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By Kirk Jackson
Finally the long awaited matchup between Danny Garcia and Zab Judah will commence this weekend at the Barclay Center in Judah’s hometown of Brooklyn, New York.
Rich Kane – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions
There has been a lot of animosity between the two camps for the past couple of months, for a fight that was originally scheduled for February 9th.
Danny’s father Angel has been the main catalyst for the venom between camps, engaging in tactical, verbal warfare with Judah, seemingly at every chance he gets.
This is nothing new as Angel has been known to ruffle opposing fighter’s feathers, going back to when he insulted former WBA Super Lightweight Champion Amir Khan, stirring the pot of controversy with some of the racial remarks he made.
Danny has backed up everything so far but he may have met his match against Judah.
Judah is a long time veteran of the sport, having won numerous world titles across multiple divisions and has faced the best opponents over the years.
Having fought against guys such as Floyd Mayweather, Cory Spinks, Demarcus Corley, Miguel Cotto, Kostya Tszyu, Junior Witter, Lucas Matthysse and Amir Khan, Judah has shown he’s gone against really a who’s who of boxing.
Judah has the experience advantage, which can come in handy against the less experienced Garcia, especially in front a boisterous Brooklyn crowd cheering for their hometown fighter Judah.
Judah has the speed advantage, he’s a faster with his hand speed and of foot. It’s cliché but speed kills. Especially when a fighter gets hit by a punch he does not see.
Judah is better defensive fighter than Garcia. Although Judah does not possess the same defensive prowess as his friend/rival Floyd Mayweather, he can be slick; he does have great upper body movement and can contort his body in angles to avoid punishment. He also catches a lot of punches with his gloves as well.
Garcia does have some advantages going into this fight and he is favored for a reason.
Garcia is the younger fighter having turned 25-years-old last month, while Judah is 35. Garcia is still developing with each fight showed against, Morales and most recently with Khan; he does possess solid punching power.
Garcia may be the more durable of the two, he has a larger frame than Judah and even though he does get hit quite often, he doesn’t have the same wear and tear that Judah has amassed over the years and it’s no secret Judah does not possess the most durable chin.
One of Garcia’s best attributes is his timing and ability to adjust. He was able to time Khan and ultimately started catching him with his hooks at the end of Khan’s punches. He was able to slowly take over the Morales fights as well.
This fight is Judah’s to lose. His defensive skills and elusiveness along with his hand speed should allow him to control the fight. Because of Judah’s flashier punches, he has a better chance of pulling out the close rounds.
Judah just has to fight a smart, patient fight and take advantages of the openings and mistakes Garcia will make. Garcia throws a lot of wide, loopy punches that a quick boxer could capitalize on.
The one thing the Garcia camp and Golden Boy Promotions has probably been banking on is Judah losing his composure.
Judah has a history for losing his cool and falling short in big time fights. Fights against Kostya Tszyu, Floyd Mayweather, Carlos Baldomir and Miguel Cotto come to mind.
Angel Garcia has been provoking Judah, talking trash, playing minds games to get Judah riled up. In one of the last press conferences leading up to the fight Judah engaged in verbal warfare with Oscar De La Hoya and Bernard Hopkins of Golden Boy Promotions.
A riled up Judah is an unfocused Judah. If he’s unfocused, he will make mental mistakes, be more likely to lose his composure and engage in a more action-esque, high paced fight that favors Garcia.
Garcia can win the fight if he discourages Judah early. He has to catch Judah with some power punches early. Pressuring Judah, stepping to his left and staying out of Judah’s punching range can work wonders for Garcia. Especially if he goes to the body early often, because he can break down Judah and potentially go for the knock out late in the fight.
Garcia is undefeated and even though he won his last three fights against Morales (twice) and Khan, he showed vulnerability to guys who either have tremendous hand speed (Khan) and pretty good boxing ability (Morales). Different styles of fighters, but Judah has a blend of great hand speed and boxing ability.
I expect Judah to upset Garcia via a unanimous decision. Judah should capitalize on his speed advantage and on Garcia’s wide punches. Reminds me of Shane Mosley vs. Antonio Margarito back in 2009.
Everyone thought Margarito would run through Mosley and Sugar ended up shocking the world scoring the TKO over the Tijuana Tornado. We probably won’t see the same action-packed fight we saw with Mosley-Margarito, but don’t be surprised from a brilliant Zab Judah performance nonetheless.
