By Cliff Rold (photo by Tom Casino/Showtime)
Kendall Holt will walk into the ring wanting to believe that in a different locale, on a different day, the WBO Jr. Welterweight belt would be around his waist…or at least carried to the ring by one of his boys. He’ll place faith in ten rounds and do everything he can to forget the eleventh.
Ricardo Torres will know that he can hurt Holt, that even behind in the scoring his power can bail him out. He’ll know that only four men have heard the final bell after a night with him and of those four, the only one who stopped him from hearing “Winner…” accompanied by his name after a fight is Welterweight star Miguel Cotto.
That doesn’t change the ruckus that emanated from Torres’ native Colombia after their first meeting last September. Building a lead through the first two-thirds of the bout, Torres began to crack through particularly in the tenth. After the 27-year old Holt (23-2, 12 KO) of Paterson, New Jersey all but ran, and it was pretty close to that, from a bull rushing 28-year old Torres (32-1, 28 KO) in round eleven for a full two minutes, a left hook along the ropes finally stopped the sprint. Holt teetered between the top two ring ropes, almost falling out of the ring.
And all hell broke loose.
Ecstatic fans pelted the ring with liquid libations, one might guess alcoholic ones, and while the tape is unclear Holt would later claim that people outside the ring were even grabbing at his legs. The rain of garbage into the ring brought no halt to the action.
Promptly back on his horse, the slick, littered canvas and a clouded head left Holt unable to get his feet beneath him. Holt was trapped in the corner, eating a final assault but looking to and indeed firing back. The referee chose to stop the bout. It is the stuff rematches are made of.
Let’s go to the report card.
Speed: There is a chasm between the two when it comes to hand speed. It’s Holt’s game and the way he uses it can be frustratingly effective. Holt is fast of hand, foot, and upper body. Whether against Torres, or other tough customers like Mike Arnaoutis, Issac Hlatshawyo and former Lightweight titlist David Diaz, Holt is able to work the full space of the ring, snapping off a sharp jab and rapid, accurate combinations. He also slips shots well and stands tall enough to block against often shorter foes (Holt stands 5’9). It is not to say that Torres is slow; the shot he dropped Holt with late was a quick, compact hook of the variety he also put Cotto on the floor with in 2005. He throws with such abandon that can catch foes blind as they look to block the last two and forget about the third missile en route. Pre-Fight Grades: Holt A-; Torres B
Power: There is a chasm here as well. Power, as their records make clear, is Torres’ great equalizer. He’s not a great boxer, no slickster, but one shot can turn it all around. It almost did with Cotto; it did with Holt. That’s not to say his power is as awesome as his record. Pre-Cotto, Torres faced a morgue of stiffs and since raising his game has been taken the limit twice in his last five bouts. Holt has scored only one stoppage since his first loss, a first-round knockout disaster against then-novice Thomas Davis, that being against Diaz via accumulated punishment. Stopping Torres won’t be the primary strategy for Holt. Pre-Fight Grades: Torres A-; Holt C+
Defense: Torres’ best defense is to hit his man before he gets hit himself. He bobs and weaves a bit, but without any real thought behind it. In the first fight, Holt was able to tag Torres at will with the jab, offsetting the offensive desires of the Colombian. Holt though is no Willie pep either. He’s fast enough to move away from shots, or stay out of range of them, and fights tall. He also gets hit more than he should and can get lazy, leaving his hands low. It’s seen him stopped twice already; without discipline, two could be three shortly. Pre-Fight Grades: Holt B; Torres B-
Intangibles: Will Holt be primed for the rematch because of the ending of the original or will the power of Torres have left a mark that he can’t overcome? Without a ring bath assist from his hometown fans, can Torres finish Holt if he gets him going? It’s hard to say but we know this: both men have been stopped and come back before to become better fighters. For Torres, the improvement has been palpable while with Holt it has been more a validation of natural physical gifts. That hasn’t meant an improved chin. Fighting in a division that is all but anonymous below World Champion Ricky Hatton in terms of mainstream attention, a loss is a bigger setback than either man will want to tackle. Pre-Fight Grades: Torres B+; Holt B
The Pick: It is rare that a fighter, under any circumstances, comes back to defeat a man who stopped him in a previous meeting. Holt, for all his athleticism, is unlikely to be one of the few. Even as he beat steadily better opposition after the Davis loss, the holes in his game didn’t leave. He still gets lazy defensively and he applies so much movement that a pressure type like Torres can count on late fatigue. That will mean openings against a Holt who just doesn’t catch all that well. He’ll likely fall behind early, but expect Torres to catch up to Holt again and stop him just a wee bit earlier this time, say in round ten.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com