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ESPN
Boxing

Updated: December 10, 2006, 2.30 PM ET

Holmes fractured right wrist
in loss to Thompson

By Larry Holman
ESPN.com
Archive

The comeback of former WBA light-heavyweight champion Maurice Holmes hit another pothole last night when he was defeated by British fighter Carl Thompson in the opening bout of the International Boxing League's world junior-heavyweight championship card in Youngstown, Ohio. In a dramatic fight that featured four knockdowns Holmes held a slim lead going into the 8th and final round but within moments of the bell the contest was over, Holmes unable to continue after injuring his right hand. Upon examination it was discovered that the Brooklyn native had suffered a fractured wrist and will be out of action for up to twelve weeks. It's doubtful that he'll be fit to take part in his next scheduled IBL bout in early February.

Holmes joined the IBL with the singular intention of claiming the new organisation's inaugural junior-heavyweight world championship but his time with them so far has been nothing short of disasterous. As the #2 seed he lost his opening world championship tournament bout to eventual champion Jeff Lampkin by 5th round TKO after sustaining a cut on the left eyebrow. He bounced back from that disappointment by winning a world ranking bout in September against the Algerian Mohamed Azzaoui but last night's defeat will be a bitter pill for him to swallow. Holmes has said on a number of occasions that he won't even consider retiring again until he's won the world title so it will be interesting to see how he handles this latest setback.

Thompson had floored Holmes with a barrage of punches just thirty-seven seconds into the contest but the New Yorker recovered to control the next four rounds and drop Thompson with a stinging body shot midway through the 5th. From that point on the fight turned crazy. In round six Thompson rallied superbly, sending Holmes to the canvas for a second time with a crunching uppercut early in the frame and then punishing him through the rest of it. His efforts almost led to the referee stopping the fight. Round seven was an absolute cracker, with Thompson maintaining the momentum early before Holmes set him on his back just after the two minute mark with a flurry of shots. He was up at four and for the remainder of the round they traded hard shots to the crowd's delight. It should have been the prelude to a breathtaking final stanza but unfortunately, it was not to be. Holmes connected awkwardly with a hard right and reeled away, clutching his wrist in pain. The bout was officially over at the 0:14 mark.

Holmes is now 39-5-1(33), having lost almost as many fights since starting his comeback (two) as he did during the eleven years of his first career (three). Thompson improved to 27-4-1(18). It was also a bad night for the man that Lampkin beat in the semi-finals, Massimiliano Duran. The former IBF world champion dropped a ten-round split decision to Cleveland's Richard Mason in the co-feature to fall to 31-6-1(22). Duran was deducted a point for a low blow in the 4th, which proved critical to the outcome as the final scores were 95-94, 94-95 and 95-94. As a result Duran will be ranked no higher than #6 when the IBL releases their initial junior-heavyweight rankings on Monday. A win against Mason would have guaranteed the Italian the #4 ranking and a chance to secure a world title shot with a pair of wins through the first half of '07. However, from 6th it will most likely take him an extra victory or two to achieve that, making the defeat a costly one.

Larry Holman is ESPN.com's boxing writer.