Zab Judah

Zab Judah earns tough split decision over Lucas Matthysse

Zab "Super" Judah took the next step on the road to another title shot Saturday, albeit in the ugly style, scraping by previously undefeated Lucas Matthysse via split decision at the Prudential Center in Newark.

The decision was razor thin, with judges Waleska Roldan scoring it 114-113 in favor of Matthysse, but overruled by judges Joseph Pasquale and Hilton Whitaker who both scored it 114-113 in favor of Judah.

Judah, fighting in the junior welterweight division for the 1st time in almost 7 years, was tentative for much of the fight, content to fight out of a tight guard against the rugged, hard-hitting Argintean. And he had to get off the deck, after a string of straight rights put Judah down in the tenth.

"He was a strong fighter, he was really strong," said Judah, (40-6, 27 KOs)…"I kept my jab, that's what won me the fight. I'm not going to back down ever. Every time I looked up, he hit me with headbutts. He was fighting with his head."

The southpaw, performing in front of many of his hometown fans, as he is from nearby Brooklyn, New York. wasn't impressive, but he got the job done.

"I won the fight," said Matthysse, (27-1, 25 KOs). "This is bad, I was undefeated. I came here with no losses and this type of decision hurts boxing. Zab never hurt me. I fought my fight and pressured him. I closed the championship rounds. What else do they want? I clearly won the fight, this must be because we were in his backyard."

Judah, a born-again Christian, came out to gospel music, rather than his usual hip hop entrance. And the Brooklynite certainly seemed like a more focused fighter, although he did not display his usual tenacity.

After a string of losses at welterweight, the southpaw went back to the drawing board and decided to return to 140, a weight class he dominated years back.

The 1st two rounds were quite slow, but Judah punctuated the 3rd with his patented counter left uppercut, which hurt Matthysse.

Judah was cut over the left eye in round 4 and it seemed to bother him for the remainder of the bout.

"Super" won most of the early rounds on the judges scorecards, before wilting late in the fight.

Matthysse dropped Judah in the round 10 after a string of straight rights. But Judah beat the count and immediately returned fire of his own.

Matthysse poured it on in the 11th, smelling blood, as Judah covered up and tried to catch him with counter left uppercuts once again.

The 12th was more of the same as Matthysse tried to close the show, but to no avail.

"I took no shortcuts and it paid off," said Judah. Conditioning is what kept me in the fight. I've a lot of respect for him, he's a very strong fighter."

Attendance was 4,172 at the Prudential Center in Newark.