Zab Judah wants Danny Garcia in January at Barclays Center

The way things are shaking out now, it does appear that Zab Judah will be getting the next crack at Danny Garcia, and Fight Hype says that bout is already in the works for January, when Golden Boy will be coming back to the arena (despite earlier claims of running monthly).

Judah (42-7, 29 KO) last fought in March, when he beat Vernon Paris in Brooklyn on the same night that Garcia beat Erik Morales the first time in Houston. Judah-Paris was held at the Aviator Sports and Events Center, though, and the new Barclays Center would obviously mean a bigger stage for Judah, who was reportedly recently turned down as a possible opponent for Timothy Bradley on HBO.

Judah had also been in IBF-ordered negotiations to face Lamont Peterson, but neither major network showed any interest in that fight, and a purse bid was won by Peterson's team for a mere $50,000, meaning it was never really going to take place. The IBF has now taken Judah out of the mix, and replaced him with Kendall Holt as Peterson's mandatory.

Judah has met with Stephen Espinoza of Showtime Sports, and it looks like the fight will get done. Judah promotes himself these days, so working with Golden Boy should be no problem, particularly because this is by far the biggest fight Zab is going to get at age 34, without a power promoter.

He tells Fight Hype that he's ready to do it, and ready to take Garcia's "0":

"Danny Garcia is a young kid. He's undefeated, you know what I'm sayin'. He's hungry. Zab Judah is known for eating donuts all day. I eat donuts. Anybody come out here with a donut, I eat it. I take it. Lucas Matthysse, ask him! I take 0's. Vernon Paris, ask him! I eat 'em. I take 'em away, so Danny Garcia, I feel like eating donuts at the top of January."

The rest is the usual Judah smack talk and bluster, mixed in with the new usual Judah attempts at humility and maturity. Basically, Zab is still Zab, no matter the tag line for his newest "reinvention." He's an aging fighter, still has his skills, and the question is whether or not Garcia is good enough; we know exactly what and who Zab Judah is in the ring at this point. If Garcia is really for real, he should win, quite frankly. But Zab can still fight up to a point, I guess is how I'd put it -- he doesn't like pressure, and he has trouble adjusting when fights aren't going his way.

This means that, as expected, fans will have to wait for Garcia against Lucas Matthysse, which could still happen soon enough. The fight with Judah is a fight you have to make now if you're going to make it at all, and while Judah's drawing power is overstated by some, he's a much bigger name than Matthysse. Judah's at a point in his career where you want to strike while the iron is hot in booking him, and with Brooklyn opening up and Judah having won so impressively last time out, the iron is hot. Now's the time to do it if you're going to do it.