Kendall Holt bangs Tim Coleman out in less than 2 Rds

By Paul Strauss: Did you see Kendall’s left hook to Coleman’s body? If you didn’t see it, certainly you heard it! It had that loud thudding, jaw dropping type of sound to it. Coleman had just missed with his own right. That side of his body was stretched out, exposed like so much beef on a hook. When Holt’s left cracked against his short ribs, Coleman’s jaw dropped open in a kind of silent scream, and he sank to the canvas.

It took three more knockdowns to convince the referee Ray Corona that Coleman was done. Coleman knew it after that first left hook. His best move of the night at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa, in Cabazon, Calif. was probably a vigorous right forearm to the face of Holt in the first round. Understandably it ticked off Holt a bit, and he immediately retaliated with a few hard shots to start the “take out” process.

Prior to the start of this blow out, Coleman voiced the opinion that he thought Holt was shot, that he had seen his best days come and go. He went so far as to say that Holt lacked heart. He told ESPN2 that he wanted to put on a good show, because he didn’t want to hear Teddy Atlas say any bad things about him. Well, he might not have heard them, but they were said by Teddy as he watched Coleman succumb to the violent body and head attack perpetrated by Holt over the next few minutes and multiple knockdown.

In fact, Teddy warned viewers that Coleman was susceptible to the body, and proved he didn’t like it by quitting in past fights. That little bit of info certainly proved to be a true prognostication. Poor Roy Jones, Jr., who was making his television debut as a corner man, didn’t have much of a chance to impart any great motivation or sage advice. But, Kendall Holt explained that Roy had already accomplished his job earlier, not with advice about how to fight. Rather, he talked to Kendall about how to think. He didn’t have time to elaborate, but he did say it helped with what Teddy describes as the 75% portion of fighting.

That bit of Teddy’s philosophy spilled over to his talk of tonight’s fight between Sergio Martinez and Matthew Macklin. When asked by fill-in announcer Bernardo Osuna about Macklin’s chances and whether he should try and bully Sergio, Teddy quickly said, “Nn!”. He explained Sergio, a thinking fighter, knows how to beat tough guys, who try to bully him. He said for Macklin to win, he will have to employ smart aggression, behind a jab, coupled with head movement, and side stepping etc. What Teddy didn’t say was Macklin will have to do it with more speed than he now possesses, because Sergio can pan a clay pigeon with his own shot pattern. Macklin put up a good fight against Felix Sturm, so we shall see how Sergio matches up with a common opponent. Sergio promises a knockout.

But, Friday night was Hol’s to enjoy, and why not. After that first left hook, it was like Terry Malloy in “On the Waterfront”, when he said something like, “Mop with a left, Mop with a right and then I had to hold that bum up for two rounds. I could have taken Wilson apart.” Well, Kendall’s attack was no movie scene and unlike Terry he didn’t have to cover any short money, so he proceeded to take Coleman apart in less than two rounds. Officially, it was a TKO at 2:23 of the 2nd Rd.