Well that didn’t take long.
Zab Judah has taken to Twitter and called out Danny Garcia after the champion pulled out of their Feb. 9 welterweight title fight.
Garcia pulled out due to a “rib injury,” he told ESPN’s Dan Rafael:
"I didn't even really feel it until we were done. But then I felt pain in my side and then when I was cooling down I couldn't raise my hands over my head. I had a real sharp pain and I couldn't really breathe. I went to the doctor and had an X-ray, and the doctor said I have a bruised rib, a wall contusion."
The unified WBA/WBC welterweight titlist apparently hurt his rib while training and hasn’t been able to work through the pain. As a result, the fight has been moved back to April 27.
A simple rescheduling turned into a little more once Judah took to Twitter on Sunday evening. The challenger colorfully accused Garcia of “ducking” him by faking the rib injury (Warning: NSFW language in this Tweet) in order to get out of the match.
He didn’t end there.
Judah took a shot at Rafael, too, after the ESPN boxing writer gave his opinion on Garcia’s decision to push things back (via Twitter):
I love @superjudah but I'm just saying injuries happen, fights ppd all the time. @dannyswift isnt ducking. If he was wouldnt resked fight.
— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) January 28, 2013
Rafael said something first, almost calling Judah out, that may have caught Judah’s attention:
So @superjudah accuses @dannyswift of faking injury. Was Zab faking when he bailed on @sugarshanem with an injury in 2008? Just curious.
— Dan Rafael (@danrafaelespn) January 28, 2013
Here’s Judah’s prompt reply:
I never in my life ducked no one!! NEVER, ask the Streets!!! I'm a Brownsville baby!! #brooklyn
— ZAB JUDAH 5x Champ! (@SUPERJUDAH) January 28, 2013
He went even further, to jokingly put Rafael on notice after their exchange:
I love my fans!!! Ya'll the best!! A @danrafaelespn you better be easy they watching you!! Lol
— ZAB JUDAH 5x Champ! (@SUPERJUDAH) January 28, 2013
Whatever the motivation for Garcia to postpone the fight, Rafael makes a good point. If he didn’t want to fight Judah because he is intimidated, he wouldn’t have rescheduled the fight so quickly.
There is little reason to move a fight back two months and go through the rescheduling hassle if there isn’t a real problem.
From the way it sounds, Garcia is in too much pain to continue to prepare for the fight. He could do it, but he wouldn’t be anywhere near ready to defend his title by Feb. 9. The move was the right one, no matter how it’s perceived by the challenger.
One thing is certain from all of this: When these two finally do step in the ring on April 27, there will be two very motivated competitors slugging it out for the title.
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