Zab Judah Returns to Form Vs. Santa Cruz

Newark, NJ- Zab Judah (39-6, 27 KOs) promised to be a new fighter upon his return to the jr. welterweight division this Friday and ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. Instead, he looked like the old, sharp Judah from his first run at 140 as he picked apart and put away a tough Jose Armando Santa Cruz (28-5, 17 KOs).

The two-division former champ, Judah, boxed cautiously the first two rounds behind a nice jab. In the third, Judah seemed to have Santa Cruz timed already and countered a sloppy lunge with a picture-perfect left uppercut to drop the former title challenger.

Santa Cruz never recovered and, after a Judah follow-up barrage, the ref waved the fight off at the 2:33 mark.

On the Undercard:

Former Olympian, Sadam Ali (8-0, 4 KOs) outclassed and put away a game Julius Edmonds (7-8) via TKO 3. Ali dropped Edmonds in both the first and second rounds.

Undefeated welterweight Alex Perez (12-0, 7 KOs) beat Edvan Barros (10-10-1, 7 KOs) via UD 8 by scores of 77-75, 78-74, 80-72.