In early 2000, nearly ten years ago, there were initial rumblings of a potential fight between Jr. Welterweight Champions Zab Judah and Randall Bailey. At the time Bailey was the owner of the WBO strap while Judah had just joined the party with a knockout of Jan Bergman, granting him the IBF honors. A battle between Judah and Bailey was one that many fans were dying to see as it would have pitted Judah’s blazing speed against Bailey’s destructive power, but the matchup never came to fruition for various reasons.
Since then both men have had their share of ups and downs and to this very day both of their names are still heavily in the mix in the boxing world. Over the past few years Bailey has put together a nice string of fights that have put him on the verge of yet another title shot while Judah himself has always had a way of capturing the public’s interest, whether winning or losing.
Recently rumors leaked about both men finally meeting in the squared circle on the July 18th PPV undercard of Floyd Mayweather’s return to the ring against Juan Manuel Marquez. After having their share of heated words in the past, Mayweather and Judah have since become close and Floyd made mention that he was looking to land Zab a spot on the card. If that coveted spot is indeed destined to be against Bailey, it will serve as an intriguing showdown between two fighters who can’t afford to lose at this point in their career.
8 Count New recently caught up with Bailey, still relatively fresh off of his knockout over Francisco ‘El Gato’ Figueroa last month, and got his thoughts on a potential fight with Judah. It’s not secret that Judah and Bailey have had their share of words towards one another in the past and when sizing up a fight against the Brooklyn native, Bailey is still very confident.
“If I end up fighting Zab I’m not going to be worrying about what he brings to the table,” Bailey said. “He is the one who needs to watch out for me, I can tell you that much. I don’t’ go into fights worrying about my opponents because I know what I bring to the table and it would be the same thing if I can get Zab in the ring.”
With his knockout over Figueroa, Bailey has secured himself a shot at the IBF Lightweight title, currently held by Juan Urango, who is moving up in weight to challenge Andre Berto later this month. In speaking further with Bailey it become increasingly clear that he’s not interested in causing any more unnecessary drama and he is instead simply interested in only one thing; another championship.
“It doesn’t really matter who I fight,” Bailey says resoundingly. “I just want to fight for the IBF title. That’s all that really matters to me right now. Whether it ends up being Zab or whoever, that’s my main goal right now. I’ll fight whoever is in front of me, I just want that belt.”
Questions and comments can be sent to Chris at Trimond@aol.com
