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BY MICHAEL KATZ - He knew the baby would be a boy, long before he even met the woman who would be its mother. With just as much certainty, Kendall Holt knows he will be returning to Paterson, N.J., with a world title and so what if the champion has the home-ring advantage and one of the judges hails from the same town in Colombia and another judge has the same last name?
Kendall Holt, son of an abusive father and a mother who did time for first-degree manslaughter, has been challenging fate ever since living on the streets after being shuttled to various foster homes. On Saturday, in Barranquilla, he faces a considerably lesser challenge when he tries to take a junior welterweight belt from Ricardo Torres.
But win, lose or technical draw - Holt has already become one of the cuddliest stories in boxing.
"I love the person I am," he said, and he wasn't talking about being a boxing champion.
"I want people to understand that I have other goals than being an undisputed champion or on the pound-for-pound list. I want more out of boxing than just brain damage."
He still wants to win the belt Saturday. It doesn't figure to be easy, even if the bookmakers have established Holt as the 8-5 favorite. As the late great trainer, Freddie Brown, used to caution, "When you're out of town, you're out of town."
Winning on the road is seldom easy in boxing, but considering the road Holt had to take to get where he is, the toughest segments have already been successfully negotiated. Holt is 26 and his feel-good story is being written by a local fight writer and member of BoxingScene.com's staff, Keith Idec. [details]
Kendall Holt, son of an abusive father and a mother who did time for first-degree manslaughter, has been challenging fate ever since living on the streets after being shuttled to various foster homes. On Saturday, in Barranquilla, he faces a considerably lesser challenge when he tries to take a junior welterweight belt from Ricardo Torres.
But win, lose or technical draw - Holt has already become one of the cuddliest stories in boxing.
"I love the person I am," he said, and he wasn't talking about being a boxing champion.
"I want people to understand that I have other goals than being an undisputed champion or on the pound-for-pound list. I want more out of boxing than just brain damage."
He still wants to win the belt Saturday. It doesn't figure to be easy, even if the bookmakers have established Holt as the 8-5 favorite. As the late great trainer, Freddie Brown, used to caution, "When you're out of town, you're out of town."
Winning on the road is seldom easy in boxing, but considering the road Holt had to take to get where he is, the toughest segments have already been successfully negotiated. Holt is 26 and his feel-good story is being written by a local fight writer and member of BoxingScene.com's staff, Keith Idec. [details]
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