New England Chatta

Judah Scores Impressive Knockout Over Millett

JD Vena

August 6, 2000

UNCASVILLE, CT - Last night, fireworks went off when Zab Judah stepped into the ring to face Terronn Millett, another claimant to the IBF jr. welterweight title at Mohegan Sun's Uncas Pavilion. They were a prelude to those in attendance ready to witness the bombs that would explode in the ensuing minutes. Just before the bell rang to begin the first round, I made sure I moved my butt to the edge of my seat, where I knew I would remain until a winner was declared. When the smoke cleared, Zab Judah put to rest Millett's claim to the IBF throne. After getting up off the canvas in the first round, Judah scored four knockdowns to overwhelm Millett at 2:47 of the fourth round. The win improved Judah's record to 24-0 with 18 knockouts. Millett dropped to 22-2-1, with 17 KO's

    Judah's shots began to find their mark towards the end of the first round and he seemed to be getting caught up in the excitement as those in attendance had when a short left hook dropped Judah for the second time in his career. Judah (138) bounced back up, as he had against Jan Bergman, two fights previously and dominated the rest of the match.

    "He hit me with a hook and I have no idea where it came from," said the winner. "I felt it, but I got right back up and practically won the round."

    As soon as Judah finished listening to referee Michael Ortega's mandatory
eight-count, he stormed back and remained in control throughout the contest.

Millett (139), of St. Louis, MO, had appeared to be in big trouble at the time when his left hook found Judah's chin. The knockdown would give Millett an eight-second breather, before Judah would resume pummeling him.

"He was throwing a lot of stuff and I caught him," said the deposed champion. "For some reason, blame it on inactivity or whatever, my timing just wasn't there tonight."

Judah's timing was there. A minute into the second round, Judah landed a lightning fast left cross from his southpaw stance, which flattened Millett for the second time in his career. That feat was followed with a knockdown in the third round and two more in the fourth. After struggling to remain stabilized on his feet, Ortega saved Millett from further punishment. Judah was simply too much for Millett, who showed tremendous courage while losing a title he and many others believed he still brought into the ring with him.

Millett was stripped due to inactivity caused by a broken hand incurred in his last bout with Virgil McClendon over a year ago. This past February, Judah defeated South African, Jan Bergman for the vacated title.

"They (the IBF) unjustly took my title away," said Millett. "I had nothing against Zab coming into this fight. The IBF gave him the belt. It was only human for him to take it. Tonight, he (Judah) proved to be the better man and he won my title."

"I came in better shape for this fight than I did for the Bergman fight," said the undisputed IBF champ. Millett is a better fighter than Bergman and I prepared for this fight as my first title fight."

"Terronn is a great fighter, but I still think Micky Ward is the best guy I've ever fought," said Judah.

Ward meets rugged Antonio Diaz at Foxwoods Casino (just down the street from the Mohegan Sun) on August 19th. Judah however is pursuing bigger game right now.

"Right now everybody thinks Kostya Tszyu (Judah's WBC counterpart and "The Champ" according to the CBZ) is the best in the (jr. welterweight) division," said Judah. "But I want to fight him to prove that I'm the best."

"He wants to unify the division's title and then move onto the welterweight division," said Shelley Finkel, Judah's manager. "That means we want Sharmba
(Mitchell) too Carl," shouted Finkel to Carl King, the manager of the WBA
champion.

Things can only get interesting in the jr. welterweight division.

In a battle between two seasoned Texans, Juan Lazcano won a 10 round split decision over former WBC Super-Featherweight Champion, Jesse James Leija.
Leija, 136, of San Antonio, was the busier and more effective fighter early
on, but Lazcano was able to find a rythym that Leija had trouble breaking later on in the fight. In this writer's eyes, it didn't seem that Lazcano would come on down the stretch as he did, winning the majority of the rounds on the judges' scorecards.

"I knew I had pulled it off a little bit," said Lazcano of El Paso. "Sometimes, you work so hard and then in the ring it doesn't work out. I couldn't bend my knees and get inside. My legs were not there. I was too straight up at first and had to adjust. My legs wouldn't let my heart and mind do what they wanted."

"I thought I did well," said Leija. "I made him miss a lot."

Up until the 6th round, Leija had done just that moving in and out with effective body shots and straight right hands. The jab of Lazcano that many figured would pay off didn't until midway through the fight, as he was able to mix in more combinations.

Judge William Hutt scored the fight 96-94 for Leija, while Judges Fred Ucci and Steve Weisfeld saw it 96-94 and 97-93 for Lazcano. The CBZ saw it a 95-95 draw, while those scoring the Showtime double header at home saw it a 10-0 shutout for Leija. What were you guys thinking?

"I felt good about the fight," said Leija. "You've got to let the judges do their job. That's what they get paid to do. My job is to fight."

The big win for Lazcano improved his record to 24-2-1 with 17 knockouts while Leija drops to 40-4-2 with 16 knockouts.

    In the opening bout, Zab's brother Dan, (168) used his left hand to pound the body of overmatched, Eric Brown, 170, of Orlando, Florida, and stopped him at 1:49 of the 2nd round. Judah is now 5-0-1, with 3 KO's.

    Daniel Mitchell, 136, Pittsburgh, PA scored a sloppy, yet lopsided 4-round verdict over silver-haired Brooklyn native Martin Moore. Moore, 136 ½ backpedaled throughout the fight and wrestled Mitchell every time they were in close. Mitchell went the distance for the first time in picking up his 3rd victory.

    Left-handed, Rob "The Punisher" Dula, 162, of New York, NY, won a tough 6-round decision over durable but out-gunned, Bertrand Tchanjeu, 163 ½, of Philadelphia, PA. Dula improved to 13-0 with 8 knockouts.

    Mark Breland protégé, Anthony Hanshaw, (168), of Mansfield, OH pulverized Emil Williams, 169, of Queens, NY, stopping him at 2:59 of the very first round. Hanshaw won his third knockout in as many fights.

Promoter - Main Events
Venue - Mohegan Sun Uncas Pavilion
Network - Showtime