By Keith Idec
NEW YORK — Their fight was surprisingly easy for Amir Khan, so completely unproblematic that plenty of boxing observers believe it signaled the beginning of the end of Zab Judah’s star-crossed career.
Khan is among those, though, that thinks the Brooklyn-bred Judah has another championship run left in his 34-year-old body. The former IBF/WBA junior welterweight champ expects Judah (41-7, 28 KOs, 2 NC) to defeat Detroit’s Vernon Paris (26-0, 15 KOs, 3 NC) on Saturday night in Brooklyn and put himself back in position to win another world title.
“Judah still has it in him,” said Khan, who knocked out Judah with a body shot in the fifth round July 23 in Las Vegas. “He has a lot of experience. When we fought him, it was tricky. I think speed is what broke him down, but he has his own speed as well. I still think he can be up there and he still has a lot in his tank to become a champion again.”
The winner of the Judah-Paris 12-round elimination match (NBC Sports Network; 10 p.m. ET) will become the No. 1 challenger for the winner of Khan’s rematch against Lamont Peterson (30-1-1, 15 KOs) on May 19 in Las Vegas. If Judah and Khan (26-2, 18 KOs) win their respective fights there’d be very little public interest in a rematch, which would likely lead to Judah fighting another IBF contender for a vacated title.
Judah won the then-vacant IBF belt by stopping South Africa’s Kaizer Mabuza (24-8-3, 15 KOs) in the seventh round last March 5 in Newark, N.J. Mabuza and Judah were the IBF’s top two contenders for a championship stripped from Devon Alexander when the St. Louis southpaw decided to face undefeated Timothy Bradley in a unification fight in January 2011.
England’s Khan isn’t interested in facing Judah again, but he’ll pull for Judah from afar.
“Overall, he’s a good fighter,” Khan said. “I’m a fan of Zab Judah. I’ve been watching him for a long, long time. … Pernell’s going to bring the best out of him. Think about it — he beat [Lucas] Matthysse [by split decision in November 2010], and Matthysse, in my opinion, beat Devon Alexander [in June 2011]. And now look at what Devon Alexander just did. He just won [against Marcos Maidana on Feb. 25].
“Different styles make fights. Maybe my style suited Judah’s style, to beat him and everything. Judah’s still got it in him, I think. He proved it by beating Matthysse, and that wasn’t that long ago.”
Keith Idec covers boxing for The Record and Herald News, of Woodland Park, N.J., and BoxingScene.com.
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (28)