Zab Judah
 Zab JudahBoxingInsider.com Exclusive Biofile Published by Scoop Malinowski Last Updated on April 11th, 2008 | Options:  Print This Article  Email This Article  RSS |
Status: Challenges DeMarcus Corley for the WBO Junior Welterweight title in Las Vegas in July 12 on HBO.
Ht: 5-7 Wt: 140
Born On: October 27, 1977 In: Brooklyn, NY
Childhood Heroes: “Pernell Whitaker, Mike Tyson.”
Nicknames: “Zab, Super Judah.”
Hobbies/Interests: “Play basketball, boxing.”
Early Boxing Memory: “Watching Tyson make my blood rush. I’m just happy to be around the same era as those guys. My father (Yoel) started me in boxing, he was a five-time world champion kickboxer. He taught me. From there I started.”
Funny Boxing Memory: “When I first started, six-years-old. I lost to the same fighter three times back-to-back-to back. My first three fights. His name was Jermaine Bailey [laughs], from New Jersey. Still lookin’ for him [laughs].”
Childhood Dreams: “To win the gold medal in the Olympics, then to become world champion. I messed up one but I fulfilled the other.”
Favorite Movies: “Heat, Scarface.”
Musical Tastes: “Jay-Z, Biggie, Lauryn Hill.”
First Job: “Construction worker for my dad’s company in Brooklyn (age 16).”
First Car: “1992 red Nissan Pathfinder.”
Pre-Fight Feeling: “Hyper. Anxious. I think about all my opponents the same…they’re in the way of me making millions. A million is behind them. I’ve got to go through them. My mind’s racing. Main thing is to relax…what I’m going to do to my opponent. (Upon entering the ring) I look in his face, see how he looks. Sometimes you go in a fight and you have already beat a fighter. I look in the eyes to see if they’re confident. Or if they’re just in there for the ride. The eyes tell a lot. Whichever way, I’m still gonna go at them and dissect them, that’s it.”
Favorite Meal: “Lasagna or pizza.”
Favorite Breakfast Cereal: “Oh, Cap’n Crunch.”
Favorite Ice Cream Flavor: “Cherry.”
Greatest Sports Moment: “Winning the IBF world championship, putting the belt around my waist in the ring. My first one. When you’re a young fighter coming up, you always want to have a championship belt. And putting one around your waist is a great feeling. Everything is moving quickly. Yesterday I was 4-0. Now I’m 28-1 and one of the top fighters in the world.”
Most Painful Moment: “Losing the Olympic box-offs to David Diaz in the amateurs in 1996. Being robbed, never lost. I was robbed so. It was a hurtful feeling. The world can see it now plain and clear, I was robbed. But it was a hurtful moment. I worked my whole childhood to that goal. To get right to that door – and one fight away from being on the Olympic team – and it was taken from me. Of course I was crying…I was hurt for days and days and days. Took me a couple of months to come back.”
Favorite Boxers To Watch: “Sugar Ray Robinson. Muhammad Ali. Mike Tyson. Pernell Whitaker.”
Closest Boxing Friends: “Floyd Mayweather. Pernell Whitaker. Mike Tyson. I met Tyson, of course. My father and him were buddies back in the day. I fought on his undercard against Botha. We know each other well. A great guy. He calls me his ‘Little Brother.’”
Funniest Boxers: “Jeremy Williams – oh my god! Mitch Green.”
Favorite Fights: “Gatti-Robinson, Gatti-Ward, Whitaker-Chavez, Taylor-Chavez I, Ali-Frazier I, II, III, Foreman-Norton.”
Worst Injury: “Got cut when I was 5-0 against Troy ‘Night Train’ Crane. From the side of his glove when I was slipping a punch. It slipped past my face and cut me. That was the worst feeling [smiles].”
Favorite Vacation Spots: “Miami, Cancun.”
People Most Admired: “I admire my dad a lot. For being a father that took care of seven boys by himself. That’s really touching to me. There’s a lot of fathers that can’t take care of one…he took care of seven all at once. I admire him the most.”
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