ready for. I think we saw it happen to Jermain Taylor, I think we saw it happen to Victor Ortiz and I think we're about to see it happen with Berto. It's almost like as soon as you get 2 or 3 losses, people think you're washed up and you should either immediately retire or be relegated to journeyman status (laughing). They seem to forget that it wasn't too long ago when Shane Mosley was trying to step into the ring with you, and that was before his great performance against Margarito.
ZJ: Exactly! Exactly! I mean, I just take it as disprect...but it's okay. If God should ever make it to where one of these guys crosses my path, I'm gonna teach them about me.
BT: Did you catch Timothy Bradley's fight with Lamont Peterson the other night?
ZJ: He looked very good. He looked very good, you know? He reminds me of myself back in the day. Watching him fight, everybody says, "Damn Zab, he fights just like you did."
BT: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was going to say that. I keep telling people that he reminds me a lot of you.
ZJ: I mean, he's got the style. He's an off-set puncher, he comes in with both hand, you know, he throws a lot of punches, he's in great condition. He looked very good. I've got a lot of respect for the Peterson brothers, you know what I mean? Those are my guys. I watched them grow up. I don't know what happened to Lamont. Lamont is a better fighter than what he showed, you know what I mean? I mean, it was an opportunity. It was something where people might say he choked. He's a great fighter to me. He do good stuff in the gym and I watched him come up with class. Him and his brother is pretty good. I don't know, I mean, he got under the lights and I guess he choked. But that's okay. It's a sign where you show you're tough and you show you're a true champion. If you get knocked down one time, you get up and you do it again. Ain't nothing to it.
BT: I think that goes back to what you were saying about some of these young guys not being quite ready to make that jump to the next level yet because they haven't gotten that kind of experience yet. I thought, more than anything, that fight proved that unlike some of those inexperienced guys, Timothy Bradley is definitely ready to take it to the next level and test his skills against yours. Of course, that being said, that fight would be much better if you both had a title and that's why I think you targeting Juan Urango is a good look.
ZJ: Everybody don't understand boxing and the politics from my angle on my part of which I see. I know the only reason for me to get back in there and campaign again...I know these guys are not going to fight me. When I was the undisputed champion of the world, where was De La Hoya at? Where was Ricky Hatton? Where was Amir Khan? When I had the belts, nobody had nothing! Everybody was under me. Nobody had nothing.
BT: Where was Floyd at when you were undisputed (laughing).
ZJ: Nowhere! He didn't even have a championship! But at the same time, hey, listen, I don't knock that. They trying to do what they do and that's all good. I'm just letting them know I'm staying here. I ain't going nowhere. You know? It's like a path and these guys are going to have to make a decision to either go through or turn around. If you don't want to take the detour route, then come this way, but just know there's a couple of dogs in the alley that bite and bite hard (laughing). Know that!
BT: (Laughing) What's up with the fight with Urango? Has there been any movement with that?
ZJ: It's been movement on it. It's been movement on it, but it's the networks. They don't respect him and they don't look at him as a real champion, so when you go in there and demand certain money for a fight or dates, they like, "Hell no!" You know what I mean? They don't have any respect for him. He's the champion, you know what I mean, but they won't give him no good fights. I told him I'd come down there and fight him, but he was like, "Naw! Who wants to see that?"
BT: Let me ask you though, how is it yes to Urango for Andre Berto, but no to Urango for Zab Judah?
ZJ: You know what? I guess they know the outcome of the fight. HBO, every time I step on they network, they know I'm an exciting fighter, so they'd rather save me for a more intriguing fight, which is dumb and I don't understand. But nevertheless, whether we got to do a small pay-per-view and put it on ourselves...I mean, as far as having the money, that's not a problem. We got that. You know what I'm saying? We're going to make it happen. We'd like to put it on a network that's a substantial name, a Showtime or an HBO, but if that shouldn't happen, then we'll go pay-per-view with it. It's not a problem.
BT: Here's what's fucked up about that Zab. How the hell does HBO give Victor Ortiz another shot on their network after he basically quit, said he didn't want to go out on his back, said he didn't want to take that kind of punishment and that he wasn't even sure if he wanted to keep fighting. How the hell do they bring him back on and yet they tell you thanks, but no thanks.
ZJ: What HBO is trying to do is they trying to play a game of hardball. When you look at it, the only older fighters they got that's been around for awhile are Mayweather and Pacquiao. They trying to get rid of a lot of the old fighters and put the new fighters on there, like Victor Ortiz and guys like that. What they don't understand is that we the pioneers; we make the game exciting, you know what I mean? I don't know what they thought about me, but I'm going to come back. That's why I'm saying the opportunity to snatch a world title is a big opportunity. Once you're the world champion, there's not a lot that they can say. I mean, they can't say when I get a title that me and Mayweather can't do it again. No way! Right now, the game of boxing is about positioning yourself. It's all about positioning. Bob Arum got a great position in with Pacquiao. And then he had Cotto and Pacquiao, so he made some good money. And Mayweather positioned himself good. It's all about positioning yourself; that's it!
BT: Of course! Of course! I mean, boxing is like a game of chess. You have to stay two steps ahead of your opponent. That's why I think the Juan Urango fight is perfect. You beat Juan Urango, you get a title and your back on top and everybody wants to make the fights with you.
ZJ: I just want to see if HBO or Showtime doesn't give the Urango fight to me, I want to see what network will put Urango on with somebody else. Then I'll be able to see the bias. Believe me, whatever network does it, I'm going to dog them. Just be prepared to be down because I'm going to dog them. I'm going to dog them. I got a lot of secrets about a lot of these head execs over at these networks.
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