Carlos Baldomir defeated Zab Judah (unanimous decision), WBC, WBA, IBF World Welterweight Title.
The 7th round from MSG’s Theatre was one of the weirdest I can recall ; rocked by journeyman challenger Baldomir (above), Judah found his wobbly legs…and proceeded to turn his back and run. No exaggeration. It can’t even be called an evasive tactic —- there was nothing tactical about it. Judah was roundly booed by the hometown crowd at the end of the evening.
Prior to that, the heavily favored Judah seemed to have the fight well in hand, but the final 5 rounds couldn’t have been more different than the first 7. That this fight went the distance is remarkable enough ; that the Argentinian Baldomir pulled off the upset is nothing short of astonishing.
Judah, speaking with Showtime’s Jim Gray, had a rather unique take on why he lost.
“I don’t wanna make any excuses, man, but I have a promoter that’s messed up. He fucked up. Don King had me running around town all week. I’m a fighter, and they tired me out…..the ran me to death. I’ve got a dirty promoter. He did what he does best.”
King was standing about 2 feet away from Judah during the interview. While Judah’s father Yoel, a former kickboxing world champ, raged to Gray about the decision, King could be seen in the background, chatting with Zab.