Holt: One of the most exciting fighters in SA history

The career of Mike Holt, one of the most exciting fighters in the history of SA boxing, lasted from 1953 to 1962.

He rose from an unknown apprentice panel beater to one of the best-known personalities in the country.

Holt always fought to packed houses and among the top fighters he met were Martin Hansen, Jimmy Martinez, George Barnes, Gordon Wallace, Arthur Howard, Charles Colin, Artenio Calzavara, Yolande Pompey, Johnny Halafihi, Erich Schoeppner, Gustav Scholz, Carl Bobo Olsen, Eddie Cotton, Gawie de Klerk, Bobby Stitinato, George Mahoni, Billy Lotter and Willie Pastrano.

An indication of his drawing power was the bitterly cold night of 6 June 1960, when he fought former world middleweight champion Carl Bobo Olsen at the Rand Stadium in Johannesburg; an open-air venue. A crowd of 16 000 turned up.

Holt finished with a record of 54 wins, 19 losses, four draws and 34 wins inside the distance.

He was born in Pretoria on 15 September 1931 but the family moved to Tzaneen, where his father worked on the railways.

His father died when Mike was 11 years old the family returned to Pretoria.

Mike had a few fights as an amateur, but never achieved much before joining the professional ranks under the guidance of Gerry Roseman and Piet Lourens.

He beat Billy Wells on a first-round technical knockout on July 6, 1953 and received a purse of R3.

But he broke a hand in the fight and was laid off work as an apprentice panel beater for several weeks.

In his next fight, he outpointed Fred de Meyer but then lost on points to Bennie Niewenhuizen in March 1954. Two months later, Niewenhuizen repeated the dose with another points victory. Niewenhuizen was one of the most talented fighters to come out of South Africa.

EPIC FIGHTS VS THOMAS AND ELLIOT

After two defeats in his first five fights as a welterweight, Holt moved up to middleweight and, fighting as a late substitute, was stopped by Eddie Thomas in the sixth round when challenging for the SA middleweight title.

In a return fight with Thomas, in December 1954, Holt stopped Thomas in the 12th round.

In the third match-up of what became a legendary series, in March 1955, he again stopped Thomas in the last round. Thomas never really recovered from these brutal fights.

In two other ring classics, Holt defeated Jimmy Elliot on points in June 1955 to retain his SA middleweight title before, in July 1956, Elliot outpointed him in a match fought at about 1kg over the middleweight limit.

Elliot collapsed in the ring after the result had been announced and spent a few days in hospital.

Holt later relinquished the middleweight title and knocked out Stan Lotriet inside two minutes to win the SA light heavyweight title.

He made successful defences against Tommy du Preez, Doug Nicholas and Gerrie de Bruyn before losing it on points to Hottie van Heerden on January 17, 1964. It was his last fight.

Holt also lost on points against Pat McAteer over 15 rounds when they met for the British Empire middleweight title in November 1955.

On a hot night under even hotter television lights in Montreal, Canada, he fought Yvon Durelle for the Empire light heavyweight title. The heat was too much for the South African and he was unable to come out at the bell for the ninth round.

This was his second defeat inside the distance. The only other time he was stopped was against Alfredo Vogrig of Italy when he suffered a bad cut.

Mike, whose real name was Antonie Michael Holtzhausen, died in Winburg in the Free State on July 19 2008 at the age of 77.