It was a first defeat for Hopkins, the nephew of former middle and light-heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins, while Holt is now in line for a unification bout next year against WBC champion Timothy Bradley.
Obama dispatched newly appointed Middle East envoy George Mitchell to the region and tapped diplomatic heavyweight Richard Holbrooke as his special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Furthermore, Makor Rishon's senior columnist Amnon Lord reported last Friday that Kadima heavyweight Haim Ramon met with one of Obama's senior Middle East advisors ahead of Biden's visit.