By Mike Coppinger

Coming off a scintillating third-round knockout of Julio Diaz on ESPN 2, power-punching junior welterweight Kendall Holt (27-4, 15 KOs) returns on the Bernard Hopkins-Chad Dawson televised-undercard on Oct. 15, against undefeated prospect Danny Garcia (21-0, 14 KOs).

Holt has been up-and-down throughout his career, stringing together strong victories, only to be knocked out a fight later. Boxing pundits have criticized Holt, deeming him a “front-runner” as he has often-time been in control of a bout, only to fade down the stretch.

“I’m in there fighting, sometimes, you know, you wear down,” Holt said, referring to the criticism. “The greatest Cadillac sometimes, runs out of gas. It happens. Do I train hard? Yes. But sometimes, it does happen.”

One such instance was against 140 pound-stalwart Timothy Bradley in April 2009, a bout which saw Holt put Bradley on the deck twice – once in the opening round and once in the final stanza. Ultimately, Bradley won a close decision. Holt feels he could have put Bradley away, and yearns for a rematch, should he get past Garica.

 “Timothy Bradley,” the 30-year-old Holt exclaimed, when asked whom he wants to fight next. “I should have postponed the fight, I had hand injuries from my previous fight (a split decision victory over Demetrius Hopkins) that I didn’t really get a chance to let heal. In the first round, it all came back. I should have listened to my corner and pushed the fight back.

“Looking back at that fight, I would have stayed on his ass,” said the Paterson, N.J.-based fighter. “