Zabdiel Judah (born October 27, 1977) is an American professional boxer, who is a former IBF and WBO junior welterweight champion and former undisputed welterweight champion and is ranked #7 in the welterweight division by The Ring.[1] After compiling an amateur record of 110–5, Judah turned professional in 1996. 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. On April 8, 2006, Judah lost to Floyd Mayweather, Jr. 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. He also won the 1996 PAL national championship. 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. Judah began 1998 by knocking out Steve Valdez in the first round in January. 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. The bout went into the books as a technical draw, but the result was changed to a no contest in May 1998. 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 defeated Ward by unanimous decision to win the title. Judah successfully defended the USBA title by stopping Darryl Tyson in the eleventh round on October 15, 1998. Tyson was knocked down three times before the fight was stopped. 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 Bergman down twice in the first round, but Bergman sent Judah down to the canvas in the second round. 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. Witter frequently switched between fighting right-handed and left-handed, making him an elusive opponent. 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 rose quickly, and from that point on he dominated the fight. Judah hurt Millett with two combinations near the end of the first round. In round two, Judah sent Millett down with a right hand to the chin. Millett survived the round, but he was clearly hurt. In round four, Judah charged across the ring and inflicted a series of blows on Millett, dropping him to the canvas for the second knockdown in the fight. Millett got up, but Judah continued his assault and knocked Millett down again. Millett rose at the count of four, but his legs were unsteady and the referee decided to stop the bout.

In his third title defense, Judah stopped Hector Quiroz in the eighth round on October 20, 2000, at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Judah battered and bloodied Quiroz until the referee followed the advice of the ringside doctor and stopped the one-sided bout.On January 13, 2001, Judah defeated Reggie Green by tenth round technical knockout at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. Judah had trouble landing punches effectively against Green for the majority of the fight, but in round ten, he knocked Green down with a left hook. 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. In round two, Judah put Vester down to the canvas twice. In the third round, Judah knocked out Vester with a left hand that connected on Vester's temple. Vester went down on his knees and nearly lost his mouthpiece. The referee stopped the fight right before the closing bell. 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. Judah entered the fight as a 3-to-1 favorite to win, and he won the first round by utilizing his superior quickness to land several punches on Tsyzu.With 10 seconds left to go in round two, Tszyu landed a right hand clean on Judah's chin and he backed away from Tszyu with his hands down. 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. A few minutes later, Jimmy Lennon, Jr. 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. Judah knocked Corley down with a left hand in the third round en route to defeating Corley by split decision. Judah broke his left hand during the fight. 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. Judah had trouble at the start figuring out how to fight Spinks, the taller fighter. 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. On February 5, 2005, Judah would get a rematch with Spinks at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, Missouri, Spinks' hometown. The fight was the first major bout in St. Louis in more than 40 years, and it was a sellout. Judah was the aggressor throughout the fight. He knocked Spinks down to his knees at the bell in the seventh round, but it was not ruled a knockdown. Spinks had a strong start to the ninth round and connected with a left hand, then followed with a right hand and a combination, but Judah scored a knockdown moments later. Judah pressed the attack after the first knockdown and avoided Spinks' desperate efforts to tie him up. 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 sent Rivera down with a straight left hand to the face less than 30 seconds into the bout. Rivera beat the count, but was knocked down again about 10 seconds later. 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. Rivera rose at the count of five, but he was badly hurt and the referee stopped the fight.

His next fight took place on January 7, 2006 at Madison Square Garden in New York City against Carlos Baldomir. 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. The early rounds of the fight were close, but as the rounds passed, Judah was doing less than necessary to win, while Baldomir kept applying pressure on Judah.In round seven, Judah was hurt by a right hand and Baldomir landed a series of right hands to Judah's head along the ropes during the tenth round. Baldomir defeated Judah by unanimous decision with scores of 115–113, 114–113, and 115–112 from the three judges.The Ring named Baldomir's victory over Judah the upset of the year for 2006. Judah's IBF and WBA belts were not on the line, because Baldomir did not pay sanctioning fees to the IBF and WBA.Baldomir did win The Ring and WBC titles, while the WBA title was vacated after Judah's loss, but the IBF still recognized him as their champion.

Fight with Mayweather

With the loss to Baldomir, it appeared that Judah's much anticipated bout with Mayweather was off, but Judah's promoter Don King and Mayweather's promoter Bob Arum reworked the deals so the fight would go on. Mayweather was scheduled to earn a minimum $6 million while Judah was to earn $3 million plus a percentage of the profits, but because of Judah's loss, Mayweather earned a minimum $5 million while Judah was guaranteed $1 million plus a percentage of profits above $7 million.The fight took place on April 8, 2006, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Judah started strongly and put up a valiant fight, at times matching Mayweather's speed and punching precision.It appeared that Judah scored a knockdown in the second round when Mayweather's glove touched the canvas; however, referee Richard Steele ruled it a slip.In round four, Judah landed a right hand to the head that caused Mayweather to retreat to the ropes and cover up. The momentum changed in the fifth round, when Mayweather hurt Judah with a combination to the face. Then Mayweather landed a right hand on the bridge of Judah's nose, and blood began to flow. The seventh round was the most dominant for Mayweather to that point. Once again, he drew blood from Judah's nose. A combination from Mayweather backed Judah into a corner, and Judah's foot movement was considerably slower than it had been earlier in the fight.

With about 10 seconds left in the tenth round, Judah hit Mayweather with a low blow and followed it with a right hand to the back of Mayweather’s head. As Mayweather hopped around the ring in pain, Steele called time to give Mayweather a rest period. Mayweather’s uncle and trainer, Roger Mayweather, climbed into the ring, approached Judah and tried to choke him.Yoel Judah entered the ring and threw a punch at Roger. At that point, members of both fighters' camps entered the ring and an all-out melee ensued. More than a dozen security officers and police officers rushed into the ring and managed to control the situation.After the ring was cleared, Roger Mayweather was ejected from the fight. Mayweather cruised through the last two rounds on his way to a unanimous decision victory by scores of 116–112, 117–113, and 119–109.

After the fight, the purses for both fighters were withheld until video of the fight could be reviewed. Don King argued that Mayweather should have been disqualified because his uncle was the first person to enter the ring.At an April 13 hearing, the Nevada State Athletic Commission fined Roger Mayweather $200,000 and revoked his boxing license for one year. At a hearing on May 8, the Commission disciplined the other offenders in the melee. It fined Yoel Judah $100,000 and revoked his license for one year, fined Mayweather cornerman Leonard Ellerbe $50,000 and suspended his license for four months, and fined Zab Judah $250,000 and revoked his license for one year.

Return from suspension

On April 13, 2007, Judah made his return to the ring against Ruben Galvan at the Fitzgeralds Casino & Hotel in Tunica, Mississippi. Judah came out strongly in the first round, landing numerous shots on Galvan. During the round, a bad cut opened near the top of Galvan's head. The referee called for a timeout to allow the doctor to take a look at the cut. Due to the severity of the cut, the fight was waved off. The cut was ruled to be caused by an accidental foul with an elbow and since the fight did not go past four rounds, the fight was ruled a no contest.

Fight with Cotto

On June 9, 2007, Judah took on WBA welterweight champion Miguel Cotto in New York City before a soldout crowd at Madison Square Garden.[25] In the first round, Cotto landed a low blow that put Judah to the canvas. Referee Arthur Mercante, Jr. offered a stern warning to Cotto. In the third round, Judah took yet another low blow from Cotto, which resulted in Cotto receiving a point deduction.Cotto and Judah delivered an all-action brawl, but after weathering some difficult early rounds as he figured out Judah's southpaw style and adjusted to his speed, Cotto took over the bout. In round seven, both fighters went toe-to-toe and in round eight he hurt Judah several times. In round nine, Judah took a knee to gain a breather from Cotto's aggressive style. By the tenth round, Judah was bleeding from a cut over his right eye and was hurt by an uppercut from Cotto that sent him retreating to the ropes, but Judah stayed upright. Early in the eleventh round, Cotto landed a combination that dropped Judah to the canvas. He managed to get to his feet, but Cotto went after Judah with a relentless attack, turning him sideways along the ropes as he continued to throw punches. That forced the referee to stop the fight.

Judah, who trailed 97–91 on all three scorecards, claimed he had been weakened by the two low blows early in the fight. He said, "The first low blow was very hard. The second one took a lot out of me. The low blows affected me from the time they hit me." Cotto earned $2.5 million plus a piece of the pay-per-view profits, while Judah earned $1 million plus a percentage of the profits.

Fights after Cotto

Judah fought Edwin Vazquez at the Hard rock resort in Biloxi, Mississippi on September 7, 2007. Despite suffering a cut over his left eye, Judah defeated the overmatched Vazquez by unanimous decision. Judah hurt Vazquez several times over the course of the contest, but he injured his left hand midway through the fight and was unable to finish off Vasquez. On November 17, 2007, in Providenciales, Judah defeated Ryan Davis by unanimous decision to win the vacant IBC light middleweight title. Judah was scheduled to fight Shane Mosley on May 31, 2008, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, but it was postponed after Judah needed 50 stitches in his right arm after slipping in his bathroom and smashing it through a glass shower door.

On August 2, 2008, Judah lost to Joshua Clottey by technical decision in a fight for the vacant IBF welterweight title at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.Judah began the busier fighter, showing quick hands and throwing effective combinations behind a jab. Clottey began steadily closing the distance between himself and his opponent from the third round, landing an increasing number of punches that took their toll on Judah.In round four, Clottey landed an uppercut that caused Judah to lose his balance, and by the end of the round, Judah had blood running down his nose.Judah staged a comeback in the sixth round as he landed a flurry of punches,but in the middle of the seventh round, Clottey landed a right hand that hurt Judah and caused him to back into a corner.In round nine, Judah suffered a cut over his right eye and the fight was stopped after he said he could not see. The referee had ruled the cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads and so the fight went to the scorecards. Two judges scored the fight 86–85 and the other judge scored it 87–84, all in favor of Clottey.

Personal life

Judah has nine brothers and two sisters. Five of his brothers also box, with two of them, Josiah and Daniel Judah, boxing professionally. Judah's father and trainer, Yoel Judah, is a six-time kickboxing world champion and a seventh degree black belt.Judah's father is an avowed Black Hebrew Israelite and Judah's family has declared themselves Jewish.However, there is confusion about Judah's religion because in 2006, Zab thanked "his lord and savior Jesus Christ" after his fight against Mayweather.Such a statement would suggest that at that point in time, at least, he would not be recognized as being Jewish by the mainstream Jewish community, even by the most liberal standards.

In July 2006, He was arrested after a celebrity basketball game at Madison Square Garden on a Family Court warrant. In August 2007, Judah became involved in a fight at Stereo nightclub in New York. According to the New York Daily News, Judah started throwing punches after he was hit first by someone who approached him. Two of the perpetrator's friends then joined in the fight and were eventually everyone involved were kicked out of the club. After reviewing the videotape, the club indicated the perpetrators "might have been plotting something."

New York Police linked rapper Fabolous to a crew of robbers who targeted Judah twice. According to police reports, the Street Fam Crew, the gang that attempted to rob Judah, is made up of 20 members, all former drug dealers from Fabolous' Brooklyn neighborhood. In 2006, three men tried to rob Judah as he stood next to his Lamborghini on West 27th Street at 10th Avenue in New York City. The three men drove up to Judah in a minivan at about 5 am, and came out. One man pulled a handgun on Judah, and told him to put his jewelry on the hood of his car, but Judah ran instead. The muggers followed in their minivan, but crashed into a tree a block away. All three robbers fled the scene, but one was captured by a Homeland Security agent on his way to work, and another was grabbed by a nearby cab driver. "A bunch of idiots that didn't have no control over what they were doing; they messed with the wrong guy," said Judah.