‘Should’ve been a disqualification’: Zab Judah reflects on infamous brawl in Floyd Mayweather fight
Zab Judah believes the politics of boxing stopped him from getting a win over Floyd Mayweather.
Zab Judah just recently joined All The Smoke’s podcast and in this segment he speaks about his perspective on his 2006 fight against Floyd Mayweather that notably went haywire down the stretch of the fight. Even to this day Judah believes he was hard done by in that fight, believing he at worst deserved a draw. Here’s some of what he had to say on the topic.
“People say the first five rounds, Zab won,” Judah said. “If you add the knockdown, that’s six rounds. It’s only 12 rounds in a fight so if I win six and he wins six, fight’s a draw…If two men are fighting in the ring and somebody jumps in the ring at any time, it’s an automatic DQ. So those are the real situations that happened in the fight that should’ve changed…But if that would’ve happened or we go back and change that, then that changes the whole trajectory of Floyd Mayweather’s TBE career, because now he’s not 50-0 no more.
“Floyd Mayweather had all of his fights in Las Vegas. Today when we see things like that happen it’s called a what? It’s called a residency. So he had a modern day boxing residency in Nevada saying he’s not going to lose. Because this is a residency, this has got to go on two times a year, one at the top of the year, one at the end of the year, every year. ‘You stay on your feet, you good, we got you, you’re going to win’. So Floyd had a residency, six rounds I won, the knockdown, the uncle and them getting into the ring — that should’ve been a disqualification.
“So there’s so many different factors why that fight should’ve went the other way. But the smartest thing that I think that Bob Arum and Floyd Mayweather team did was I got suspended right after the fight. Somehow they said I was the causer of the brawl, I was the initiator of the brawl, and they got me out the way for a whole year.
“They was able to go up the ladder so that when it was time for me to come back after my one year, you already know they was like ‘nah, nah, nah, we doing this, we doing that.’ So that’s why you never seen a Zab Judah vs Floyd Mayweather Pt. 2.”
Judah was then asked about the low blow and the shot behind the head he struck Floyd with in the 10th round that kicked off a melee with Roger Mayweather, but Judah insists neither was deliberate.
“I didn’t try to do that,” Judah responded. “It was the 10th round, we was both fatigued…I threw a shot and followed up…I did not do that intentionally. It was the heat of the moment…They broke it up and he started doing his antics and walks off and Richard Steele was looking — he didn’t even know what to call, he didn’t even know what happened!”
Ultimately, Judah says Mayweather escaped with an official win on his record and had absolutely no intention of running it back with him after the trouble he presented.
“Regardless of whatever, they didn’t want no rematch. They didn’t want that to happen because Zab was getting in that ass.”
Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
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Ruthless-RKO
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Re: Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
No
But his Uncle Roger should've been banned from ever working his corner again for doing what he did.
But his Uncle Roger should've been banned from ever working his corner again for doing what he did.
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Ruthless-RKO
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- Posts: 104142
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
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Ruthless-RKO
- Welterweight
- Posts: 104142
- Joined: 24 Apr 2016, 11:59
Re: Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
I had Judah ahead after 6 rounds. but I think FMJ was starting to look better.
Re: Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
Yeah I'd agree with that. Completely unacceptable reaction from a cornerman for sure.
Re: Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
I had Judah winning 3 of the first 4 as I recall. Maybe all 4, but once Mayweather took the momentum from him, it was all him from there on.Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑14 Aug 2026, 04:21 I had Judah ahead after 6 rounds. but I think FMJ was starting to look better.
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Ruthless-RKO
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Re: Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
I think the ref ruled that since he had called a time out then the action had been stalled and therefore a DQ wasn't necessary.Ruthless-RKO wrote: ↑14 Aug 2026, 04:41if any of your team enters the ring, it's a DQ.
Hearn done it once or twice too. KD happens, ref hasnt even called it and he's jumping with joy![]()
I'm glad of it. Nobody wants to see a fight end like that. Mayweather is extremely lucky he wasn't DQ'd there though because he easily could've been.
Re: Should Mayweather have been DQ'd in the Judah fight?
Great point about time having been called. I have to re-watch it cause I forgot that.