Deadbeat Judah gives boxing another black eye

Boxing fans were surely disappointed to learn of the late-hour cancellation of a March 12 event downtown headlined by former five-time world champion Zab Judah.

Then again, just imagine how Judah’s kids felt.

The Nevada Athletic Commission rightly canceled the fight card after discovering Judah and promoter Roy Englebrecht appeared to have misrepresented information on the fighter’s license application. Current and previous forms, sources say, appeared to have been obviously written by different hands. The applications are signed under penalty of perjury.

But it’s the false information the applications contained that’s sure to further slow Judah’s late-career comeback and hurt Englebrecht’s reputation, if such things are all that important to boxing promoters.

The deception on the application focuses on a question regarding any child support and alimony the fighter may owe former spouses and his children. One source speaking with knowledge of the fighter’s personal history said the figure in question is in excess of $200,000.

That pays a lot of rent and buys plenty of groceries and school clothes. But only if the check arrives.

Of course, deadbeat daddies are a buck a bushel in the sports world. It’s not exactly front-page news.

And Judah’s lack of dedication to keeping up with his court-ordered obligations isn’t new, either. In July 2006 the New York Post reported Judah’s arrest after participating in a charity basketball game at Madison Square Garden on a charge of repeatedly failing to make a court appearance to address $60,000 in unpaid child support. He was held in jail for two days on that occasion and was accused of ducking payments for a 4-year-old daughter.

That’s nothing. He was arrested in 2002 in New York for failing to pay child support for an infant daughter, which made him late for his next court appearance — you guessed it — for not paying child support for a 15-month old he fathered with another woman. He was also being sued by the mother of an 8-year-old daughter.

Talk about not being able to tell the players without a program. You wonder when the guy had time to punch a speed bag.

Over the past decade, multiple stories have been published that mention Judah’s speed, skill and outstanding child support. So anyone representing the fighter’s interests at Wednesday’s scheduled athletic commission meeting — and I’m hearing it’s none other than the ubiquitous Vegas attorney Jay Brown — ought to keep the defense prattle brief. Deadbeat dads don’t engender much sympathy, and Judah is a serial offender.

If protocol holds, Judah will be suspended indefinitely pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.

While Judah is the latest in a long line of child support laydowns from the sports page, what’s refreshing is the way the incident was handled by the NAC, which hasn’t always rushed to interrupt the commerce of a boxing event. Give new NAC Chairman Anthony Marnell III credit for taking the matter seriously and keeping D Las Vegas owner Derek Stevens well informed of the problem prior to the event.

Stevens continues to build a reputation for lively promotions on Fremont Street that pump up the action downtown. In a Review-Journal story by veteran boxing writer Steve Carp, the casino man expressed his gratitude for the professional treatment. That’s not only good politics, but it also shows Stevens appreciates the importance of the rules in ensuring credibility in a sport that regularly erupts in chaos.

Downtown has a healthy future as a place to hold lively professional boxing events of a certain size. It may never rival the Caesars Palace of old or the MGM Grand Garden, but Las Vegas history has almost always boasted a popular venue for weekly and monthly fight cards. For longtime fight fans who miss the days of the Silver Slipper and Showboat, it promises to become the place to be.

Now for one last jab at the fighter and his promoter: Judah was the headliner, but other boxers were on that card. Opportunities to showcase talent before a national television audience and box for a paycheck don’t come around every day for most pros.

Those fighters have rent to pay, too.

Judah and his manager might keep that in mind should they ever get their stories straight and be invited back to Las Vegas.

John L. Smith’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Contact him at 702-383-0295 or jsmith@reviewjournal.com. On Twitter: @jlnevadasmith