http://hboppv.com/events/mayweather_judah/prefight.shtml
Mayweather vs. Judah Pre-Fight Analysis
By Bert Randolph Sugar with Steve Small
Zab “Super” Judah
Strengths: Almost as fast of hand as Mayweather and faster of foot, Judah has the style to frustrate Mayweather.
With more KO’s (25 to 24) against heavier opponents, Judah has the power to match Mayweather’s–and then some.
An effective fighter when he is aggressive, Judah can bring the fight to Mayweather, causing him problems.
Embarrassed by his loss to Carlos Baldomir in his last fight, Judah is focused for this showdown with Mayweather feeling as he did in his rematch with Cory Spinks, that he can once again “bounce back” from a loss.
Weaknesses: Judah tends to lose his concentration during lulls in the action and forgets what he should be doing. And, as he did in fight against Baldomir, sometimes lets the fans fight his fight for him.
Judah’s chin had been called “questionable”–for references, please see his two-round knockout by Kostya Tszyu.
With a tendency to back straight up with his chin up in the air, Judah leaves himself vulnerable to straight right hands down the pipe.
Must Do To Win: Zab must be aggressive, moving in behind the jab and trying to catch Mayweather with left crosses as Floyd leans back.
Continue to move in and out, not stand in front of Mayweather after punching, as he did against Tszyu.
Judah must stay focused, keep moving and don’t move back straight up, but move back to the right or the left.
And, above all, Zab must stay focused and not let up.
“Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather
Strengths: The fastest hands in boxing today. He throws every punch in the book–and then some. And has good power in either. Very underrated body puncher
A smart tactical fighter with an unusual defensive style–he leans straight back and to his right, away from opponent’s punches, making them reach and enabling him to counter with his right.
Stepped up to test the welterweight waters in his last fight against the speedy lefty Shamba Mitchell and had no problems with the added weight.
Weaknesses: Mayweather’s style works better against right-handed fighters than against lefties because he leans towards a southpaw’s power hand as opposed to away from an orthodox fighter’s power hand, something Judah will look to exploit.
Mayweather leaves his chin up when he leans back, leaving him vulnerable to Judah’s power left.
Mayweather has fragile hands, something that has deviled him in previous fights–as they did in the fight against Carlos Hernandez in 2001.
In the past Mayweather has had trouble with fighters who crowd him, leaving him little room to do that voodoo he does so well from longer range.
Must Do To Win: Floyd must capitalize on Judah’s mistakes. This is what Kostya Tszyu did when Judah backed straight up with his chin in the air, dropping him with a straight right.
Mayweather should test Judah’s chin early in the fight to see if it’s wanting, as advertised.
Mayweather should look to beat Judah at his own game, outspeeding him and showing Zab that he’s better at the best part of his game.
