Kingston, Jamaica — The weight limit is, for some boxers, a more powerful adversary than the strength or speed of an opposition in the ring.

The inability to make weight has presented in or inhibited many a fighter.

Richard ‘Frog’ Holmes, who is set to contest the final of this year’s Wray & Nephew Contender Series at the National Indoor Sports Centre come Saturday, is one such. Holmes, an eight-year vet of the boxing game, found himself in a tight corner last year, struggling to stay in the welterweight requirement. He, nonetheless, progressed to the quarter-finals, but it was still a disappointing campaign for the fighter who plies his trade out of the Bruising Gym in the salubrious heights of Stony Hill.

Now, he stands on the brink of a two-million-dollar payday, the adulation of hundreds of thousands, and the acclaim that goes with winning the most prestigious boxing belt in the Caribbean, the Wray & Nephew Contender, joining the likes of Sakima Mullings and Ricardo Smith.

Holmes has only one factor to credit for his improved performance. “Last time it was hard for me to train the way I would have liked and also concentrate on the weight. This year, as a middleweight, I could step up my training to a different level.”

And the results are evident in the ring, most recently when he outlasted fellow journeyman Tsetsi Davis for the finals, fulfilling a promise he made to his coach. Holmes will face Russell in that hotly anticipated final, and while his confidence is high, he admits that with so much at stake victory will require a careful study of his opponent.

“To be here at this stage, he (Russell) must be a good fighter, and I definitely won’t be taking him lightly. Every boxer has their own defined style, so along with my coach, I’ll be looking how he handled himself to this point. We are going to come up with a strategy that we feel can deliver the title.”

The “title” is undoubtedly the immediate focus. Holmes, like any other fighter worth his salt, is looking beyond the Wray & Nephew Contender and towards an even “weightier” belt. One that bears the inscription of one of the world’s recognised governing bodies: in short, a move up the ranks and to a world championship title.

“I am motivated by the success of the previous Contenders, and my vision is to be among the best in the world and have a long career. I am proud of what I achieved thus far, but I am definitely not satisfied.”

And that applies whether he remains at his present weight, or at some point in the future mimics his great American namesake Larry Holmes and becomes a world champion.