Zab Judah is arguably one of the greatest boxers of all time. The former American professional boxer competed inside the ring for over two decades, and over the course of his legendary boxing career, he held world championships in multiple weight classes.
Judah defeated Cory Spinks in a rematch via KO in the ninth round to pick up the WBA (undisputed), WBC, IBF, and The Ring welterweight titles in 2005. Many believe Zab Judah was an undisputed welterweight champion. However, there’s a catch!
Zab Judah became the undisputed welterweight champion in 2005
Zab Judah has not held all four belts in the welterweight division, and his undisputed status came in the form of The Ring welterweight title as his fourth belt. At the time when Judah defeated Spinks, Antonio Margarito held the WBO welterweight title and defended it successfully from 2002 till 2007.
During this period, Margarito defended the WBO welterweight title a record seven times. On the other hand, Zab Judah defended his undisputed title only once before losing WBC and The Ring welterweight titles to Carlos Baldomir. Judah would later drop his IBF title to Floyd Mawyeather Jr. in the next bout.
A Zab Judah low blow to Floyd Mayweather led to pandemonium inside the ring 😯 pic.twitter.com/Ccbc8VeVOJ
— ESPN Ringside (@ESPNRingside) April 26, 2020
While Judah is regarded as an undisputed champion, he did not truly hold the four belts in boxing at any point in his boxing career. After losing his undisputed titles, Judah would never reach the pinnacle of the sport, competing in more than a dozen fights inside the ring but only managing to get his hands on the IBF light welterweight title.
The welterweight great would retire after dropping a vicious TKO loss against Cletus Seldin, which put him in the hospital after suffering a brain hemorrhage.
Is Terence Crawford an undisputed champion in the welterweight division?
Terence Crawford became the undisputed champion in light welterweight champion after he defeated Julius Idongo to secure the WBC, WBO, The Ring, WBA (Super), and IBF light welterweight titles to become the only undisputed champion in the division.
He could become a two-time undisputed champion should he triumph over Errol Spence Jr. in the undisputed title clash on July 29 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas this weekend. The fight’s winner will be crowned the new undisputed champion in the welterweight division, the first since Zab Judah’s historic win back in 2005.