I missed a day yesterday so I chose a short fight to catch up. Whatever you do, please do not blink when watching this fight. Bombs away from the start Kendall Holt of Paterson, New Jersey and Colombia’s Ricardo Torres met in a WBO 140 lb. title tilt in 2008 in Las Vegas. This was a rematch of their previous title fight which ended in controversy when Torres scored a technical knockout in his home country. Referee Genaro Rodriguez stopped the bout while Holt was ahead on two scorecards following a knockdown and a barrage that followed. Holt’s team and promoter Bob Arum protested the stoppage citing beer cans and debris being thrown at Holt during the bout. Holt dropped Torres in the sixth round with a murderous right hand and seemed to look at the crowd and point and shake his arm like something hit him. In round eleven he claims he was hit by something after being floored though on the grainy footage it is tough to tell and no replay was directed toward it. Both men were viscous punchers with vulnerabilities as Holt had twelve knockouts in his twenty five bouts though he hit harder than his record suggests. Torres entered with 28 knockouts in his thirty two contests and was best known for having Miguel Cotto on the floor in their Atlantic City war. I do not want to spoil the result so without further to do!
61 seconds! This fight was a barnburner and also had its own share of controversy. Though it cannot be seen in this video the instant replay shows a clash of heads just prior to the finishing punch that may have done more of the damage. With two controversial fights in the series the two were set to meet to settle the score but illness stuck Torres and Holt fought a replacement. The two were never to meet again in the ring. Torres took a lay off before going home to face Raul Pinzon weighing eleven pounds heavier than his usual weight. He was way behind on the scorecards and scored a final round stoppage and never fought again. Holt fought a title unification fight with Timothy Bradley and had Tim on the canvas twice before dropping a close decision. He would share the ring with four world champions following that defeat when he faced Danny Garcia, Kaizer Mabuza, Lamont Petersen and Julio Diaz where he would go just 1-3. He did score a highlight reel left hook knockout on ESPN against Diaz. Fun fact. Holt was managed my New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.
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