Generational Floyd Mayweather was pushed to the brink amid complete chaos following referee mistake
Floyd Mayweather was an invincible force – but Zab Judah came close to taking away his perfect undefeated record.
Mayweather’s fight with Judah 19 years ago had ‘Pretty Boy’ in serious trouble and, were it not for a referee error, would have suffered the first recorded knockdown of his career.
The fight, billed as ‘Sworn Enemies’, took place on April 8, 2006, in Nevada, and threw up real problems for the pound-for-pound king.
Mayweather was only officially knocked down once in his entire 50-fight unbeaten career, but Judah can rightfully claim that he too should be credited with one – considering one of his punches forced the boxing legend to touch down with one glove.
However, referee Richard Steele missed it, ruling the knockdown a mere slip from the then-three-weight champion.
That was just one incident on a chaotic night that also saw an in-ring brawl involving members of both camps with Mayweather’s uncle, Roger, climbing into the squared circle to get at Judah – an act that could have seen the fighter disqualified for a member of his training team entering the ring mid-fight.
Commentators labelled the whole affair ‘a horrible sight’, which followed Judah catching Mayweather with a sickening, blatant low blow, before landing a nasty rabbit punch to the back of the head.
Cue the riot.
The pure chaos had tallkSPORT’s Adam Smith – aka the voice of boxing – recalling a similar incident in July 1996 when all hell broke lose among the corners.
“It reminded me of [Riddick] Bowe vs [Andrew] Golota,” Smith explained on talkSPORT’s Drive.
“There was an absolute brawl in the ring with low blows. That was a low blow there for Judah on Mayweather. We saw [Judah’s dad] Yoel, you saw [Mayweather promoter] Leonard Ellerbe in there, it was chaos.”
Mayweather, wincing in pain and unable to put any weight on his left leg as Judah rocked him with the nasty one-two combo, was left further stunned at the sight of his uncle storming the ring.
Roger went straight to Judah and choked him, before the latter started swinging, while Yoel was involved in his own dispute with Ellerbe, as several members of the Las Vegas Police Department were forced to intervene.
The iconic brawl ensued, until the ring was eventually cleared and the round finished with five seconds to go.
Mayweather’s cut man was forced to see out the remainder of the fight as his main trainer because Roger had been thrown out of the corner.
If referee Steele was up to scratch, he should have disqualified Mayweather following the incident, as a member of his team had invaded the ring mid-fight.
“I mean, boxing is so unpredictable. You just don’t know what’s going to happen next,” Smith added.
“It’s bizarre. They all pile in, and although Mayweather went on to win the fight, he was in trouble a little bit during it.”
Judah, who came from the same Brooklyn neighbourhood as Mike Tyson and Bowe, used his quick, southpaw stance to put Mayweather on notice early on in the fight.
After going ahead in the opening stanza, he caught Mayweather with a rapid, electric counter right hand in the second, which caused his opponent to stumble backwards and visibly touch the canvas with his right hand to prevent him from falling over.
The crowd inside Thomas and Mack Centre roared, but Steele told both men to continue boxing, having either missed the punch or the touch on the ground.
Former undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis was commentating live on the broadcast at the time and instantly uttered: “His glove touched the canvas.”
He then added: “I would have counted it as a knockdown, because he did get punched at that moment.”
Mayweather tried to regroup and fight back, but found himself in even more trouble when Judah sent him crashing into the ropes with a straight left hand.
‘Pretty Boy’ survived the follow-up, but after four rounds – HBO’s ringside official Harold Lederman – had his opponent ahead three to one.
The tables quickly turned, however, when Mayweather came out for the fifth and started to dominate.
He had bloodied his opponent up by the end of round ten, when all of a sudden Judah’s temper got the better of him, as Judah proceeded to land his famous filthy one-two.
Commentators working the live broadcast were completely disgusted, as one referred to it as ‘one of the worst low blows I’ve ever seen.’
That moment was the last significant action of the crazy fight that Mayweather wound up winning with scores at 116–112, 117–111, and a strange 119-109.
“Zab Judah did well,” Smith added in his conversation with talkSPORT.
“The two nights I thought Mayweather had most trouble: [Jose Luis] Castillo in the first fight and Zab Judah.
“Zab Judah was a clever fighter, especially for six rounds. Zab was slightly maybe past his best and Mayweather got him at the right time.
“But a very good fighter, Judah. Mayweather, the best of our generation, and the best I’ve seen live.”
The victory put Mayweather’s record at 36-0, as he continued his destructive path in boxing.
‘TBE’ fought in further big nights including in his most famous victory over Manny Pacquiao in 2015.
The icon reached 50 victories without defeat, before calling time on his professional career following a blockbuster win over Conor McGregor in 2017.
