By John Gabriel Thompson: This was the kind of fight which defines the term “crossroads” as both fighters were former world champions with great wins and devastating setback losses throughout their careers. Kendall Holt (27-4, 15 KO’s) and Julio Diaz (38-7, 27 KO’s) at age twenty-nine and thirty-one respectively, might not seem that old, but in boxing years they are certainly closer to the end of their careers than the beginning.
The prevailing mentality among fans, writers, commentators, Kendall Holt, and Julio Diaz’s camp, was that Holt would be most dangerous early in the fight. Fortunately for Holt, the fight at the Chumash Casino in Santa Ynez, California on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights series did not last long.
Kendall Holt of Paterson, New Jersey suffered his first loss, a first round TKO, in his sixteenth professional bout back in 2004. He bounced back and stopped then undefeated David Diaz in the eighth round of the first of many big fights in Holt’s career. Holt later won the vacant WBO NABO lightweight title in 2006 from then undefeated Isaac Hlatshwayo and followed it up with a twelve round unanimous decision against “Mighty” Mike Arnaoutis. He then suffered an eleventh round stoppage to Ricardo Torres for the WBO lightweight title.
Holt mounted a comeback with a majority decision win over Ben Tackie and then took a rematch with Ricardo Torres. The rematch saw Holt down twice and Torres stopped, all in just the first minute of the fight! It was a shocking knockout too, as Torres went down with one arm dangled over a rope, suspending the unconscious fighter off the canvass. In the replay it was clear that the damage was done from a head butt which Holt immediately followed with a hard punch.
Holt defended the title once in a twelve round split decision win over Demetrius Hopkins, but then lost the title to undefeated pound for pound elite Timothy Bradley in 2009. Holt also suffered a surprising loss to in an IBF title eliminator to unheralded Kaizer Mabuza. Holt has had one fight since the knockout, a first round TKO win over a virtual unknown, and is now being trained by New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.
Julio Diaz, originally from Mexico but now living in Coachella, California, won his first twenty three bouts before losing a close split decision to Angel Manfredy in 2001 in an IBF lightweight title eliminator. Diaz had lost several points in the match for low blows, and that may have resulted in the loss. Diaz came back in 2004 winning the IBF lightweight title from Javier Jauregui in a twelve round majority decision, but then lost his next fight to WBC lightweight champion and future hall of famer Jose Luis Castillo in a tenth round TKO.
Diaz re-won the IBF title with a third round knockout of Jesus Chavez but then suffered a ninth round TKO loss to Juan Diaz in a lightweight unification bout. Julio Diaz came back again with a fifth round TKO over then undefeated David Torres, but suffered back to back losses against Roland Reyes and then undefeated Victor Manuel Cayo. Diaz has won two since, a ten round unanimous decision over the highly experienced Herman Ngoudjo in 2010 and an eighth round TKO win over a relatively unknown fighter in January.
Both veterans started tentatively throwing jabs not meant to connect but to establish range. Then just over a minute into the round Holt found his range throwing a jab, then a hard right which connected to Diaz’s face. Holt immediately followed that with another hard right. Diaz walked forward, talking to Holt, trying to show that he wasn’t hurt. Holt went on the defensive, looking for one big shot. He loaded up with a right as Diaz came in, but the punch missed as their heads collided, opening a cut over Diaz’s left eye. Diaz came forward in the second round as Holt looked like he was putting all his bets on landing a solid right counter. This gave the edge to Diaz who won the round with body shots and aggression.
In the third round Holt started coming forward, working the jab. With forty one seconds left in the round, Diaz caught Holt with a hook as Holt was off balance. Holt staggered back almost into a corner. Diaz came forward, probably thinking his man was hurt, but Holt threw and landed a double left hook – to the body and then hard to the jaw, sending Diaz to the canvas. Diaz was badly rocked by the shot and needed to use the ropes to get to his feet at the count of seven. His legs were clearly gone and Referee Marcos Rosales had no choice but to wave off the fight.
Immediately after landing the punch which knocked Diaz down, Holt walked to a neutral corner with the calmness and confidence of a man who knew he had won an important fight. Ringside commentator Joe Tessitore said to Holt after the fight, “After you landed that left hook, there was something about the way you just casually walked over to that neutral corner, like a home run hitter taking those few strides out of the batter’s box and watching the ball sail out over the wall.”