If you think there were questions about both Joshua Clottey and Zab Judah’s futures going into Saturday night’s battler for the IBF welterweight title, there are even more now that the fight is over.

There was bad blood between the two fighters going in to this welterweight matchup that could have huge implications on how the division shapes up. Unfortunately, nothing was settled.

Well, almost nothing. The one thing that was clear inside the Palms Hotel & Casino was that a new IBF champion emerged in this hotly contested battle,and his name is Joshua Clottey.

Clottey arrived at the post-fight press conference having to answer more questions now than he did before his razor thin unanimous technical decision over Judah. Even though he now wears the IBF welterweight belt, Clottey may now have more to prove than ever before. With two of the three judges having the fight even at 76-76 going into the 9th round, one has to be curious what would have happened had the fight gone the distance. What exactly does Clottey do next? Give Zab Judah an immediate rematch or look to avenge his 2006 loss to the new king of the welterweight division Antonio Margarito?

“The promoters are the only ones who can answer that question,” Clottey repeatedly responded when asked about his immediate boxing future, in regard to matches with Margarito or Judah. For now, Clottey has proven that he deserves to be mentioned as a top fighter in the elite class of welterweights that roam a stacked division. For now, Clottey is a champion. With all the questions asked however, Clottey could clearly answer one thing:

“It wasn’t a head butt,” Clottey clarified about how the gash over Judah’s right eye was made. Replays show that it was possibly a left uppercut that ripped into Judah’s flesh. Either way, Clottey is sure that an accidental head butt was not the cause of the cut.

“That last round I was in my corner and they said ‘Josh, wake up!’ so in the 9th round I threw a right hand and it opened the cut. Zab was hiding the cut and that’s what happened.”

Clottey may not have gotten the popular decision in front of the 1,853 fans that were in the Pearl concert hall, but he did prove to the mostly pre-Judah crowd who may have never heard the name Clottey before, that he is definitely a force to be reckoned with. A pulverizing lead right hand was Clottey’s ultimate equalizer as he stunned Judah repeatedly throughout the fight.

“He’s a southpaw and with a southpaw a right lands on them,” Clottey said. “When I threw it, I saw that it landed and he couldn’t do anything about it.”

That would be the punch that led Clottey’s aggressive approach throughout the evening. While Judah showcased greater hand speed, it would be Clottey being the stalker and felt his game plan was wearing down the former champ. However, Clottey was confident that Zab wouldn’t have made it to the final bell in the 12th round.

“I thought it was a close fight but I knew I was going to stop him if the fight went any longer because I could see that he was getting tired.”

But while Judah complained about the supposed head butt that opened the cut over his right eye and subsequently stopped the fight, Clottey revealed that he was fighting from the 4th round on with a torn left bicep. Apparently, Clottey was injured while throwing a punch and a doctor discovered that the injury was to the bicep.

As for Judah, he was taken to the hospital to get his eye stitched. That wouldn’t keep his father/trainer Yoel from speaking his mind outside of the press room.

“We’d love to do it again,” the elder Judah barked at reporters. “I’d rather Clottey knock my son out than to win because of a head butt. Joshua is not the champion.”

To those in the Judah corner, they felt Zab was doing enough to win the rounds and was well on his way to a victory before the fight was stopped.

“It was unanimous?” Yoel asked about the technical decision. “No way was that a unanimous decision.”

What was interesting were the differentiating statements made by Judah and the doctor when it came to the cut that caused referee Robert Byrd to call a halt to the fight at 1:22 in the 9th round. While the doctor stated that Zab said he couldn’t see out of his and couldn’t fight. Yoel knew that his son would never give up because of a cut.

“He said he wanted to continue. He told the doctor that he was ready to go!” Judah explained. “Zab is a warrior. He got cut but it could have still went on. We got cut before with Cotto and we went on and fought. It was a championship fight. They shouldn’t have stopped the fight because of a head butt.”

The only thing for sure at this point is that both Judah and Clottey may meet again. Hopefully next time there won’t be controversy surrounding the decision.