Duke McKenzie on Khan vs Judah:
“This Is Going To Be A Battle Of The Trainers”
WBA + IBF Light Welterweight Championship
When: Saturday Night 23rd July Live from 2am
What: Amir Khan vs Zab Judah
Where: All on Primetime: Sky channel 480, Virgin Media ‘On Demand’ and online at www.primetimelive.co.uk
Here’s more from former IBF Flyweight and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Duke McKenzie. Here he goes over Khan V Judah;
“This is a great fight for Amir, the names just don’t come much bigger than Zab Judah at Light Welterweight. The McCloskey fight was a routine defence for Amir and he was never going to lose that fight. That was a World class fighter against a European level fighter. He’ll have been frustrated that he didn’t look better doing it and didn’t get the KO but that’s gone now – he’s moved on.”
“Khan came of age in Maidana fight, defended comfortably against McCloskey, but against Zab Judah it’s a complete contrast of styles. This is a slick southpaw and Khan hasn’t faced a slick southpaw before. McCloskey is what I call a square on southpaw, who are easy to hit. A slick southpaw stays side on, show’s you one punch and hits you with another. Judah isn’t an attacking southpaw, he’s a counter puncher and that means Amir has to make the fight. If he wants to win he’ll need to come out of the blocks and take the fight to Judah. He’s away from home and there’ll be an army of fans baying for blood. He needs to perform.”
“I hear Judah has employed the legendary Pernell Whitaker as his chief trainer for this fight. If Whitaker can get him to listen, and what he’s teaching sticks, this fight becomes very interesting. Pernell Whitaker for me was the 2nd best fighter of all time; I’ve even nicknamed my daughter ‘Sweat Pea’ after him! He was the complete boxer, great jab, movement, superb balance and a fantastic technician. If even a portion of this rubs off on Judah then we’ve got a real fight on our hands!”
“This fight is what we want to see from Amir. He’s taking on legitimate champions and challengers. We know what Khan brings to the table, now we need to see what Zab Judah has left. Judah is not shot, he may be the wrong side of thirty but he has plenty of tricks up his sleeve!”
“Judah also brings a different level of ring experience than Khan has faced before. When he fought Barrera, that was great management from Khan’s camp. That wasn’t the great Barrera he fought, the Marco Antonio Barrera who fought the trilogy of wars with Erik Morales. Barrera was on the slide and Khan fought him at exactly the right time. The question is, has he got Judah at the right time?”
“It’s a potential banana skin for him but I don’t think Khan will lose this. He’s proven that he’s physically, and mentally, mature enough to handle someone of Judah’s stature. Really this fight comes down to a battle of the trainers and a battle of tactics. It’s a battle between Freddie Roach and Pernell Whitaker and it’ll depend on who gets the tactics right on the night, what they’re saying in the corners. This is a fight you don’t want to miss!”
The eagerly anticipated Khan vs Judah bout promises an evening of nonstop action on the UK’s leading independent PPV broadcaster – Primetime!
You can order the card for only £14.95 by calling 08712004444*, visiting www.primetimelive.co.uk or using the Virgin Media ‘On Demand’ menu. Customers on Sky must register the first time they use Primetime and once registered can purchase using the ‘box office’ menu.
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