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The Zoo in Tunica
By Zach Arnold | April 13, 2007
By Zach Arnold
Tonight at Fitzgerald’s Casino in Tunica, Mississippi, boxer Zab Judah made his comeback after a year-long suspension. He faced Ruben Galvan, who was all but called a jobber in this tune-up fight. Originally, this fight was supposed to take place outdoors but had to be moved inside to an indoor facility due to lightning (bad weather).
Judah was using this tune-up fight to build up to a future fight against Miguel Cotto, who happened to be with Brian Kenny in the ESPN2 studios in Bristol, Connecticut (ESPN2 aired the Judah fight live).
Within a minute into the action of their fight, Judah clearly was having his way with Galvan. He delivered a flurry of punches. During this flurry, however, Galvan got a cut on the left side of his forehead and the blood would not stop flowing. Galvan and his corner immediately argued to the referee during the doctor stoppage timeout that it was caused by a headbutt. The referee waived off the fight and representatives from the MS Athletic Commission started debated on how to rule the outcome of the fight. Because the fight didn’t go four rounds, any sort of inconclusive stoppage would be ruled a no contest.
During the debate as to how to rule the finish of the fight, ESPN2 aired multiple replays of the finishing sequence. Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas tried to figure out what caused the cut on Galvan. Their conclusion was that it was likely a punch that caused the cut, but the commission did not approach Atlas or Tessitore to see replays on camera. Tessitore used this period of time to bring up the proposal by Nick Lembo and the NJACB (New Jersey Athletic Control Board) to use instant replay in the state of New Jersey for all MMA & boxing fights. Tessitore mentioned, however, that under that replay proposal, the commission would only have 60 seconds to review the spot being challenged. The spot in the Judah/Galvan fight took several minutes of replay viewing and still, the commentators couldn’t up with a conclusive decision.
Making the scene an even bigger zoo (as usual with Judah fights) was the amount of handlers in the ring. It was excessive. Adding more intrigue was the fact that Zab Judah had one Adam “Pacman” Jones in the ring after the fight was stopped. This was Pacman’s first public appearance since being suspended by the National Football League for one full season due to disciplinary measures in response to off-the-field incidents.
After the fight, Brian Kenny moderated an interview between Cotto and Judah on TV to hype up their fight at Madison Square Garden on June 9th. Judah claimed that he had more Latino fans than Cotto.
Links
The Memphis Commercial Appeal: Judah’s comeback bout declared no contest
Boxing Scene: Judah, Cotto Exchange Post-Fight Words
Topics: Boxing, Media, Zach Arnold | 2 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
Nice recap Zach. Personally I’d like to see instant-replays in Boxing. Tonight, they would have been inconclusive but other times they’d be useful, like during last month’s Barrera-Marquez fight.
[…] action. Fight Report breaks down the heavyweight picture. One other boxing note – Ruben Galvan, who fought Zab Judah on Friday in Tunica, has apparently not been paid for the […]