MONTVILLE, Conn. — Zab Judah rebounded from an early knockdown to stop Terronn Millett in the fourth round and retain his International Boxing Federation junior welterweight title at the Mohegan Sun Casino on Saturday night.
Referee Michael Ortega stopped the fight at 2:47 of the fourth round, shortly after Judah (24-0) knocked down Millett (22-2-1) for the second time in the round.
Judah, 22, of Brooklyn, N.Y., had Millett in trouble early in the first round after a series of combinations. Although the St. Louis native appeared to be staggering, Millett uncorked a right to the body that stopped Judah and knocked him down.
Judah quickly recovered and had Millett in trouble again at the end of the round. Judah, who was clearly quicker than his 32-year-old opponent, landed a big right hand to Millett's head midway through the first round that knocked the challenger to the canvas. A wobbly Millett managed to survive the round.
Millett, fighting for only the second time in 19 months, held his own in the third round, but was quickly overwhelmed in the next round. Judah scored another knockdown early in the round with a right cross. A combination sent Millett to the canvas again. Millett got up slowly, and after Ortega looked into Millett's glassy eyes, he stopped the fight.
It was the second consecutive successful title defense for Judah. There had been bad blood between the two leading up to the fight. Judah stormed out of a press conference Thursday after being badgered by Millett and his entourage.
Millett felt he was unfairly stripped of the IBF junior welterweight title he once held, which opened the door for Judah to get a title shot. Millett had made a successful title defense on July 24, 1999, against Virgil McClendon. Millett injured his hand in that fight, and when he could not make a mandatory title defense within a 90-day period, he was stripped of the title.
Judah officially claimed the IBF title with a fourth-round knockout of Jan Bergman in February. Judah made a successful title defense in June, outpointing Junior Witter.