By: Jim Amato
Which fight will end up being the 2007 Fight Of The Year ? Well it hasn’t happened yet but I will be surprised if the upcoming Miguel Cotto – Zab Judah contest isn’t high on the list at the end of the year. On paper, this is a dream match up. Boxer / puncher – vs – slugger. What a fight this could be. I can’t wait…June 9th at Madison Square Garden. Damn, get me a ticket !!!

Zab Judah…Boy did he come along at the wrong time. He can box, he can punch and he can sell tickets but Kostya Tszyu, the best 140 pounder of the era stopped him and flashy Floyd Mayweather Jr. outslicked him at 147. Could be that Zab will be remembered as the Esteban De Jesus or Rodrigo Valdez of our time. That is not a knock, just an unfortunate and dreaded curse. In reality, he deserves better. A win over Miguel Cotto could go a long way in changing that line of thinking. Will that happen?

Miguel Cotto…I cringe when I see the body punches he lands. What leverage he gets behind those shots. A perfect weapon to slow down a guy like Zab Judah. ” Kill the body, the head will die ” . A perfect game plan for Cotto but there will be prices to pay. Judah will punish Cotto on his march forward. Speed kills and and Zab has speed to spare. If this bout goes for any amount of distance, each boxer will take severe punishment. Who will be able to stand up to the amount of abuse and emerge victorious ? This is the question that will determine the winner of this battle.

In looking over their records Zab Judah has probably met the better opposition. He’s been in with the likes of Mickey Ward, Darryl Tyson, Junior Witter and Omar Weis plus losing efforts against Tszyu, Baldomir and Mayweather. Obviously he has only lost to the best.

Cotto is undefeated but he has been in against tough guys like John Brown, Cesar Bazan, Carlos Maussa, Victoriano Sosa and Lovemore N’ Dou. If you doubt his heart, watch his life and death struggle with hard punching Ricardo Torres.

Who will impose his will ? Who will gain the upper hand as the punishing rounds wear on ? Will it be the boxer or the puncher ? For Cotto, this will be Boxing 101. He’ll be moving in to the Major Leagues as Judah will present the ultimate test at this point of his career. Will he pass ? I say yes.

Judah has all the tools but when it comes to crunch time he just seems to fall short. This fight will be no exception. He will battle Cotto tooth and nail but in the end Zab will fall shot and Cotto will prevail and move on. It’s just in the cards…

Hello Zab, let me introduce you to Esteban and Rodrigo.