By Shawn Krest

Zab Judah seems to know what works with the public in this historic political season.

In his last press conference before this Saturday’s fight, Judah said, “With the way the world is going today, it is time for a change. I am happy to be fighting on the same week that Obama won.”

After spending much of his career relishing the role of maverick, it stands to reason that Judah would be riding Barack Obama’s coattails, in the hopes of picking up some spare change.

With two wins in his last six bouts, a 6-5 (1 NC) record as a welterweight, and a career that appears to be on the same path as the economy, Judah is certainly in need of something new. His Saturday bout with unheralded Ernest Johnson on the Calzaghe-Jones undercard will be at a catch weight of 144 pounds—the first step in his transition to the light welterweight division.

The question is whether Judah’s move to 140 is true change or, to use another phrase from the just-ended campaign, is it “more of the same.”

Back in 2003, Judah’s career seemed to be stagnating. His dominance at 140 came to a screeching halt in an embarrassing knockout loss to Kostya Tszyu in late 2001. A second-round stoppage looks bad on paper, but it looked even worse in the ring, as he was literally knocked silly by Tszyu. He then threw a post-fight tantrum that cost him a suspension.

In his return to the ring, Judah looked sluggish in a decision over Omar Weis. A year later, he earned a split decision over DeMarcus Corley to get an alphabet belt.

Judah needed to turn things around, and he chose a path back to relevance that might sound familiar. Fighting on the undercard of a pay-per-view, Judah got a quick knockout of unheralded Jamie Rangel. The bout wasn’t in the Garden—his home arena—but it was a short drive away at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall. It took him all of 72 seconds to get a statement victory that closed out his tenure at light welterweight (for the time being). With a new injection of life in his career, he headed to a new division and made a fresh start.

Back in 2004, Judah’s reborn career again appeared to be on the rocks. Earlier in the year, he lost his welterweight debut against Cory Spinks, then rushed back into the ring a month later and looked shaky in a split decision over Rafael Pineda.

A month before George W. Bush earned reelection, Judah went to the career rebirth well again. Fighting on the pay-per-view undercard of Felix Trinidad’s return to the ring, Judah stepped into the Madison Square Garden ring against unheralded Wayne Martell. It took him all of two minutes and eight seconds to dispatch Martell in front of a hometown crowd, and the comeback was on. “I'm a solid 147 pounds,” he said at the time. “I'm punching like a 147-pounder. My feet are still there, and I'm going to show the world that what I did at 140 pounds I'm going to do at 147 pounds.”

“Like I always learned,” he continued, “a true champion is somebody that knows how to come back from defeat, and that's what I'm going to be.”

Four more years, and we’re back in the same place. Judah has suffered embarrassing losses—again—this time to Carlos Baldomir in front of the hometown crowd, after which he blamed Don King for making him to media appearances. He’s suffered post-fight tantrums that led to suspension—again—in a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. where Judah actually looked good for much of the bout. He’s been knocked out—again—this time by Miguel Cotto.

In his last loss, a shortened technical decision to Joshua Clottey, Judah blamed the fact that he tipped the scales at 143 pounds, giving up several pounds worth of power to his opponent. If that sounds familiar, flash back to his loss to Spinks, after which Judah explained, “the problem was that I was training so hard that I started losing weight fast and I was like around 144, so I had to eat more to get up to 147 pounds.”

It’s been three and a half years since his last knockout, and almost as long since he was mentioned on the short list of top pound-for-pound fighters. It’s possible that a drop in weight will allow Judah to rediscover his power. And just to be safe, he’ll be testing himself on a pay-per-view undercard in the Garden, against an opponent few have heard of.

Another stop-watch knockout and we’ll be hearing how Judah is back on track.

And what next? True change would show us a determined, focused Judah, who works his way up the 140 rankings en route to a pay-per-view main event against Ricky Hatton. The bout would captivate the boxing public, polarize opinion, and draw major crowds to the arena and PPV coffers.

Or we could see Judah make a splash in the division and again begin to believe his press clippings. Perhaps he goes the distance against feather-fisted Paul Malignaggi and struggles against Vivian Harris. Or maybe he drops a frustrating sluggish decision to Demetrius Hopkins or gets stopped by Juan Urango. At some point, Judah runs out of comebacks and gets tagged with the label of wasted potential, like another Brooklyn fighter whose power and attitude earned the sport’s attention twenty years earlier.

Zab Judah says he’s learned his lesson. He says that he’s truly a changed man.

As any seasoned political analyst will tell you, take any promises you hear in November with a grain of salt.