-Photo Credit: Ed Mulholland/for Showtime-

The November 3 ShoBox FNF offering from the boardwalk of bag ladies of Atlantic City, N.J.  highlighted the return of local Jersey  junior welter hopeful Kendall Holt - and the evening, after a 13 month hiatus proved more than successful.

This one, a battle for the NABO minor league strap with visiting Isaac Hlatshwayo  of South Africa, a willing but limited in skills adversary was just what the doctor ordered -  and what we got was a lopsided show case win for Holt.  

The South African held his own over the early going as he forced the action behind a jab and straight right hand that went to both head and body - Holt also had moments with text book power counters coupled with better movement.

Then numero cinco and Holt, after having sampled the incoming, takes on the look of complete confidence - and it quickly became the Kendall Holt show down to the final bell.

Stanza six saw the African warrior temporarily disabled by one of them today "inadvertent" head connects but gets the green light from the house quack to continue - but from that point, things would worsen as the Paterson, New Jersey prospect picked up the pace.

Hlatshwayo struggled to the finish line, but en route was dropped in stanzas nine, eleven and twelve -  surely a bitter pill for one that entered undefeated and as the favorite.

Final scoring went all Holt 119-106, 119-106, 116-109 - my unofficial had it Holt 116-109 in points and 8-4 using round by round system.

Post Scripts: Holt  (21-1, 12 KO) ~ age 25, and not a sign of rust from 13 months on the shelf - started slow in punch output, but used the early goings to test the waters. Satisfied the visitor was no punching threat we got vintage Holt in speed and flashy combos that arrived from both the port and starboard side. Guess now is the Paterson, New Jersey boxer-puncher will be making up for past lost time. Just where he fits into the bigger picture of top tens is still debatable.  
                       Hlatshwayo (25-1, 9 KO) ~ age 28, suffers first agony of defeat against a step up in caliber in Holt. Game and willing but painfully slow and short on science. The one dimensional forward marching to the drum works only for bigger and busier bangers - Isaac cheated at birth in both areas. Still, young enough to play out a few more years as  "opponent" at the ShoBox, ESPN, BAD , Versus channel venues.
                      Referee Allan Huggins: Big in physical size - short on boxing basics while caught up a bit in the today show biz approach to ring officiating. Calls in house hack for a peek at Hlatshwayo’s bleeding wound in round six - location of injury (alongside corner left eye) could have,  a) waited for between rounds look, b) If thought the wound was all that bad he might have called it finis.
           
GEL -

11-3-06