The air was filled with liniment and gangsta rap when Zab “Super” Judah entered the ring on the 13th floor of the Sheraton City Center for a media workout on Monday.
Before a rugged sparring session, Judah glided around the ring, rapidly throwing punches that cut through the air, which stood still at a stifling 80 degrees.
Suddenly, Judah let out a shrill cry that matched that of rapper 50 Cent as the song “How We Do” blared from speakers on a makeshift DJ stand manned by Judah’s brothers, Joseph and Danny.
“I feel at home right here in the ring. It don’t matter where it’s at,” Judah told members of the press before his workout.
“This is Cory Spinks’ first major fight, the first of this magnitude. I’ve been there before.”
And Judah predicted that “I will destroy him.”
Judah said there is more pressure on Spinks, since he is the undisputed welterweight champion and is fighting before a sell-out hometown crowd.
“At the end of the night,” he said, “I will be the undisputed champion.”
At the end of their first fight on April 11, 2004, Spinks won a 12-round decision. Spinks decked Judah, but the Brooklyn-born former champion returned the favor with just 20 seconds left in the 12th round.
“I didn’t have time. He ran, he held on,” Judah said of the missed opportunity.
“I’ll get started quicker this time.”
As Judah spoke, the jewelry store latched to his front teeth glared like an indoor sun.
Judah said he had the diamonds placed there a few years ago.
“Then the money got better and the diamonds got better,” he said of the precious cut stones that twinkled when hit by light.
He doesn’t even remove the display when he fights.
“I have a special mouthpiece that fits right over it,” he said.
At the media workout, Judah sparred with Durrell Richardson of Youngstown, Ohio. Richardson is 6-0 as a professional fighter and outweighs Judah by seven pounds.
In the humid heat of a conference room dominated by a 20-foot square ring, Judah thumped Richardson with jabs, straight lefts and combinations. Richardson retaliated and tagged Judah a few times. The rounds were far longer than three minutes, with one lasting almost eight.
One of Judah’s corner men, “Slim,” shouted encouragement, boxing tips and general bravado toward the ring.
“Spinks gonna take a nap. We taking it back to Brooklyn, baby,” he screamed as the men traded blows in the ring.
“You gotta stalk him. You gonna catch him like a thief in the night. You gotta convince them judges. You gotta put this boy to sleep.”
Judah said he would grant Spinks a rematch “after I win the fight.”
“But, after this whuppin, I don’t know if he would want a rematch.”
Judah said he’s got tour busses full of fans headed to St. Louis for the fight.
“I hope St. Louis is ready. Spinks is the hometown boy, but they better be ready. It might be over quick.”
