Santa Cruz, Kathy Duva and JudahSanta Cruz, Kathy Duva and Judah
The final press conference for the July 16th Zab Judah vs. Jose Armando Santa Cruz “Brick City Boxing Series” show at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, was held at the impressive Global Boxing Gym, North Bergen, NJ. Here are quotes from the event.
Kathy Duva: “Zab Judah started his boxing career with Main Events many years ago, and he’s still a very young man, just as I am very young! Zab has announced his intentions to finish his career with us.”
“Another reason why Zab decided to come back to Main Events is that we agreed to work with him together as partners (with Super Juadh Promotions) in this promotion. It’s very important to Zab to play that role, to learn the business, to become more aware of the decision making process. We are very happy with the way this is working out.”
“Our plan with Zab is that he’s told us he wants to move down to junior welterweight, a division that gets an awful lot of attention. There are a lot of fighters in that division, but not a single one of them is a marquee name. There isn’t a single guy other than Zab Judah who people on the street would recognize. People know his name. Zab has made a commitment to come back down to that weight, and get the activity he needs to achieve his goals. We’re here to make sure he gets that with a series of fights.”
Santa Cruz and JudahSanta Cruz and Judah
Santa Cruz: “I will apply pressure but I will not be reckless. I must avoid his punches. Maybe I will switch to southpaw to keep him off balance. I will see what works better during the early rounds.”
“The Casamayor fight helped me to prepare for Zab. I will have to watch out for his speed. I trained really hard for this fight because I know a win over him will be really good for me, it will get me back in the rankings.”
“135 was no good for me. I felt really weak and I couldn’t catch my wind back. I just couldn’t do it anymore. At 143 I feel really good, really strong and it works better for me right now.”
“My Dad gets more out of me. He puts more pressure on me than other trainers. He gets mad if I don’t do things right.”
“He (Judah) is gonna be one my hardest fights. He’s a really good fighter and he has fast hands. But I think I have had the right preparation. It’s going to be a really good fight.”
Kathy Duva with Zab Judah and Zab Jr.Kathy Duva with Zab Judah and Zab Jr.
Zab Judah: “In my life right now it’s not really about money. Financially I’m cool. I’ve been suspended a year for Mayweather, I’ve been a year off for Kostya Tszyu, and I’ve been off a year just relaxing. So it’s not really about money. It’s about being with somebody that you can build with, that you can make a home with and figure out your vision. I have a vision in the game that I want to finish up with, and I want to finish it as strong as I started.”
“In the welterweight division everybody was bigger than me, stronger than me, you know? I was doing it for the money. I said let me go back somewhere to the weight class where I started, where I am comfortable, where I know I can succeed and it’s evened up for me with fighters. I’m at 140lbs, I’m solid, you ain’t seen this in a long time. I’m just ready, mentally, physically. I know what I want and I’m gonna go after it.”
“Mentally I’m different now. I have a son now, he’s 17 months and I’m thinking ‘what kind of vision are you showing your son?’ I got show him the difference, I gotta set my life, my pace, at a bigger picture.”
“This is what I like. I like that you have me fighting a tough fighter, in Santa Cruz. So that when I go in there and I make easy work of him I don’t want nobody to say oh Santa Cruz was a pushover. All I want everybody to say is, oh, Zab’s back! He’s back and he’s sharp. Santa Cruz is a tough fighter, he’s a durable fighter. He’s known to take on some of the good fighters, like in a Casamayor, in a David Diaz. I mean this is a fighter that a lot of fighters don’t want to fight and I took him on.”
“I’ve kayoed guys at 147 lbs. and 140 lbs. I bring excitement win, lose or draw. We’re gonna need two Prudentials for my next fight!”
“Everybody is asking me, ‘we want to see the Zab we know show up’. In this fight you are going to see the best Zab Judah ever.” I said, ‘Zab you gotta just train. Get your mind ready, get you body ready. You gotta get in there and just show the world that you got the best jab, you got the best left hand, your skills are not to be messed with. Come Friday night I’m gonna show y’all a great show. I promise you!”
The fight promoted by Main Events and Super Judah Promotions will take place on July 16th at Prudential Center, Newark, NJ. Doors open at 7pm. It will be broadcast live on ESPN2. Tickets priced at $53, $78, $103 and $203 (ringside) can be purchased at Prudential Center Box Office, by calling TicketMaster at 800-745-3000 or www.Prucenter.com
Photo Credits must be given to Marty Rosengarten – Ringside Photos