Former junior welterweight titleholder Kendall Holt, who hasn't fought since dropping a decision to Timothy Bradley Jr. in a unification bout last April, will return Feb. 27 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Holt, from nearby Paterson, N.J., will face Kaizer Mabuza (22-6-3, 13 KOs) of South Africa in an elimination bout.
The winner will be due a mandatory title shot against the winner of the March 6 Devon Alexander-Juan Urango 140-pound unification fight, although the match won't necessarily be next for the Holt-Mabuza winner.
"I think this fight will re-establish Kendall because he's fighting for the No. 1 spot [according to the IBF]," said Brandon Jacobs, the New York Giants running back who manages Holt. "I think he'll go through this guy pretty easily and the whoever wins the Alexander-Urango fight will have to come forward and fight him. We want one of the belts."
Philadelphia welterweight prospect Mike Jones will face Puerto Rico's Henry Bruseles in the main event of the "Top Rank Live" card (Fox Sports en Espanol/FSN), but Holt-Kaizer is not slated to be televised domestically at this point.
If Holt (25-3, 13 KOs) wins and the title fight isn't made immediately, which is possible since the IBF mandatory won't yet be due, Top Rank's Bob Arum, Holt's promoter, and Jacobs said he could next face contender Lamont Peterson on the undercard of the proposed Yuri Foreman-Miguel Cotto junior middleweight title bout.
That fight is being planned for June 12 at New York's Madison Square Garden.
"My preference is to make the title fight, but the second option is to put [Holt] in a real good fight on a big card," Arum said. "I promote both guys, Holt and Peterson, and I should be able to make the fight. The exposure on a big card like that will be good for both guys and it's a helluva fight."
Arum said he is talking to HBO about a deal for the June 12 doubleheader.
"They're interested," Arum said. "My preference is to do it on HBO, not pay-per-view. But if HBO, for one reason or another, can't pay enough or isn't interested enough, we'll do it on pay-per-view. The card is not dependent on them saying yes or no."
Peterson (27-1, 13 KOs) is looking to bounce back from his first defeat, a lopsided decision against Bradley Jr. on Dec. 12.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=4847241
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