Past skirmish simmers in title fight background

By Jeff Haney

Saturday, Aug. 2, 2008 | 2 a.m.

1. The venue

The Pearl at the Palms is perfect for Top Rank Inc.’s first show on HBO’s 13-year-old Boxing After Dark program, according to Top Rank President Todd duBoef. The reason: All of the almost 2,000 seats are within 100 feet of the ring for today’s fight card. “I saw a great opportunity and called (Palms owner) George Maloof,” duBoef said. “I told him I think there’s some real flair here. I think it fits your property.” DuBoef compared the Pearl to the historic Blue Horizon in Philadelphia — “where you’re right on top of the action.”

2. No worries

Zab Judah, a four-time world champion and former undisputed welterweight champ, has been acting confident to the point of cocky for a guy who has lost three title fights since January 2006, vowing to give Joshua Clottey a boxing lesson and laughing off Clottey’s promise to make Judah cry in the ring. “I’m a gentleman,” Judah, 30, said at the Palms this week. “I respected him. I said he was a great fighter, and he came in here and tried to bash me. It’s because he’s scared. When people are scared, out of fear, they do dirty things. When you’re a real champion, you don’t have to do that. You can walk around with your head held high.”

3. Simmering feud

Some of the rancor between Brooklyn-born Judah and Clottey, a native of Accra, Ghana, who fights out of the Bronx, can be traced to a skirmish four years ago in a gym in New York where both were training. Clottey considers it an old score he has to settle. “I’ve wanted this fight for a long time,” said Clottey, 30. “I’m No. 1 and I’m not going to lose to him. I’ve been waiting for this too long. The only thing I care about is this fight.” Judah claims to have forgotten details of the New York incident: “I said to him, ‘If you want to fight me, let’s do this now,’ ” Judah said. “He backed down. He shied away, and that was it. I moved on with my career.”

4. Next up?

The IBF title became vacant when Antonio Margarito relinquished it before stopping previously unbeaten Miguel Cotto for the WBA title last Saturday at the MGM Grand. HBO will show a replay of that fight before Judah-Clottey, and the winner could be in line for a shot at Margarito. Clottey wants a rematch after losing a 12-round decision to Margarito in 2006, and Judah hopes to regain the undisputed title for himself by “fighting in the big leagues and beating the big boys,” as he put it.

5. The pick

Judah’s hand speed figures to keep Clottey busy, at least during the early rounds, but it’s far from certain that Judah will be capable of maintaining a torrid pace through 12 rounds. Judah could have a tough time contending with the superb defense of Clottey, who should be effective in blocking many of Judah’s shots with his gloves. Judah is quick and agile enough to avoid a knockout, but Clottey should set a consistent tempo and do enough damage to score a unanimous decision.