Zab Judah Loses Title to Underdog Carlos Baldomir

I think I hate the former undisputed welterweight champ Zab Judah. In the pre-fight, he was amazingly rude and unprofessional, bumping, and then punching Carlos Baldomir in the groin during the referee's instructions. I've never seen such a thing. Judah had previously left Baldomir waiting a long time in the ring while he preened for his hometown fans. I was hoping he would suffer the same fate as Corey Spinks, when he did the same thing to Judah last year. My hopes came to pass.

Judah showboated, but generally seemed to control the fight through the first six rounds, which included an "accidental" headbutt that looked very intentional, breaking and bloodying Baldomir's nose.

In the seventh round, Baldomir rocked Judah with several right hands, leaving Judah stunned and running like a scared girl. I was surprised. The eighth round was more of the same. Judah seemed to recover a bit in the ninth, but Baldomir was definitely surging. This surge carried him on through the twelfth round, Baldomir winning each.

Judah's father/trainer and Don King expressed displeasure with the decision. The ringside journalist panel had scored Judah winning the fight, which I find amazing. They must be King stooges. The announcers scored it as I did, five of the first six rounds to Judah, the last six to Baldomir, with the seventh being at 10-8 round.

Unfortunately, Baldomir only paid the sanctioning fees to the WBC (not all three organizations), so he isn't the undisputed champion on paper. The IBF and WBA belts are now vacant. I'm guessing that Judah's planned April 8 fight with Floyd Mayweather will not be happening. A Kostya Tszyu rematch, perhaps, as Tszyu gave Judah one of his previous losses.

I was very pleased with the decision, though I was disappointed that Showtime was showing the fight on a recorded delay. Bad form.