Zab Judah says Mayweather not bothered by southpaws like Pacquiao

Zab Judah enters the ring against Paulie Malignaggi beforectheir fight for the NABF welterweight title at the Barclays Center on December 7, 2013 in the Brooklyn Borough of New York City. Al Bello/Getty Images/AFP

LAS VEGAS — As a major part of Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s training camp against Manny Pacquiao, former welterweight world champion Zab Judah has seen how the pound-for-pound king  prepared himself for his greatest challenge yet.

And based on the many times he has spent with the undefeated WBA and WBC welterweight titleholder inside the Mayweather Boxing Club, Judah has no doubt the Mayweather will have his arms raised on May 2.

READ: Pacquiao has ‘zero’ chance vs Mayweather, says boxer Ishe Smith

“He’s looking good. Floyd being Floyd, that’s it,” Judah told INQUIRER.net. “[Floyd will be] 48-0.”

“I’m not his sparring partner. I’m a good friend of Floyd. I’m a left hander with good speed and power. He’s my friend and he has big opportunity for a big fight and I’m just here to lend my hand and help him out,” added Judah, who has been tasked to emulate Pacquiao’s tendencies during sparring.

The 36-year-old Judah also dismissed the notion that Mayweather has had troubles dealing with southpaws. Pacquiao’s dominant hand is his left and he has made a living jarring his opponents with that left hand of his.

“Well, I’ve been here everyday and I don’t see none of that,” Judah said. “He’s been doing good, he’s been doing great. He even stopped a couple of guys.”

“His defense is still impregnable, his hand speed is still super fast, his conditioning is always marvelous. What can you say? The guy, he’s probably one of the hardest working fighters in boxing.”

Judah, though, is not discounting the fact that Pacquiao stands as a worthy challenger to Mayweather’s flawless run.

“Pacquiao is not a slouch fighter. I have a lot of respect for him. Very fast hands, very quick feet, very good power, and we know for 100 percent Pacquiao is gonna come in there and he’s going to fight,” said Judah, who fought and lost to Mayweather nine years ago and has since kept a good relationship with him.

“Like I said, no disrespect or no hate on Manny, I love Manny, Manny’s a good guy too but at the same time, I’ve seen both guys work and nobody and no fighter have I even seen the work ethic like Floyd Mayweather Jr.”

While Judah couldn’t tell how the showdown will unfold, he assessed Pacquiao’s chances to win as “very slim.”

“This is boxing. One punch can end the whole night, can change the whole fighter around so you can’t really say what’s going to happen and how it’s going to happen. But you know Floyd has prepared himself to the best of his ability.

He is sure of one thing though, “and like I said, 48-0.”

Originally posted: 5:29 PM | Tuesday, April 28th, 2015