ON APRIL 8TH Bob Arum of Top Rank and Don King of Don King Productions promoted a fight at the Thomas and Mack Center which had many boxing fans in hysterics. The anticipated fight between 'Pretty Boy' Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (36-0, 24 KOs) of Grand Rapids, MI, (Las Vegas) and Zab 'Super' Judah (34-4, 25 KOs) of Brooklyn, NY, which was also promoted by Wynn of Las Vegas and Caesars Palace had over 14,000 boxing fans chanting for Judah at times and Mayweather at others. Mayweather the 5-1 favorite had mentioned to me early on in the week that even though there may be fighters who are stronger and faster, no one could out-think him. "He has a unique combination of speed and power with defensive skills so good he's something of a modern day Willie Pep," stated promoter Bob Arum. What separates Mayweather from other fighters is his work ethic and his mind.

"No one works harder then I do. All these people who have been coming here to this gym have been coming here to talk to me and they can't believe how hard I work. This is my job, and I put my blood sweat and tears into it. I know no fighter has my mind, that's what makes me who I am."

Zab Judah on the other hand is a southpaw which has presented some problems at times to Mayweather but not enough for him to lose the fight. In the first four rounds Judah came out strong but did not continue his plan of attack; instead he was looking for a knockout and Mayweather was ready for that. In the 10th round Mayweather had hurt his head and had mentioned that to his uncle. What he really hurt was his right hand, but he continued the fight. That is the true mark of a champion he said.

The big turning point in the fight came in the 10th round when Mayweather got hit by a low blow from Judah and also got hit in the back of the head in the last ten seconds of the round. At that point, Roger Mayweather, his uncle came into the ring and appeared to attack Judah. It could have been a disqualification by referee Richard Steel, however it wasn't. In the mean time, a little riot started inside the ring-which held the fight up for a couple of minutes. Mark Ratner of the Nevada Athletic Commission allowed the fight to continue.

At this point, Mayweather had won the fight without any points being taken from Judah for his low blow and his hit to the back of the head. In fact Mayweather in the 12th round egged on Judah to knock him out by hitting him on the chin. Obviously, that did not happen. Looking at the score cards Judge Dave Moretti had it 112-116 in favor of Mayweather. Judge Jerry Roth scored it 111-117 in favor of Mayweather; and Judge Glen Hamada had it 109-119 in favor of Mayweather. Mayweather won by a unanimous decision and is now the new IBF/IBO Welterweight Champion.

This fight will be re-aired on HBO next Sat. at 9:30 EST. According to CompuBox the final punch stats were as follows: Judah threw 444 punches to Mayweather's 404 while Judah landed 82 to Mayweather's 188. Judah threw 282 jabs to Mayweather's 109, connecting 23 to Mayweather's 43. In Power punches thrown, Judah threw 162 to Mayweather's 295, landing 59 to Mayweather's 149. There is no question that Floyd Mayweather won this fight and according to the Nevada Athletic Commission, he will continue to have this title but his uncle, Roger Mayweather, will get a suspension.

The WBA Lightweight title between Juan Diaz, (29-0 14 KOs) of Houston, TX and Jose Miguel Cotto (28-1, 19 KOs) of Caguas, Puerto Rico was also a very exciting fight. This was a fight of skill for Diaz and heart for Cotto. Although Cotto came out strong for the first two rounds he was unable to match the speed and accuracy of Juan Diaz. Diaz is a fluid boxer who has the skill and power to gather up points against his opponent which he did in the majority of rounds. With the exception of rounds 1, 2, 9, and 11 Diaz pulverized a frustrated Cotto. Juan Diaz retained his WBA title winning a unanimous decision over Cotto. The score card read as follows: Judge Bill Graham scored it 116-112 in favor of Diaz; Judge Paul Smith had it 117-111 in favor of Diaz; and Judge Glenn Trowbridge scored it 118-110 in favor of Diaz. CompuBox punch stats showed Diaz throwing 918 punches to Cotto's 1403. Diaz landed 295 punches to Cotto's 192. Diaz threw 326 jabs to Cotto's 401, landing 70 to Cotto's 27. Diaz threw 592 power punches to Cotto's 1002, landing 225 to Cotto's 165. Cotto's 1403 total punches was #3 all time for lightweights. The combined to throw 282 punches in the 12th round.

The WBC Interim Flyweight title had an impressive Jorge Arce (44-3-1 33 KOs) of Los Mochis, Mexico took charge of Rosendo Alvarez ( 38-3-2, 24 KOs) of Managua, Nicaragua. Arce won by a TKO in the 6th round.

Also a very impressive Julio César Chávez, Jr. (25-0-1, 19 KOs) of Culincan, Mexico, knocked out Tyler Ziolkowski (9-3, 6 KOs) of St. Joseph, MO in 2:40 of the second round with a right body shot to the stomach of Ziolkowski in a 6-round super lightweight bout.