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Showtime ShoBox Recap

"No Excuses"

July 5, 2008

Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino-Las Vegas, Nevada

WBO Junior Welterweight 12-Round Championship Match:

Ricardo Torres (32-1, 28 KO's, 139 pounds) (c) vs. Kendall Holt (23-2, 12 KO's, 139 pounds) II

Torres won this title when it was vacant via 12-round split decision over Mike Arnaoutis on November 18, 2006 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. The previous champion was Miguel Cotto who vacated the title to move up to 147 pounds. Torres is making his third defense of this title.

The first match between these two boxers waswon by Torres via controversial technical knockout in round 11 on September 1, 2007 in Barranquilla, Colombia. Holt was ahead on 2 the judges' scorecards, but was then the likely victim of a hometown stoppage. Holt stayed standing after he was hit witha "loaded" beer can in the head thrown from the crowd, after he knocked down Torres in round 6 to begin to pull away on the scorecards. Howeverin round 11, Holt was knocked down when, in a move straight out of the rudo playbook, Torres' corner was holding Holt's leg so he could not move out of the way of the punches. Then when Holt stood up, a shower of debris began to fly at the ring from the crowd. Therefore, Holt thought the best idea was to hold onor tryand move away and avoid boxing, rather thenact as a sitting target that was trying to box while the crowd threw things at his head. However, the referee decided he had seen enough, and declared that Holt was not fighting back ruling the match a technical knockout victory for Torres. The stoppage was premature, but somewhat defensible.It does not appear this was a situation where the referee was biased towards Torres before the match. This appears to havebeen more of a situation where the referee stopped the foreign boxer for the safety of everyone involved, like Julio Cesar Chavez was the beneficiary of many years ago in Mexico City where the referee made a questionabletechnical knockoutcall that may have been influenced by the desire tosave the life of everyone involved and many others that would have been killed in the ensuing riot had that match been sent to the scorecards.

Torres' last match was his victory over Holt.

Torres is The Ring's number 6 contender at 140 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Ricky Hatton.

Holt's last match was a 10-roundmajority decision victory over Ben Tackie on February 7, 2008 at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. That victory did not make Holt the mandatory challenger to Torres' title. However, Holt's people offered Torres $250,000 to come to the United States for a rematch. That is why this match is happening.

Holt is unranked by The Ring, but the number 14 ranked boxer at 140 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 27-years-old, Holtis 1 year younger then the 28-year-old Torres. Holt has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Torres stands 5' 8" tall. The challenger has the reach advantage with a 71" wingspan compared to the 67" wingspan of the champion. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available, but Holt will probably be the heavier boxer in the ring. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance. According to Showtime, Holt is 2.5-to-1 favorite.

All of the judges keeping official score of this match are from Nevada. The referee is Jay Nady.

A right hook sends Holt to themat 13 seconds into round 1. Holt is shaking his head that he is not hurt and is allowed to continue with 2:35 to go in the round. However, despite Holt's bravado, his legs are unsteady when the action resumes. Holt eats a few more punches and then both of his gloves touch the canvas as he reaches towards Torres with 2:28 to go in the round. The referee is going to allow Holt to continue with 2:16 to go in the round. The 3 knockdown rule is not in effect. Now, Holt has fired back from against the ropes and landed a combination capped by a right hand that has sent Torres to his knees with 2:06 to go still in round 1. Torres cannot answer the count, it is over. This is undoubtedly the round of the year! This is one of the greatest round 1's in the history of boxing. It appears Torres was knocked unconscious, but landed in the kneeling position. That was why the count was applied. When the referee tried to look into Torres' eyes, he realized thatthe boxerwas unconscious.

After a scary minute, Torres has regained consciousness in the ring. He does not appear to have any idea what happened or where he is. However, Torres should be okay.

The official outcome of this match from the "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that: at 1:01 of round 1 the winner by way of "spectacular knockout" and new WBO Junior Welterweight Champion of the World, Kendall "Rated R" Holt. The win moves Holt to 24-3 with 13 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

Holt is his post match interview said he is open to a rematch.

Holt is not an elite 140-pounder. No one can be knocked down twice in the first45 seconds of a match, and claim to be at the elite level. The replays show that Holt hit Torres with a headbutt to start the combination that finished Torres. The obvious next match for Holt is a rubber match in this series. If Holt were to face a top boxer at 140 pounds, he would probably lose, and that would take away a lot of the drawing poweraway froma third match with Torres. The winner of this match was also being talked about for a title unification match on the undercard of a Showtime card on September 13 against Timothy Bradley, Jr. That match could be very entertaining. However, the third match in this series is more interesting and a match with Bradley should still be available down the line to the winner of a third match in this series.

Torres has a legitimate claim for a rematch with the foul starting the combination that ended his night. However, Torres did not box a clean match himself, either. After Torres had knocked down Holt for the second time, the Colombian hit Holt when he was standing back up without the referee spotting it. Therewas no rematch clause in the contract for this match and Torres may not want a rematch after being stopped so decisively. However, it is probably the best paying match he could get.

The 1 minute that is the main event is a must watch. It will be the round of the year in boxing.