Eager vs. anxious: in either case, Holm says she's ready

Among Holly Holm’s sparring partners for her return to the boxing ring on Saturday were her Jackson-Wink MMA teammates Steve Garcia, Diego Brandão and Nikolay Kiasse.

But Holm’s most reliable sparring partner over the course of her 25-year combat-sports career, both nemesis and friend, has been anxiety.

Her long-time Albuquerque promoter and agent, speaking by phone from Anaheim, California, site of Holm’s fight against Mexico’s Yolanda Vega, said Holm seemed more anxious than usual as her first boxing match since 2013 approached.

“But if she wasn’t anxious,” Lenny Fresquez added, “I’d be concerned.”

Given the oddsmakers’ take on Holm-Vega, seeing the Albuquerque southpaw as of Friday as a minus-1000 favorite — meaning a bettor would have to put down $1000 on Holm to get a payout of $100 — there would seem to be no cause for anxiety.

Holm’s approach to such things, though, always has been like Han Solo’s: never tell her the odds.

From a Holm standpoint, is there really any cause for anxiety, other than that’s her M.O.? Probably not.

But maybe.

Vega, a 30-year-old from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, brings a 10-0 record into Saturday’s bout at the Honda Center. That record has been compiled against far lesser opposition than Holm (33-2-3) has faced, both as an MMA fighter and a boxer.

Still, in videos, Vega appears athletic and displays solid skills. Though that 10-0 record includes only one win by knockout, she punches with authority.

There’s this, too: Vega’s most recent boxing match was a victory by unanimous decision over Claudia Fernández López just three months ago. Holm’s most recent fight while wearing shoes, a victory by unanimous decision over Mary McGee, took place on May 11, 2013.

In a phone interview last week, Mike Winkeljohn, Holm’s longtime trainer, said any accumulated rust was knocked off long ago. And it’s not as if Holm hasn’t been throwing punches for the last 12 years while fighting MMA at the highest levels.

Holm’s public persona in Anaheim, meanwhile, has shown no trace of that trademark anxiety — only eagerness.

She appeared relaxed and accommodating in video of Wednesday’s public workouts. Then, speaking briefly during a Thursday news conference dominated by trash talk from main-event combatants Jake Paul and Julio César Chávez Jr. and others on the card, Holm said she was eager to add to her Hall of Fame résumé in the squared circle.

“I just like to follow my heart, follow my passion,” she said, “and this is what my heart is telling me to do right now is to come back to boxing.”

As Winkeljohn had said earlier, Holm said she believes she’s a better boxer now at age 43 than she was when she dominated her farewell fight against McGee at age 31.

“It’s not just gong back to what I did,” she said. “It’s the fighter that I’ve become now, and the skill set that I’ve learned throughout the last 10 years that I’ve been in the gym.”

During her first 11 years as a professional boxer, Holm won world titles at 140, 147 and 154 pounds — but never at 135 pounds, the weight at which she competed almost exclusively in MMA.

Saturday’s fight is contracted at 137 pounds, just above the 135-pound lightweight limit. Holm intends to campaign beyond Saturday at lightweight.

“I feel like it’s unfinished business,” she said, “to come back to be able to fight in a fourth division and try to go for another title.”

Go ahead, Vega said in response. Try.

“It’s an honor to compete against someone as strong as Holly,” Vega said via a translator, “but I think she needs to retire, because it’s time for a new generation in boxing.”

Holm, meanwhile, fully intends to be at the forefront of that new generation. That, after all, is why she signed with Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions in the first place.

THE WEIGH-IN: Holm, looking fit, weighed in on Friday at 136.6 pounds. Vega, displaying a far far less defined physique than Holm’s, weighed 136.8.

FIGHT TIME IS... What?

Holm-Vega has been billed as the featured fight on the prelim portion of Saturday’s card. Fresquez told the Journal Friday evening that Holm’s fight is scheduled to begin at approximately 5:30 MT.

The streaming will be available on DAZN (pay-per-view, $59.99) and on YouTube, Fresquez said, but the DAZN app needs to be purchased in either case.