Clottey wins IBF Welterweight crown with technical decision over Judah

By Marc Abrams

Joshua Clottey won the vacant IBF Welterweight crown with a technical decision over former undisputed champion Zab Judah when a cut on Judah's right eyelid forced the end of the fight in round nine at The Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Judah was the one who controlled round one with a active jab that he fired off fifty-seven times in round one. Judah continued to jab but Clottey started to land compact shots towards the end of the second round. Clottey started to get in a nice rhythm in rounds three and four as lead rights started to mark up Judah's face. Judah started landing body shots as Clottey held his guard close and tight to his face.

Judah had a solid round six as he landed some nice combinations and doubling up to the body. In round seven, Clottey landed a big right that hurt Judah which may have been his punch punch of the night. Judah changed the momentum in round eight as he landed some hard shots including a nice combination in the corner.

In round nine, The two came out of a clinch with Judah, already bleeding from the nose, now bleeding from his right eyelid. Dr. James Game looked at Judah and ruled that cut was not bad enough for the fight to be stopped but Judah insisted that he could not see. Referee Robert Byrd ruled the cut was from a head butt, but replays later showed the cut could have come from an uppercut landed by Clottey.

The judges scored the aborted round and the tallies read 87-84, 86-85 & 86-85 for Clottey of Accra, Ghana to win his first world championship with a record of 35-2. Judah is now 36-6.