Atlantic City - Holt outpoints Hopkins
Published December 14, 2008 by Boxing Capital
Article by Lee Hancock.
Kendall Holt retained his WBO Light Welterweight Title with a Split 12 rounds points decision victory over late sub, Demetrius Hopkins, in Atlantic City’s Boardwall Hall on Saturday night (13th December 2008).
Both fighters can come out of this contest with considerable credit—Holt has managed to overcome a late change to an opponent he knows so well (the dangerous Ricardo Torres who pulled out due to ‘weight making difficulties’) to beat a talented prospect. Hopkins on the other hand took this fight at just a few days notice and still managed to pose Holt, a seasoned world class operator, serious problems.
With this victory Holt moves to 25-2 (13 KO’s) and whilst it’s unclear who he will fight next at this stage, a big fight looks certain. Meeting Torres in their highly anticipated rubber match early next year is still a possibility as Torres claims he can still make Light Welterweight (140lbs) for that contest; Torres has stated that it was only an illness during his training camp that left him struggling to make the weight limit.
If Torres can’t make that date, a unification match with fellow American and WBC Light Welterweight Champion Tim Bradley could be in the offing. That would be an excellent contest as both fighters come to fight and can punch. The bonus of a match against Bradley would mean the winner would be the undoubted number two at Light Welterweight, giving them the ideal platform to call for a huge match up against Britain’s Ricky Hatton, who has never lost at Light Welterweight.
Hopkins, 28-1-1 (11 KO’s) must take the positives out of this narrow defeat and look to the future—with this fight he has proved he belongs amongst world class fighters. Who knows, if Hopkins had a full training camp to prepare for Kendall Holt’s style, he may have actually caused the upset and taken Holt’s title. Hopkins is worthy of another title shot but as his style is not the easiest to fathom, I suspect he may have to wait a little while for another chance.
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