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Something for the Ladies from 'Chop Chop'
By Steve Kim (July 7, 2003) Photo © Tom Casino
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Reigning WBO junior welterweight champion DeMarcus Corley has always been a demonstrative sort when it comes to his ring attire. 'Chop Chop', who designs his own outfits, has something special in mind when he takes on Zab Judah this Saturday in Las Vegas.
"Something you wouldn't believe," Corley told MaxBoxing.com, when asked what he will wear into the ring at The Orleans Arena. "It's beautiful. I mean, it's something for the ladies this time."
And considering that he's shown more leg and backside than J-Lo and Toni Braxton have with some of their dresses, that's saying something. Yes, you can expect something more than a little bit risqué.
"I'll say this," said a mischievous Corley, "my trunks will be similar to Lil' Kim's when Diana Ross touched her breast."
Uh oh. Hey 'Chop', I know this isn't TV, it's HBO, but please tell us you're not coming into the ring with just a pasty.
"Nah, it's not going to be like that," he assures us.
But you get the feeling he isn't going to be wearing much fabric, either.
"No," he confirmed.
Make no doubt about it, Corley is looking to make an impression on the boxing world. Despite winning the WBO belt two years ago, Corley hasn't really raised his profile any more than before his first-round blowout of Felix Flores in June of 2001.
"Is this the biggest fight I've had? You could say that, yeah," he admits. "I think because it's on HBO and they say once you made it to HBO, you've made it. So it's a test for me to display my talent all over the world, also to HBO, to see what I can do."
And at the age of 29, Corley, should be at his physical peak but time is slipping away for him to make a breakthrough.
"Yes it is, it's a must that I go in there and wipe Zab out completely," he says." That way we can push the issue to fight Kostya Tszyu."
Corley looks at his bout with Judah as an eliminator to the undisputed jr. welterweight champion of the world.
"Exactly," says Corley, "but I don't think Kostya Tszyu is gonna do that. Right now is not a good time to get in there with me and once I do what I do to Zab, he's really gonna be like 'No, we really don't want that fight'. But the public is going to want to see that fight, though."
Since winning the vacant WBO title against Flores, Corley has made only two title defenses. First he would out-point Ener Julio over 12 rounds in January of 2002 and then he would take nearly a year off before decisioning Randall Bailey this past January. But Corley insists that he's had more than enough work going into this fight with Judah.
"I don't worry about the rust," he said. "I fought Ener Julio, I fought Randall Bailey, I did 12 rounds with both of them so that's a total of 24 rounds. Rust has not set on me at all. We've stayed in the gym, we have been active, training consistently."
His fight with the Brooklyn born and bred Judah is one of the most heated grudge matches in recent memory. What was just some playful trash talk turned into a full blown physical confrontation several months ago at the First Union Center in Philadelphia after Bernard Hopkins' farce against Morrade Hakkar.
"It goes way back," says Corley of his rivalry with Judah. "He made a statement that he wouldn't fight me because he don't fight fighters who wear skirts."
Corley will point out that those two were supposed to meet in the 1995 National Golden Gloves, but that Judah was eliminated by Chantel Stanciel in the semi-finals.
"From the amateurs we always knew he was a person that did a lot of talking. He had a lot of mouth. He was an arrogant fighter back then in the amateurs," Corley said. "I guess him becoming a world champion, it went to his head."
Judah has always had the 'thug life' persona and Corley, while he doesn't think it's authentic, doesn't think it's a put-on either.
No, I really don't think it's an act," he insists. "I mean, he really thinks he's one of them guys off the street."
But Corley isn't exactly from Mayberry himself, either. Washington D.C. has a well-earned reputation for being among the roughest areas in the United States.
"It doesn't make a difference to him," Corley said of Judah. "He thinks he's from Brooklyn and Brooklyn is one of the most dangerous places you want to be and they got guns, they've got drugs, they kill all this and that -- that's in any state. It's not just in Brooklyn or D.C., it's out here in Vegas. There's gangs out here, it's all over. But they think they're so precious."
Things came to a head when both Corley and Judah were at the post-fight press conference for Hopkins-Hakkar. They were introduced formally by Joe Santoliquito of The Ring magazine.
"I said 'Yeah, when we sign the contract, I'm gonna destroy Zab' and when I said that, Zab said 'Fuck the contract, we can do it right now' My manager (Kirk Cashwell) said 'Y'all not gonna get paid, it ain't worth it'. So he just started talking to my manager loud and cursing 'You don't know me, you don't know he we do it, we leave y'all up in Brooklyn. Y'all think it's a game.'
Which leads you to believe maybe Judah has watched 'Juice' or 'King of New York' one too many times. Meanwhile, Corley says that he tried to keep his cool.
"I was like 'Kirk, don't even say nothing. When he signs the contract, I'm going to destroy Zab'," said Corley.
And from there, the melee was set off.
"He just sucker punches me and at that time he and Kirk were in each other's faces when we was talking," he continued. "I got between he and Kirk."
So how did Zab's power taste?
"What power?"
Oh, OK.
"He hit just like William Joppy. He can't punch," Corley insists.
At that point the contracts may not have been signed, but for all intents and purposes, not only was it the most interesting and entertaining thing that happened on that night, it made the fight a reality.
"I knew at that point we had to fight because he wanted to take it to the street where I've seen too many of my friends die," Corley said. "I just had my brother killed. It ain't about that. Let's get in the ring and settle it like men."
Corley says that his brother was killed last year on April 19th from street violence, which should put things into perspective. This isn't about gang warfare or criminal activity. It's about two world-class 140 pounders looking to be the Alpha Male in a deep division, and fighting for a shot at Tszyu, who currently rules the division.
"I feel kinda bad that it happened the way it did," said Santoliquito, who unknowingly instigated this whole mess. "I like both guys, both guys are not what they seem to be. 'Chop' has the wildness to him but he's actually a pretty down-to-earth family man. And Zab, I find myself defending Zab quite often. People portray Zab in a certain light and he's not that. I think for the most part he's a good kid. I think Zab has a lot of things going for himself.
"Y'know what this was about? It's about street cred. That's exactly what it was about."
In this D.C.-Brooklyn rivalry, what's really at stake is a possible shot at Tszyu and supremacy in the jr. welterweight division.
JOLTIN' JOE
So is Santoliquito getting a percentage from Corley-Judah? After all, he is one the reasons this fight is even happening.
"No, I'm not getting a percentage," he said laughing. "I don't think Mr. King will let me be in on anything like that."
MIS-MANDATORY
Corley says that if he can't get Tszyu after his win over Judah, he'll just fulfill his mandatory against Junior Witter, which is terrible news. If you've seen Witter 'perform' you know what I mean.
"I mean, it's just like Bernard Hopkins and Morrade Hakkar, he didn't want to face him but he was his mandatory," reasoned 'Chop Chop'.
Yeah, but the problem is, nobody wanted to see that fight, either.
For two years his WBO mandatory was Ricky Hatton, who decided not to enforce his position.
"Y'know what he's waiting for? For Tszyu to give up his WBC belt," Corley says of Hatton. "Then the mandatory Tszyu has for the number one spot, Gianluca Branco, he's supposed to fight Ricky Hatton. Them two are going to end up fighting for the WBC belt. That's what they're doing, they're waiting it out."
Although there are rumors that Hatton is negotiating with Aaron Pryor for his next bout.
"When!?!?!?" asked an incredulous Corley.
Just kidding, DeMarcus, but you never know, first Freddie Pendleton, then Vince Phillips, then....
FINAL FLURRIES
If Judah loses to Corley, I'm wondering how Max Kellerman is going to react. It could get ugly.... The card at 'the Orleans' is one of the best top-to-bottom in years, in addition to Corley-Judah and the Ricardo Mayorga-Vernon Forrest rematch on HBO, the non-televised portion of the card has Vivian Harris taking on Souleymane M'Baye and Lou Del Valle facing Manny Siaca... Heavyweight prospect Calvin Brock takes on Al Cole on July 19th in Houston on the untelevised portion of the Showtime card featuring Rocky Juarez and Juan Diaz.... On July 26th at the Grand Olympic Auditorium, featuring the return of Fernando Vargas, the non-televised undercard will have heavyweight prospect Malik Scott, Felipe Campa, Scrappy Ortiz, and David Diaz.
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