Pass the Leather; Miguel Cotto vs Zab Judah
By Jess E. Trail (June 6, 2007) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © HBO)
I lost time when I heard that Miguel Cotto and Zab Judah were going to lace up the gloves at The Garden. When I came to, I was running through traffic on a full sprint, wearing only speedos, winter gloves and a football helmet with a single bar face mask, with an over-ripe rutabaga tucked under my arm.

I simply cannot help it. These are the kind of potentially explosive matches that make me tingle from head to toe, as if in the midst of a metamorphosis into a middle-aged Power Ranger.

It’s almost like I felt when Hearns and Cuevas were matched, when Hagler and Hearns were matched – not quite, but ballpark. It’s similar to some of the electrically charged matches of the light-heavyweight division of the late-seventies and early eighties. Galindez, Saad-Muhammad, Johnson, Mustafa Muhammad, Spinks, bombers all... and all willing to fight one another.

Part of the intrigue of this match is simply this: Both are tough. Both are skilled. Both can bomb. And both have shown vulnerability – buckled knees, knockdowns for Cotto, the same and more for Judah.

Judah showed the first signs of serious vulnerability against Jan Bergman and Terron Millett in 2000, hitting the canvas early against both. Though he came back to win both by knockout, the chink was revealed, not to be fully exposed until a year later against Kostya Tszyu.

Possibly his most impressive accomplishment since was becoming the only man to penetrate the defenses of Cory Spinks to score a knockout in February of ‘05.

Cotto looked nearly flawless for a time, finally showing a bit of vulnerability when hurt and decked by Ricardo Torres.

So we have two fighters with single punch knockout power and chins that are not made of granite. Of the two chins, I’ll take Cotto’s. However, recuperative powers can be just as important as a good chin, and Judah, in spite of the knockout loss to Tszyu, still recovers quickly at this phase in his career. And Judah possesses a very dangerous arsenal and fighting style for Cotto.

Who will win? Well, I’m leaning a bit in one direction, but my equilibrium has been off since the fight was made, so I’ll have to examine it more carefully and weigh in at the end of the week. One thing is for sure. There will be some hostile leather in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night and I can see some early canvas work for one or both of them.


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