Zab Judah gives his opinion on Anthony Joshua's next fight
In an exclusive chat with OLBG, Judah said that Anthony Joshua should fight Deontay Wilder next, with AJ recently announcing his next fight will be in December, and he also supplied his prediction on who would win in an undisputed heavyweight showdown between WBC King Tyson Fury and unified champ Oleksandr Usyk, amongst many other opinions.
AJ should fight Wilder next – and he can become world champion again
"I think Deontay Wilder should fight Anthony Joshua next. It's a good fight, a toss up. I like both gentlemen, both are great athletes, great conditioned fighters. Joshua is the king of Europe and Wilder is king of America.
"Joshua can 100 percent become world champion again, I lost and became a six-time champion of the world. I came back and won the world six different times. He's 100 percent able to come back and get it done.
Fury beats Usyk if they ever agree to fight
"I’m going with Fury. After he beat Wilder I’m going with Fury, that’s my guy. He’s a big guy, he wears guys down. I’m not leaning towards a knockout but he’s going to win."
All fighters should ban sex – they will punch harder and I refrained for three months
"100 percent, I advise every fighter to refrain from having sex before a fight. I know they say it's a myth but yes, I'm telling to straight up, it’s real. Yes you punch harder if you don’t have sex before a fight. I would ban sex three months before a fight."
Jake Paul should take Mike Tyson fight – but he’ll get knocked out
"I think Mike can fight again. If you look at the transformation of his body it's amazing. Once you hit your 40s it's hard, but in your 50s to transform his body the way he did [for the Roy Jones fight] shows a lot of hard work and dedication. So if he feels he can get up and go again in the right situation and it's motivating, I don't see why he couldn't do it.
"If Jake Paul manages to align himself with a fight with Mike Tyson, yes I think he should take the fight. Jake is one of the pioneers of our era, a guy that came into boxing and changed the game. He came in and ran up numbers, I commend him for that. But Mike Tyson would knock Jake Paul out. Jake is my boy and even Jake would say 'woah, Mike Tyson – that's a different calibre of fighter'. He would get knocked out. 100 percent."
Conor Benn should never fight again
"I'm disappointed with Conor Benn right now. From what I hear he's a swell guy and good fighter. But he's rubbed up a lot of people the wrong way. He should be penalised. If I did anything against the rules I was penalised and suspended. So I think he needs to be punished. I'm not a judge, so I don't want to say what his punishment should be. If he's as good a fighter as he says he is, he should not be taking this stuff.
"He failed a drug test and that's a big no-no for me. You remember my last fight that ended with brain surgery, I fought a guy who was caught cheating. So I'm totally against it. My philosophy is if you can fight, you don't need drugs. You got a ten week camp to go get strong, go get strong that's a long time.
"100 percent no second chances, you're out of here. I put pictures on my Instagram all the time to remind people of the dangers."
Khan a dirty guy
"Amir Khan is my former opponent and I have love for anyone I’ve shared a ring with. I’m grateful for them all. But if the news is true and the UK anti-doping agency has found him guilty then he’s just another dirty guy.
"I don’t respect fighters who cheat. I have a zero tolerance towards doping. If it’s in your system you should be sling out for life. No second chances. I know first hand of the damages it can cause, I ended up in hospital. Ban them all for life."
Mike Tyson told me I’d be world champ at 8-years-old – I’ll never forget it
"My dad was a fighter and Mike Tyson was the champ of our neighbourhood, we lived in the same neighbourhood. Long story short I was about 8 years old and I woke up one morning and Tyson was standing in our living room. My father invited him to house and told him 'my boys are going to be fighters'. I had a stutter when I was younger but managed to tell Mike that I'm going to be champ of the world. And he told me 'I believe you, just keep working hard'. For him to tell me that, that's all I needed to hear."
Tyson beats Fury, AJ and Usyk in his prime – it would be too easy
"I think AJ, Wilder, Usyk and Fury would be easy work for Mike. If you look back there's no fighter still to this day who is as fast as Mike Tyson. Nobody is stepping and spinning and turning like Mike. If you look at the calibre of guys Mike used to knock back in the day. It was big giant guys like the Joshuas. Mike was known for knocking these kinds of guys out in the 80s and 90s. Wilder is a freak of nature but Tyson was known for quickly closing the gap and then smash."
I’ve no interest in exhibitions at all
"No, I don’t fight no more. I enjoy going to fights and watching it and kicking it and having a great time. But to change the subject a little bit, let's use the Mayweather Logan Paul as an example. The time that we have at lets say Mayweather-Logan Paul is different to what they had.
"When I was a fighter – most of the time you come in through the back door and don’t see anybody – you walk out to the ring, handle business and walk out through that tunnel. Back into your same clothes and out of the back door."
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