By Mark Vester
Kendall "Rated R" Holt (22-1, 12 KOs) dominated "Mighty" Mike Arnaoutis (17-2-2, 9 KOs) on route to a twelve round unanimous decision at Bally's Atlantic City in New Jersey.
Most ringside observers expected to see fireworks, but instead saw Holt use his defensive skills and counter-punching to keep Arnaoutis at bay while piling up the points on the official scorecards.
Arnaoutis was told by his corner to go for broke in the final round, but it was Holt that landed a counter right hand to send Arnaoutis down for the only knockdown of the fight. The scores were 117-110, 118-109 and 118-109. The fight was an eliminator for a future date with WBO junior welterweight champ Ricardo Torres. Arnaoutis has now lost two fights in a row.
In the chief-support, Mike Marrone (18-0, 13 KOs) won a majority decision over previously unbeaten Malachy Farrell (15-1, 12 KOs) to raise his stock in the heavyweight divsion. Neither man was impressive, and both seemed dead tired by the eight and final round. The scores were 76-76, 78-74 and 78-74.
