Mayweather claims IBF weltherweight title from Judah

LAS VEGAS (Ticker) - Zab Judah showed his last fight may have been an aberration. But Floyd Mayweather Jr. quickly reminded him who owns the sport.

The undefeated Mayweather got past a slow start and dominated Judah late en route to claiming the IBF welterweight title Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center in a fight marred by an ugly incident in the 10th round.

Coming off a listless loss to unheralded Carlos Baldomir in January that saw him relinquish his WBC crown, Judah came out the aggressor and made critics second-guess their assertion that he did not deserve a shot at Mayweather (36-0, 24 KOs).

By staggering Mayweather in the second with a powerful right and pinning his opponent to the ropes in the fourth, Judah (34-4) appeared to regain some of the form that has made him a three-time champion.

By the fifth round, Mayweather, now a four-time titlist, began to utilize his blinding speed and expert accuracy to take control. He followed up a left with a powerful right during the seventh, one of 145 power punches he landed, compared to 59 for Judah.

“I felt that Judah was a front-runner,” said Mayweather, who won by scores of 116-112, 117-111 and 119-109. “He is strong for the first six rounds. I was relaxed, keeping my composure, that was our game plan.”

Blood was evident on Judah’s face by the ninth round before the former champ turned to some questionable tactics in the 10th. Judah first nailed Mayweather with a vicious low blow and followed it up with a punch behind the head.

“I’m not a dirty fighter, I don’t use any dirty tactics,” Judah said. “I was aiming for the body. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Referee Richard Steele separated the two fighters as Mayweather staggered away, only to have his uncle and trainer Roger Mayweather take umbrage with the shot and storm into the ring to chase Judah.

Roger Mayweather was intercepted, but Judah’s corner also rushed in, setting off a wild melee that required security officials to break up. Judah was seen throwing a punch at one of Floyd Mayweather’s corner men during the fracas.

Floyd Mayweather felt temporarily slowed by the incident.

“Before the confrontation, I was in my zone,” he said. “Once the confrontation started in the ring, I was taken out of my zone.”

After a five-minute break, action resumed with Roger Mayweather disqualified from ringside. Tape of the incident will be reviewed and the purses are being withheld, but Judah contends Roger Mayweather’s actions affected the outcome.

“When it happened, Roger jumped in and was shaking his finger at me,” Judah said. “Then he was choking me in the corner. Security had my arms and he was choking me.”

The final two rounds saw Floyd Mayweather taunt Judah while coasting to an easy victory in his second fight as a welterweight.

On the undercard, WBC flyweight champ Jorge Arce (44-3-1, 34 KOs) used a powerful left to the body to send Rosendo Alvarez (37-2-2) to one knee for a sixth-round knockout. Arce controlled throughout and left his opponent from Nicaragua bloodied and unable to shake off the vicious blow.

There was no title on the line as Alvarez failed to make weight.

Also, Juan Diaz (29-0, 14 KOs) maintained his WBA lightweight crown with a unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Cotto (27-1) of Puerto Rico.