Between Barstow And Baker
Dennis Bernstein, MBA
 www.scoremedia.org
Photos: Chris Farina - Top Rank
 
 
Las Vegas – With gasoline prices at an all time high, traveling from my home in Los Angeles to Las Vegas has taken a different route. Back in the nostalgic days of $2.00 a gallon petrol and $49 flights on Southwest Airlines, it was always a breeze to hop on a 45 minute flight to Sin City to cover matches. As the price of gas hovers between around $ 4.50 in SoCal and with my girlfriend owing a hybrid, the approximate 4 hour trip through the Mojave Desert is now the best option. Fortunately for me, I find the starkness of the desert beautiful and occasionally you see some interesting things in the desert in addition to overheated cars in 100 plus temperatures. After covering the Zab Judah – Joshua Clottey fight on Saturday, the return trip served up a very striking image. Between the two desert towns of Barstow and Baker (known for having the world’s largest thermometer), off in the barren distance I could see something laying in the sand from my vantage point on Interstate 15. I couldn’t make it out at first but as we drew closer, it took form and started to draw resemblance to something familiar.
 
It was Zab Judah’s boxing career.
 

Saturday night probably finishes Mr. Judah’s serious title contention consideration. While losing a unanimous technical decision for the IBF welterweight title to the Ghana-born Clottey was nothing to be ashamed of, it’s how he lost it and how he behaved afterwards that should makes this his last appearance in the spotlight. We agreed with judge Duane Ford’s scoring (87-84 for Clottey) at the time of the stoppage but the thing about Zab that gets me is he ALWAYS has an excuse. He came in very lean for the fight; curiously four pounds under weight at 143 and really only had one good round, landing some legitimate hard shots as Round 8 drew to a close.

 
But then a left and a right drew by Clottey opened a cut over Zab’s right eye, referee Robert Byrd looked at the damage and asked the ringside physician to take a look at the damage. When Judah couldn’t discern between 2 or 3 fingers, the bout was waved off and then the fun started. Byrd, usually a fair and accurate arbiter, incorrectly ruled the bout stopped due to an accidental head butt. The Nevada State Athletic Commission rules state that in that event, the fight goes to the scorecards and Clottey had to sweat out a decision that was rightfully his. Afterwards, Judah got on the mic and basically whined about how the cut was from a head butt (which it wasn’t), how he could have continued (which he couldn’t since he couldn’t see out of the eye) and how he was the people’s champion.
 
Blah. Blah. BLAH. What peoples? Not my peoples.
 
 
I’ve seen this act before and there is a direct correlation between the amount of smack Zab Judah talks and the decline of his skills. His last good but not great performance was in St. Louis when he took the title from Corey Spinks in February of 2005 via ninth round TKO. Since then there was the terrible effort in losing his title to Carlos Baldomir in January of 2006, the near riot he caused against Floyd Mayweather in April of the same year and the game but losing effort against Miguel Cotto in Madison Square Garden in June of 2007. Even that performance was marred by the obvious acting jobs when hit with a couple of questionable low blows during the match. This performance, while not awful, was the definition of mediocre and it was amusing to see Zab gesturing to a ringside-sitting Antonio Margarito during the seventh round that he and Judah should get it on. While Zab should step away at the age of 30, his adoring fans from Brooklyn and his strong minded father/trainer, Yoel, will have him carry on. “We’d love to do it again. I’d rather Clottey knock my son out than to win because of a head butt. Joshua is not the champion.” That’s some fatherly love; Yoel would prefer his son to get knocked out rather than losing on a stoppage but that’s the Dysfunctional Family Judah.
 
 
As for the victor, the post fight press conference clued us in to how tough minded and unfortunately, how brittle the new champion Clottey is. During his gracious comments about his victory, Clottey disclosed that he tore his left bicep in the fourth round while delivering a blow. That sort of injury usually takes 8 to 12 weeks to heal so Clottey’s newly won strap could already be in jeopardy unless Bob Arum and Top Rank can do some back room machinations with the IBF. So despite going four more rounds with an arm that was so injured Clottey couldn’t lift the IBF belt without help from his trainer, he manned up and gutted out the win.
 
 
But where does that leave Clottey after his arm heals? The fighter leaves it in the hands of his promoter, “I do what Top Rank tells me to do. I would not be a champion without Bob Arum and Top Rank. Mr. Arum told me I was going to be a champion.” I was at the Clottey-Margarito fight in Atlantic City and my thoughts on that fight were that Margarito had an off night and still beat Clottey. While it was revealed that Clottey fractured his hand in round four, nothing I witnessed in the Judah fight makes a rematch with Margarito a compelling fight nor is it a match that would sell tickets or a pay per view. With Margarito trying to make up lost time on earning green and the Cotto victory to leverage, you won’t see him face Clottey, he even waved with disdain when Clottey mentioned during in ring post bout comments that he’s never been hurt in the ring.
 
 
A more intriguing fight for Joshua would be a unification match with the WBC newly crowned champ, Andre Berto. At 24, Berto is a rising star and although he won the title vacated by Floyd Mayweather he hasn’t had a difficult fight on the way to the championship. Berto’s upcoming title defense against Steve Forbes (isn’t Forbes a 130 pound fighter?) on the undercard of the Shane Mosley-Ricardo Mayorga isn’t going to impress anyone either. So while Clottey mends his right arm and Berto walks through Forbes, a match with Andre around New Year’s seems like the best move for Clottey.
 

Ring Rap
 
Antonio Margarito looked in fine form as he strutted to his ringside seat with his wife Michelle to watch the main event. He smiled widely when the crowd acknowledged him for the effort against Cotto and for his honest laboring over the years to get to his moment in the spotlight. As for his next move, the welterweight champion only mentioned one name through the course of his live interview on HBO, Oscar de la Hoya. “Oscar said he wanted to fight the winner of the fight, well here I am,” Margarito conveyed without bragging. There’s talk of a Margarito-De la Hoya fight to be staged at Dodger Stadium in the fall but given the Golden Boy’s MO, we don’t see it happening. Oscar certainly doesn’t want to get crushed in his last appearance in the ring and I don’t see Steve Forbes as a proper tune up for the Tijuana Tornado, do you?
 
 
Here’s a question for you. If a Peterson makes a noise in the desert and on one cares, did it really happen? This night it was Anthony’s turn not to impress anyone. Though ranked #3 by the WBO at lightweight and possessing a 28-0, 19 KO record, Peterson looked just a little above average in his bout against journeyman Javier Jauregui (53-15-2, 36 KOs). Though Jauregui won only one round on one of the judge’s card, it was not a dominant performance by Peterson. Like his brother Lamont, Anthony lacks the power and excitement for the boxing public to take notice although they’ve received a good bit of television exposure. Best move for the brother’s promoters, Top Rank would to start matching them with serious opposition…..
 
 
Maybe this Chavez is a better Chavez. Julio Cesar Chavez’s other son. Omar wiped out scrub opponent Jeremy Marts at 2:44 of the first round. The win pushes Chavez’s record to 11-0-1 and with his older brother’s ego bruised and considering retirement after his controversial win a few weeks back, Julio Sr. may be concentrating his efforts on the younger son. It would be wise for JCC and promoter Arum to not manage Omar’s career as they do Junior’s. While Junior has talent, the opposition he’s fought against has turned Senior’s adoring fan base against him. At this point, you can’t fight scrubs as you approach 40 bouts in the squared circle. If Omar has the goods, he should be fighting increasing tougher competition, not Tijuana taxi drivers.
 
Bob Arum was not in attendance last night although he resides in Las Vegas; he’s probably still counting the green from the Cotto-Margarito bout. Showing no signs of slowing down, Arum has masterfully commandeered the welterweight division. Top Rank currently has their promotional hooks in Margarito, Cotto and Clottey, so if anyone wants to do a deal in one of the more glamorous division in boxing, they gotta go to Bob.