Wray & Nephew Contender ends

After providing eight years of excitement and fun for boxing fans throughout Jamaica and overseas, the popular Wray & Nephew Contender show has been knocked out of the sporting calendar for 2019. Wray & Nephew, the title sponsors for the made-for-television boxing show, have decided not to continue their sponsorship, and although the promoter-producer Mark Kenny told The Gleaner that he is in discussions with other likely sponsors, the show as it exists, will not grace the boxing firmament this year.

Nadia Kiffin-Green, Wray & Nephew’s marketing manager, told The Gleaner that the company was not leaving the boxing scene, however. “We have enjoyed our relationship with the Contender show, and the benefits to us and the promoters have been mutually satisfying. We are not leaving the sport of boxing. We are just moving in another direction,” she said while adding that discussions were taking place with the Jamaica Boxing Board, as to the way forward, and that “an announcement will be made at the appropriate time, with regard to our commitments”.

Boxing Board president Stephen “Bomber” Jones confirmed that he was aware of the change and that discussions are taking place. He heaped praise on Wray & Nephew and promoter Kenny for the positive impact that the show has had on boxing in Jamaica for the past eight years and was optimistic that good things are ahead.

One of the positive aspects of the Contender show, he said, was the road show build-up, which took the sport to various parishes outside of Kingston. The outreach, he said, had a very positive effect on the various communities visited, and interest was built up in advance of the main event at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium in St Andrew on Wednesday nights. “It is our hope that the road shows will continue as it took boxing into towns outside of the Corporate Area, and the enthusiasm among young and old alike was apparent. I am optimistic about the future,” he ended.

Several boxers have expressed their disappointment that the show would not be taking place this year, and their hope is that a good substitute would be found to take its place. “We enjoyed the Contender and hope that another show will be found to take its place,” said Nico Yeyo, who left his mark on Contender history last year with a 21-second technical knockout victory over Canadian Mayron Zeferino, which is still being talked about.

Richard “Frog” Holmes, who was a finalist in 2015, 2016, and again last year, when he lost to Canadian-Mexican Ricardo Salas on points, said that he would be very disappointed if the show did not take place. “By this time each year,” he stated, “we would have an idea as to what is happening, but there have only been rumours so far that there will be no Contender this year. Both we the boxers and the public will be very disappointed if it does not take place because it is a very popular show,” he said.

The champions who have been crowned over the years are 2011 Ricardo “The Surgeon” Smith, 2012 Donovan “Police” Campbell, 2013 Devon “Concrete” Moncriffe, 2014 Sakima “Mr Smooth” Mullings, 2015 Kemahl Russell, 2016 American Demarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, 2017 Sakima Mullings for a second time, and 2018 Ricardo Salas.