After pulling out of a scheduled September 19th bout and then turning down an offer to face Shane Mosley later this year, it appears that former champion Zab Judah has had a change of heart and might be appearing on the undercard of Mayweather vs. Marquez to face Antonio Diaz after all.
This past weekend, Judah revealed that he was pulling out of a scheduled bout on the undercard of Mayweather vs. Marquez, sighting a lack of interest in the opponent and, more importantly, the payday that was being offered. "The money is not right...I'm not worried about Antonio Diaz, that's just a tune-up bout for me," Judah stated this past Friday. According to reports, Judah was being offered $150,000 for the "tune-up" bout, which isn't bad in this economy for a fighter who's record is 3-4 with 1 no-contest in his last eight appearances inside the ring.
Just days after the announcement, Judah resurfaced in a live video stream on Ustream.com, where he revealed that Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer was offering him a chance to face WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley for $500,000 plus 5% of pay-per-view, not to mention a 24/7 series documentary leading up to the fight. While the offer was more than three times the amount he was getting to face Antonio Diaz in a tune-up, it still wasn't enough to impress Judah. "$500,000! Ya'll heard that? Are they out they mind? How I'ma fight an HGH patient for $500,000? Are you crazy? Never! Yeah, they missing a zero...Tell them suckas to have a nice day. They think they got a sucka...You see how this business is? $500,000 and 5% of pay-per-view, are they out they mind? Man, listen, they crazy," Judah remarked about the offer.
Judah last fought in November of 2008 when he earned a workmanlike 10-round unanimous decision over Ernest Johnson. Considering that he hasn't had a win over a quality opponent in over four years and he allegedly asked Mayweather to get him a spot on the undercard in the first place, it seemed odd that Judah would pull out of the fight just weeks before it's scheduled to take place. Now, sources say the move by Judah was just an attempt to get more money and it's a move that may have worked as it's rumored that he will likely be offered a bigger payday, probably against Mosley, provided he has a good showing against Diaz on September 19.
Stay tuned to this developing story. Judah's decision-making is just about as good as his focus inside the ring.
[ Follow Ben Thompson on Twitter @fighthype ]