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 The Crying Game
Clottey picks up IBF welterweight belt with controversial decision over Judah
By Andreas Hale at ringside
Photography by Chris Cozzone
- FightWireImages.com
Joshua Clottey promised to make Zab Judah cry in their IBF welterweight title fight that took place at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas Saturday evening.
And the Ghana fighter was as good as his word—just not in the manner anyone would have anticipated.
Instead, the only crying Judah did was to cry foul.
Clottey captured the IBF welterweight title by a slim unanimous decision in a fight that ended prematurely due to a cut over Judah’s right eye. It was not an ending that satisfied the 1,853 in attendance, and it, definitely, had its share of controversy. Nonetheless, Clottey emerged victorious in bout that continues to shake things up in a division that was turned upside down last week by Antonio Margarito’s victory over Miguel Cotto.
 Judah and Clottey both had a lot at stake going into this fight. Clottey wanted to prove that he is an elite fighter while Judah wanted to convince the world that he is still of championship caliber. The top of the mountain was visible for both fighters, but they viewed each other as mandatory hurdles.
Judah raced out early, working off his jab to keep Clottey on the defensive. As Judah darted in and out, with two- and three-punch combinations, Clottey found himself missing counter opportunities while Judah boxed well at a comfortable distance for most of the first three rounds.
Going into the fourth round, Clottey and his corner knew he had to close the distance in order to make the fight competitive. Judah’s hand speed was superior and it showed early that the Brooklynite was not going to be an easy task. In the fourth round however, Clottey found the equalizer to Judah’s exceptional boxing ability—the lead right.
 Rounds four and five belonged to Clottey as his right hand began finding a permanent home on Judah’s face. Instead of waiting for counter opportunities, Clottey began to take the lead and closed the distance. It was obvious that Clottey was landing the heavier punches—the evidence showed on Judah’s face as the fight wore on—but Judah was not deterred.
In the sixth round, Zab put together a surprising offensive display that brought the mostly pro-Judah crowd to life, as he burst into three- and four-punch combinations to the body and head of Clottey. Spurts such as this gave rounds that seemed close, to Judah.
It became eerily reminiscent of the Cotto and Margarito fight from a week ago. Judah was the more gifted boxer who looked good early, but it was Clottey who was determined to break down his opponent. Although Judah would dig some terrific body shots into Clottey, the fighter known as “Hitter” remained unfazed as continued to walk down “Super” Judah. Clottey’s punches continued to wear down Judah in round seven, when a left and right uppercut combination, followed by an explosive right hand, caught Judah square on the chin. It was obvious that, from this point on, Judah was in survival mode.
 However, Judah did not wilt mentally as he has done in previous fights, and he gutted out an impressive eighth round that closed out with a crowd-pleasing explosion of punches that showed that Judah would not accept defeat in any fashion.
With two of the three judges’ scorecards going into the ninth round showing the fight even, it appeared that this fight would head to an impressive finish. Judah was, impressively, sticking to his game plan while Clottey, on the other hand, showed the aggression by attempting to pound the fight out of his opponent.
And then “it” happened.
Midway through the ninth round that Clottey began dominating, what was ruled as an accidental head butt—but seemed to be caused by a left uppercut—opened a nasty gash over the right eye of Judah. As the blood poured from over Judah’s eye, referee Robert Byrd halted the bout at 1:22, bringing Judah over to the ring doctor to take a look. Although the cut wasn’t bad enough to stop the fight, it was determined by the doctor that Judah’s vision was compromised, and he requested Byrd to stop the bout.
Clottey exploded into celebration prematurely, thinking the cut was caused by his punch and he had won by technical knockout. Confusion set in as Clottey and his corner had their celebration cut short by the announcement that the fight would go to the scorecards because it ended on a foul.
The ninth round ended up being the difference in the fight as Clottey’s domination for half of that round gave him a one point edge on two of the scorecards. Judge Duane Ford had the fight 87-84 in favor of Clottey while both, Glenn Trowbridge and George Hill, scored the fight 86-85, giving Clottey the victory amongst a chorus of boos from the crowd who felt robbed of a surely impressive finish.
 Clottey bursted back into celebration while Judah, clearly upset by the stoppage, threw a mild tantrum in his corner.
Clottey improves to 30-2 (20 KOs) with the victory that, possibly, puts him in line with a rematch with Antonio Margarito, who defeated Clottey back in 2006. Judah, who falls to 36-6, 25 KOs, raised his hands to a rousing applause from a courageous performance that he feels deserves an immediate rematch.
“I sacrificed from my family, from everything . . . I gave up too much to go out like this,” Judah explained.
Judah and his corner felt that the cut was caused by the butt and cried foul. Judah also said that he never told the ring physician he couldn’t see and never wanted the fight stopped.
Either way, both fighters put on impressive performances that should not negatively affect their respective chances to land bigger fights. For Clottey, a Margarito rematch is a tasty treat—but he surprised many with a challenge to Andre Berto.
“I want to fight Andre Berto,” he told the media. “I want him badly.”
For now, Clottey is champion, Judah was impressive, and neither have anything to cry about when it comes to their futures in the sport.
 Peterson outpoints Jauregui
In the evening’s co-feature, Anthony Peterson pitched a near-shutout unanimous decision over former champion Javier Jauregui in ten rounds of lightweight action.
The storied rise of the Peterson brothers continued as the older of the two siblings kept his unbeaten streak alive. Although it was a shutout, Jauregui was no walk in the park—the former champion who holds two TKO victories over Jose Luis Castillo, kept the fight competitive throughout.
Peterson was relentless with his work ethic throughout. He constantly beat Jauregui to the punch as he worked the jab to the body and head effectively before launching into a tirade of combinations that landed often.
 Jauregui, who had Antonio Margarito watching from ringside, showed that he could take a punch, and he constantly urged Peterson to attack. Although Peterson would dominate the fight through the first four rounds, the fifth opened with Jauregui looking to turn the fight into a brawl. Peterson constantly obliged the Mexican’s demands to come forward as Jauregui made valiant attempts to score with looping right hands. Peterson picked off everything he saw coming and gave Jauregui all he could handle.
Peterson finally staggered his opponent briefly in the final frame, but the former champ was just too tough to put away on this night. Regardless, Peterson cruised to a unanimous decision.
Two judges had the fight 100-90 while the third gave Jauregei the sixth round and scored the fight 99-91.
Peterson, improves to 28-0 (19 KOs) with the victory, while Jauregui falls to 53-15-2, 36 KOs.
 Chavez debuts in U.S.
In his first fight on U.S. soil, Omar Chavez, middle child of the great Julio Cesar Chavez, put on an offensive display as he pounded his way to a first round KO over Jeremy Marts at 2:44 in the first round of their scheduled four-round super lightweight fight.
Chavez improves to 11-0-1 with his 9th knockout victory. He dropped Marts three times in the first round en route to an easy victory.
Marts, losing three of his last four bouts now, falls to 4-3, 3 KOs.
 Garcia dismantles Hernandez
Miguel Angel Garcia dismantled a game-but-overmatched Jose Hernandez en route to an 8th round TKO at :24 in featherweight action.
Garcia used accurate power punching to ultimately dismantle Hernandez. A left hook to the body and head dropped Hernandez, who falls to 11-7-1 (5 KOs), in the 2nd. After coming dangerously close to stopping Hernandez in the 7th, Garcia came into the eighth hell bent on putting away his opponent.
Garcia remains undefeated with a record of 13-0 with his impressive 11th knockout victory.
Magdaleno remains unbeaten
Diego Magdaleno kept his young unbeaten career going by pitching a six-round unanimous decision shutout against Scott Furney. Magdaleno (4-0, 2KOs) dropped Furney – who falls to 3-5-1 - twice in the second after a clash of heads caused a cut over the right eye of Furney.
Judah's bro wins
Joseph Judah gutted out a unanimous decision against Javier Sanchez in the evenings four round opener. The southpaw was in danger of being outworked by Sanchez (1-2) early on before older brother Zab was ringside during the 3rd round to urge his younger sibling on. Judah used accurate punching and a slick jab to remain undefeated at 3-0. All 3 judges had the fight 39-37.
Swing bouts
Two swing bouts wrapped up the action at The Palms, following the Clottey-Judah main event.
In one, middleweight Dan Mouton (6-2-1, 6 KOs) Ko'd Richard Pierson (6-1, 5 KOs) at 2:59 of round six. In a six-round bantam bout, Michael Franco (13-0, 8 KOs) won a unanimous decison over Felix Flores (14-9-1, 11 KOs). Scores were 60-53 twice and 59-54, for Franco.
Bonus photos
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