17 years ago today: Kendall "Rated R" Holt vs. Ricardo Antonio "Mochuelo" Torres Tafur II

Easily the most chaotic minute of boxing in the aughts. Mind you, that was a decade that also saw Sechew "Iron Horse" Powell vs. Cornelius "K9" Bundrage I (the famous "double knockdown").

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The mercurial American snatched the WBO super lightweight belt in the Colombian banger's third defense. "Rated R" had challenged "El Mochuelo (The Owl)" ten months earlier in Barranquilla; with Holt dominating the first half before Torres rallied to stop him in round 11.

Holt would squeeze in one defense, over previously unbeaten Demetrius Hopkins, before losing the belt in a unification with Tim Bradley the following year and campaigning with mixed success for another four years. Torres' career was effectively over here - stopping countryman Raúl "El Tendero" Pinzón in 2009 but then, unable to leave well enough alone, making an ill-advised return in 2023 and getting knocked out again.

Shame they never had a rubber match, as they matched up wonderfully and both fights saw them explosively trading knockdowns. Holt can lay claim to have been the better man the bulk of the first night and officially the winner the second - while Torres would make the case that he was on his way to a second consecutive stoppage of Holt and only got derailed because of a supposed foul unseen by the ref. I remember internet forums were flooded with debate and slow-motion footage analysis, regarding whether it was a headbutt or punch that actually kayoed Torres.