Ardreal Holmes continues where he left off.
The 2016 US Olympic substitute, who was out for more than two years, easily knocked out late substitute Vernon Brown in Friday’s 10-round middleweight match in Deadwood, South Dakota.
And Holmes (12-0.5 KOs) fought Brown’s match shorter – head to toe – most of the time. And he said that he injured his hand early in the battle.
“I was reborn tonight,” said Holmes. “This performance shows that I am still there within me. I injured my left hand in the second round. I can’t punch the way I want. I was in a lot of pain but I got over it. Thinking about my family pushed me through the pain.”
Holmes, who has the 7-inch height advantage, started making long throw-in combinations when Brown (13-2-1, 9 KOs) attempted to get inside.
Then Holmes allows him, at least most of the time. The two engage in the inner battle, where Brown can have the most success in the middle rounds.
However, Holmes held his ground in head-to-head exchanges and sometimes backed off as well, which gave him space against Pepper Brown with his difficult, precise shots.
And the winner ended up in a mess, knocking out the most of his biggest, most damaging punches in the last three innings. Brown survived but was nerfed, which seemed to end the deal for Holmes in his first 10th round.
The official scores are 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94. Boxing Junkie scored it 98-92, eight rounds left.
Holmes, who intends to fight as a middleweight, perhaps caught the attention of major sanctioning authorities with his strong showing on national television.
That means we’ll likely see more of him in the near future.
Holmes said: “I was very tired. “I believe I need another fight to heal my wounds. My time is not there. I took 800 days off, but this fight shows I have a lot of heart.
“I want the next Paul Kroll. He told me a lot of trivia. We have a history in the amateur world. He’s the one I want.”
