Zab Judah Stops Kaizer Mabuza in 7 Rounds To Win World Title

Zab Judah won the vacant IBF junior welterweight (140 lbs) world title by stopping hard-hitting South African Kaizer Mabuza in Round 7. Judah (41-6, 28 KO's) has recently been on a warpath to redemption in the division that made him a star.

Judah recently moved down from the welterweight (147 lbs) division to reclaim the type of performances he was originally praised for. Of his six career losses, four of them occurred at the welterweight level.

His win over Mabuza is his third straight win since returning to the junior welterweight division last year. Judah credits Jesus and new trainer legendary boxer Pernell Whitaker.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Judah said “I promised Jesus I would not mess around and I delivered on that promise.”

About his opponent and gameplan, Judah had this to say, “Mabuza was a tough guy. I don’t want to disrespect him at all. I could have gotten wild a little sooner and really gotten after him, but I told Pernell I would go to the eighth with my jab, stay composed and use my jab to open up my offense.”

Judah's win was not without its adversity, though. In the final minute of the fourth round, Mabuza hit Judah with a right that stumbled Judah, prompting the referee to give Judah a standing eight count. Judah frowned and threw his hands in the air, showing some of the temper tantrums that plagued his career lows.

Though the knockdown disappointed him, he bounced back with a strong concentrated showing, instead of the much uglier displays of anger he's made in the past. One of the more famous examples was during his 2006 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

When it appeared Mayweather had finally figured out Judah and was en route to another victory, Judah low-blowed Mayweather and punched him in the back of the head. This caused an ugly riot which resulted in multiple fines and fight bans.

The new Judah seems to deal better with frustration and appears to better execute gameplans. If this continues to be proved true, the 33-year-old newly crowned world champion still has a few great fights left in him.