On September 8, 2007, Kendall "Rated R" Holt (23-2, 12 KOs) lost by technical knockout to Ricardo Torres (32-1, 28 KOs) in Barranquilla, Colombia for the WBO welterweight belt. Barranquilla is a Caribbean port city with a storied tradition, tracing its origin back to 1629. By the 1940s, the city declined due to widespread corruption. If you watch the 11th round of their first fight, you may wonder if that kind of corruption still exists. I have seen worse fight stoppages, but considering the venue (Torres’s home country), the fact that the fight was close (Torres was losing on two judge’s scorecards heading into the 11th round), and that referee Geno Rodriguez did not seem impartial for most of the fight, the end of the fight wreaks of foul play.
Despite what I saw as foul play by the referee, Torres deserves a measure of credit for the ultimate outcome. He kept at Holt all night long despite being out-boxed for most rounds. He was ultimately rewarded for his determination, courtesy of a beautiful counter left-hook that slumped Holt into the ropes in round 11. After that knockdown, I thought the "R" in Holt’s nickname stood for running. Because that is what he did up until the controversial stoppage a few seconds later.
Before he put on his running shoes, Holt was using his superior boxing skills and ring generalship to out-box the hard-hitting Torres. I see no reason why that trend will not continue when they meet on Saturday. The change of scenery, from Barranquilla, Colombia to Las Vegas, Nevada surely shouldn’t hurt Holt’s chances, but you didn’t hear that from me. I am still a little shell-shocked since I incorrectly predicted that Arthur Abraham would lose to Edison Miranda in their rematch largely due to the fight location. I’ll soon get over that, just not yet.
Kendall Holt UD 12 Ricardo Torres.
Prepare to be shell-shocked again.
Torres takes it on toughness.
Ahem Joe, please tell me how toughness alone will translate to victory…I’ll take skills and speed every time. Don’t get me wrong, Holt is not that great, and I could envision him losing, BUT Torres is not that good and I could envision him losing even more. lol
Holt is “untough”. Bad chin and bad recovery. When he gets hurt Torres has a good chance to end it.
Torres has, time after time, been rocked by flashier guys and returned to win.
I reckon Torres has the advantage.
Ok I was wrong this time, it was Holt who showed ability to get up.
The event did not live up to the heading “No excuses”, as it left a clear excuse!
Joe, so much for the bad recovery part of your description of Holt. 🙂 I agree re: the bad chin, but Torres is at least his equal, if not even worse, in that area. I do think the inadvertent Holt head-butt stunned Torres initially though. To be fair, they should fight again. They have proven that based on their respective weak chins and weak defenses, ANYONE can win when they meet. In the end, I was not shell-shocked again Joe! 🙂
I would like to see a rematch though. No excuses; it’s payback for the robbery in Colombia. A rubber match is needed.
forget these two clowns! there’s a kid coming up through the ranks who’s an absolute sensation. He’s from Caguas, PR and his name isn’t Miguel Cotto. It’s … Juanma!
Juanma? Who’s that?!?
do your homework Ja then come holla
Juan Manuel Lopez … he’s the kid who annihilated Daniel Ponce De Leon on the Pavlik undercard … 22-0 with 20 KO’s
I didn’t know he had such a soft nickname (my bad)! LOL He’s very good; but I’ll wait ’til I see a greater body of work before I am totally sold on him kid!