Clottey vs Judah
IBF Welterweight Title Fight Results
Although the referee ruled that a headbutt caused the deep gash over Judah's eye, replays from the HBO "Boxing After Dark" telecast clearly showed that the cut came from a Clottey uppercut. Since the referee ruled that the cut came from a headbutt, the decision went to the judge's scorecards. Two judges scored the fight 86-85, while the third had it 87-84, all for Clottey. Suite 101 had Clottey winning 89-84.
In a fight that was eerily similar to the Antonio Margarito/Miguel Cotto showdown from last week, Judah showed his speed and athleticism early with lightning jabs and quick feet. The problem, for Judah, was that not much actually landed. Clottey has an extremely tight defense and came into the fight a solid ten pounds heavier than Judah, who simply wasn't strong enough to break through the Clottey guard.
Clottey's bodyshots, uppercuts, and a laser-straight right hand kept Judah on his heels, increasingly so as the fight moved along, and though Judah made flashy attempts to steal rounds, nobody but Judah die-hards in the Las Vegas Palm Resort Hotel crowd was fooled.
Where Judah goes from here is anybody's guess. Leading up to the fight Judah admitted that a loss would be a "disaster," but one gets a feeling that a ninth round technical decision isn't a big enough iceberg to sink his career. Not from Judah's perspective, anyway.
Judah and his father, Yoel Judah, should watch a tape of the fight very closely.
Clottey gained steam with each round and by the eighth round the eventual winner was no longer in doubt. The only real drama was in how bad the beat-down would become.
Clottey's new IBF belt gets him the respect he has long deserved, but big paydays against the division's elite might be harder to come by. Clottey's high-and-tight defense, which, at times, seems impenetrable, relentless pressure, fairly heavy hands won't make him first pick for any fighter in the division.
Margarito, who owns a decision victory over Clottey, can be absolved of any obligation to fight him since he already owns a win over the tough Ghanaian. There is some argument that an injury to Clottey's right hand during that fight kept him from maintaining the winning pace he set in the first several rounds. The thing is, all fighters have injuries and even Margarito wasn't 100% going into that fight, with ankle and wrist problems hampering him.
The bottom line being that there isn't enough controversy to warrant a second fight.
Unfortunately for a fighter like Clottey--hard to hit cleanly and impossible to look good against--the depth of the welterweight division may work against him. Who will want to risk their position in the rankings against him? His new title belt might as well say "Most Avoided Man in the Welterweight Division" a title Margarito had for years.
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