Green Team confident Planter will level series

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

Round two of the Wray and Nephew Contender boxing series, being promoted by MJK Productions, will take place tonight, with one of the favoured boxers in the tournament, Ricardo Planter of the Green Team, going up against Patrick Miller of the Yellow Team at the Chinese Benevolent Association headquarters on Old Hope Road.

The main bout, to be broadcast live on TvJ at 9.30 p.m., will be preceded by two amateur bouts, with the bell set to signal the first at 8:15 p.m.

Tonight's event is part of a 15-week Jamaica Boxing Board of Control (JBBC)-sanctioned boxing extravaganza that is being sponsored by J. Wray and Nephew, Claro and TvJ, with the aim to crown a middleweight champion of Jamaica at the end in April.

Pre-fight challenge

Sixteen boxers - divided into two teams - are participating for prize money of nearly two million dollars and each week there is a pre-fight challenge in which all members of the two teams participate. The team winning the challenge then selects who will represent it that week, as well as the opponent.

Last week, the Yellow Team won the challenge and selected Martin Anderson to go up against the Green Team's Raymond Gordon. These are two of the lesser lights in the competition and the fight ended by way of technical knockout in the second round, when Gordon suffered an eye injury.

The Yellow Team again won the challenge this week and selected Martin to go up against Planter. The Green Team's head coach, Carl Grant, was very pleased with the choice, however, and stated openly that his opponents had made a bad choice.

"There is no way that Martin can beat Ricardo," said Grant, stating his confidence that it will be one victory apiece for both teams after tonight's encounter.

Satisfied

However, Andrew Boland, who leads the Yellow Team, was satisfied with his team's choice, saying it is "a tactical selection and you will see in the long run how we are thinking".

Planter, with a 3-2-2 record, will definitely be starting favourite against Martin, who has a 2-2 record. The former is one of the best boxers in the competition, but the problem with him is that he usually lays back and does very little work, while waiting for a knockout opportunity.

Miller, on the other hand, is a busy fighter who is always aggressive and that may be the reason why Boland is confident about his team's choice.

In the meantime, there is a pall of gloom underneath the surface with regard to the Yellow Team as one of their stars, Tsetsi Davis, is in mourning at this time. During the show last week, he was hit with the news that his elder brother, Omri, who was only 34-years old, died suddenly at home. Davis is coping with his loss, but it has inhibited his activity over the past week.