Karl Freitag
Editor-In-Chief
Fightnews.com

Nady to ref Torres-Holt rematch!

July 3, 2008

By Karl Freitag

Photos: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME

Veteran referee Jay Nady will be the third man in the ring when WBO junior welterweight champion Ricardo Torres (32-1, 28 KOs) defends against Kendall Holt (23-2, 12 KOs) in a much anticipated rematch on Saturday night at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.

The selection of the referee for this bout garners special attention after Holt blamed referee Gino Rodriguez for his loss to Torres in their first fight last September in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Scoring the bout will be Duane Ford, Robert Hoyle and Bert Clements, all well-known judges from Nevada.

"The fight which took place a number of months ago was considered to be very controversial," says promoter Bob Arum. "When things are controversial in boxing, very often lawsuits start....in boxing, disputes should be settled in the ring."

That's exactly what will happen on Saturday night.

Regarding his take on Torres-Holt I, Arum stated, "You remember I'm watching it from a tape after the event. I thought the referee stoppage was justified. I thought that Holt was really hurt. It was very, very difficult for me to see on that tape what the fans were carrying on in the arena. I did see stuff being thrown, but you couldn't get the impact unless you were there. So, it's very, very hard for me to say. But I think the stoppage was justified.

"I think it certainly was a terrific fight last time. SHOWTIME viewers and the people coming to watch the fight here in Las Vegas want to see a tremendously competitive and interesting fight. It will be even better this time. Tickets are priced very, very reasonably. They're $50, $100 and $150. Every seat's a good seat. So, we'll have 4,000 or 5,000 people there on Saturday."

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