WBA junior welterweight champ Amir Khan took his next big step towards superstar status with a dominating fifth round KO of IBF champ Zab Judah. Khan established his superiority from the opening bell and won every minute of every round. Judah was in great condition but was on the defensive throughout, hoping to change the course of the fight with occasional power shots.
In round five, Khan landed a hard right hand to Judah's belt line. Judah may have been hurt but it looked more likely that he wanted to see if he could get referee Vic Drakulich to penalize Khan for a low blow. Drakulich, however, correctly scored it a knock down and began his count. Judah waited until Drakulich reached a count of ten before protesting that the punch was low. Judah has fought bravely in the past so it may seem harsh to say he quit. Nevertheless, on this night, it looked like Judah knew he was in against a superior fighter and elected to utilize what he felt was a face-saving excuse to avoid taking further punishment.
Punch stats showed Khan landing 61 of 284 punches to only 20 of 115 for Judah. After the fight, Judah and his camp stuck to their low blow story in hopes that others would deem the ending controversial but no one was biting.
The plan is for Khan to fight one last time at 140 on December 10 before moving up to 147. WBC/WBO champ Timothy Bradley (who previously passed on facing Khan), Robert Guerrero (if he gets past Marcos Maidana on Aug. 27), veteran Erik Morales and Breidis Prescott (who KO'd Khan in one round in 2008 for his only pro loss) are all possible opponents. The longer term goal is a fight with either Floyd Mayweather Jr. or Manny Pacquiao. A Pacquiao-Khan meeting seems less likely as both men are trained by Freddie Roach.
Comments
Andrew, You are right on about Judah trying to save face. I think he knew he didn’t have a chance and was tired of getting whooped so he went into acting mode, and the first thing I said was wow he ’s going to whine now and sure enough he did. He just plain quit. There was no low blow. You know it, I know it, he knows and now the world knows it. Its not harsh this time, Its just the facts. great article.!!
he quit… was getting beat…. then quit….
It’s hard to say that a fighter of Judah’s quality quit. The punch appeared to be legal and certainly landed on a well muscled area, so the affect should not have had the same reaction as say a liver shot, which is what it certainly seemed to have. I was hoping Judah would come out of this bout win or lose covered in glory it was not to be and I feel Zab will always be viewed as an”if only.” Khan continues to confound his critics first he lays to rest the “glass chin” now “the runner” all thats left is the supposed stamina issue which he will probably bury against Tim Bradley. Khan v Pacman? Another year and he may be the one to finally defeat the Great One. Khan has certainly matured and his public persona is so much improved. Good luck Amir with every fight I am convinced you are the real thing
judah, obviously quit.
I think Judah was taking a good old shellacking from a bigger and younger and stronger fighter than he was use to, there was no low blow, he just needed an excuse to quit and as soon as he saw it he quit. I have watched boxing for over 50 years but today a lot of fighters don’t have what it takes for the long haul, it’s all about money.
I AGREE, I THINK ZAB JUDAH WAS LOOKING FOR A WAY OUT.
WE ALL KNOW HE IS A GREAT ACTOR, ALWAYS COMPLAINING
ABOUT SOME INJUSTICE. AMIR KHAN WAS THE BETTER MAN.