When Zab Judah entered the ring Friday night at The Prudential Center, he had one thing on his mind. It wasn’t what is Timothy Bradley going to do the following night, and it wasn’t even what is Amir Khan going to be doing in the next couple months. But they might be interested in what he is thinking. The one thing on Zab Judah’s mind was proving to all watching that he belongs on top of the Junior Welterweight division. And by on top, he does not mean in the top ten or even top three. He made it clear that he intends to be the undisputed champion of the division.

As soon as the bell rang, Judah started demonstrating that he was a much better fighter than Jose Santa Cruz. The difference in speed was noticeable from the first jab that Judah threw. In fact, Judah would throw two jabs in the time that it took Santa Cruz to throw one. Judah would double up his jab, throwing that doubled up jab three and four times, and then throwing a left to the body of Cruz. Due to the constant attack of Judah, Santa Cruz was only able to land a few punches the entire first round.

The second round looked much the same. It also became clear that Judah was moving to his right to keep Santa Cruz off balance. Judah just kept circling Santa Cruz, throwing that double jab and then at times following it with a left or a right hook. Jose Santa Cruz did attempt to step up his attack in the second round, but Judah’s movement and double jab kept him from ever being effective.

Three was the magic number for the evening. Although Santa Cruz got in some of his best shots that round, hitting Judah as Judah held on to keep him from hitting, time was not to be on the side of Santa Cruz. Judah started out doing the same thing he had been doing the last two rounds, jab to the head and left to the body. And then Judah threw a left uppercut putting Santa Cruz down on the canvas. Santa Cruz got back up to continue, but Judah didn’t give him much of a chance. He went on the attack, throwing combinations. The only thing keeping Santa Cruz from going down were the ropes behind him. Judah kept up the attack until referee Benjy Esteves stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:33 in the third.

Now the fight seemed like a mismatch from the beginning. Santa Cruz never even got started in the fight, but Judah was quick to point out after the fight that Santa Cruz was the right opponent for this fight. Santa Cruz went the distance with Joel Casamayor and lost by split decision, and Santa Cruz has fought several eliminator and title fights at the lightweight division. He recently moved up to Junior Welterweight and has won his last two fights by knockout. So by defeating someone of this caliber so easily, Judah hopes that the boxing world will take notice.

After the fight, Judah gave credit to God and Jesus Christ. He made it clear that he is turning his life around and feels that this will allow him to “finish the right way” when it comes to his career. He also made it clear that he is much more dedicated to the sport now, learning from his mistakes from the past few years. As far as the fight, he had a few comments on that too. He noted that Santa Cruz “got desperate” from all of his turning. He also said that he was just waiting for the right moment to end the fight. “I got a shark’s eye and when I smell blood I go for the kill.”

Then Judah had a message for all the belt holders out there in the division, most notably he named Bradley. He wanted them to know that Christmas is over and that they should shine up those belts because as he said, “I need my belts back.” He went on to say, “Right now I am the best Junior Welterweight in the world.” After thinking a moment, he added “the best pound for pound fighter.” And yes, he did say that he was willing to fight Pacquiao and that the drug testing was not an issue.