Holmes again defended the title twice before losing the belt to middleweight legend Bernard Hopkins in a clear-cut decision loss as part of the Middleweight World Championship Series unification tournament. He continued to fight sparingly after the loss to Hopkins, and in 2005 lost an IBF Light Middleweight Title Eliminator bout against Roman Karmazin in a close majority decision.
Holmes defended his title twice before losing to middleweight legend Bernard Hopkins in a decisive decision loss as part of the Middleweight World Championship Series unification tournament. He continued to fight sparingly after the loss to Hopkins, and in 2005 lost an IBF Light Middleweight Title Eliminator bout against Roman Karmazin in a close majority decision.