One of the fastest-rising fighters in all of boxing will have a big challenge on his hands on Saturday night when undefeated Danny Garcia defends his WBC, WBA and The Ring Light Welterweight Championships against veteran Zab "Super" Judah.
Nobody has been able to stop Garcia to this point, but the brash Judah believes he can hand the Philadelphia native his first loss. After a tense press conference on Thursday that saw promoters keep the fighters away from each other, there could be some major fireworks at Friday's weigh-in.
Judah is no stranger to confrontation, and he could very well resort to intimidation tactics, particularly in his hometown. The 25-year-old Garcia has been unflappable thus far in his career, so Judah may be barking up the wrong tree, but their weigh-in promises to be entertaining one way or another.
Here is how you can watch the YouTube live stream of their highly-anticipated weigh-in on Friday at 1 p.m. ET.
Where: Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
When: Friday, April 26 at 1 p.m. ET
Watch: YouTube Live Stream
Garcia's Keys to Victory
While Judah may be a more experienced fighter than Garcia, it can be argued that Garcia's body of work is far more impressive. Not only does he hold a 25-0 record with 16 knockouts, but he has beaten some of the biggest names in the business such as Amir Khan and Erik Morales. Garcia shocked a lot of fans when he took care of the heavily favored Khan last year, but he now has all the confidence in the world.
There is no doubt that the pressure is now squarely on Garcia's shoulders in this fight as he is a heavy favorite, but he appears to have the mental makeup necessary to handle it. Judah is a good fighter and was once one of the best pound-for-pound boxers in the sport, but that isn't necessarily the case any longer. Garcia is more talented and has a better overall skill set, so he should be able to outclass his opponent.
That isn't to say that Garcia can afford to relax and take his foot off the accelerator, though, as Judah is far from incompetent. While Garcia shouldn't necessarily seek a knockout, he should be the one who dictates the pace of this fight. If he is able to impose his will, then Judah will likely be overwhelmed and he simply won't be able to earn enough points on the scorecard to win the fight.
Judah's Keys to Victory
At this point it is pretty clear what type of fighter Judah is. When he takes on mid-level guys, he usually wins with relative ease. When he goes for a payday, however, he is normally beaten thoroughly. That has been the case against guys like Khan, Miguel Cotto and Floyd Mayweather over the years, and it is likely to be true against Garcia as well.
With that said, Judah does have quite a bit of pop and he has scored some spectacular knockouts over the years, Garcia is a tough nut to crack, however, so Judah should probably shy away from being ultra-aggressive. Judah would be wise to muddle the pace and turn it into an absolute mess of a fight. Judah is a southpaw who can provide a number of different looks, so he should try to confuse Garcia.
Getting Garcia out of his rhythm may be more important to Judah than finding a rhythm of his own. Controlling the pace doesn't always guarantee a victory on the scorecards, but Judah's best bet is to make Garcia look ordinary. If Garcia isn't as dominant as the judges are accustomed to, then perhaps they will be more inclined to score the fight in Judah's favor.
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