By Eric Thomas: Former heavyweight challenger Tony Thompson (34-2, 22 KO’s) will be fighting 38-year-old journeyman Friday Ahunanya (24-6-3, 13 KO’s) on the undercard of the Super Six tournament bout between WBA super middleweight champion Andre Ward vs. Allan Green on June 19th at the Oracle Arena, in Oakland, California. Also on the card will be former World Boxing Organization light welterweight champion Kendall Holt (25-4, 13 KO’s) facing the tough Jesse Feliciano (15-9-3, 9 KO’s).

The 6’5” southpaw Thompson, now 38, needs this win to keep moving forward to get another title shot against one of the heavyweight champions. Thompson fought IBF/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko two years ago in July 2008, losing by an 11th round TKO. Despite losing the fight, Thompson gave Wladimir one of his toughest fights of his career, landing more shots against Wladimir than any other opponent that he’s ever faced before.

Thompson, however, didn’t have the strength to compete with Wladimir down the stretch and when Wladimir began to open up with his power shots, Thompson went down in a heap in the 11th. Thompson is currently ranked #9 in the WBC, and has a ways to go before he gets another title shot. Thompson is a lot better than his current ranking and might be better than most if not all of the current contenders.

Kendall Holt, a one-time WBO junior light welterweight champion, lost his title by a 12 round decision to Timothy Bradley last year in April. Holt, 28, then took 10 months off and returned in February 2010, losing in a shocking upset to pressure fighter Kaizer Mabuza. Holt was cut in that fight and was unable to handle the heavy pressure from Mabuza. Holt will be facing similar pressure by the 27-year-old Feliciano, only without the same power that Mabuza was bringing against Holt.

Ranked #9 by the IBF, Holt really needs to look good in beating Feliciano if he wants to get another title shot in the near future. The light welterweight division has gotten a lot better in the past year and Holt needs to pick up his game a notch or two if he wants to stay up with the top fighters. Holt has good power and excellent hand speed. However, he sometimes doesn’t fight aggressively enough and lets his opponents stick around. Holt has to win impressively so that he can make the title holders take notice of him and give him a shot.