Dramatic win for Mullings

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

Sakima Mullings, the star of the Green Team in the Wray and Nephew Contender boxing series, scored a dramatic fifth-round technical knockout (TKO) victory over Glenroy 'Bumpy' Beckford of the Yellow Team on Wednesday night, as the tournament hit a high note in its third week of competition, at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium.

The two previous fights in the 15-week middleweight boxing contest, which is promoted by MJK Productions and sponsored by J. Wray and Nephew, Claro and TVJ and authorised by the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, ended in the second round because of eye injuries. Wednesday's encounter, however, which was broadcast live by TVJ, at 9:30 p.m. produced five thrilling rounds of boxing that had the large crowd cheering wildly throughout.

"The buzz is back in Jamaica boxing," one excited fan declared after the fight, and this was a true assessment of the night's activities. From the pre-fight hype to the actual contest, there was a constant aura of excitement in the auditorium, and fans were so thrilled that they declared afterwards that they cannot wait to see next week's encounter.

After losing the pre-fight challenge the two previous weeks, the Green Team won last week and this gave them the right to choose this week's participants. They immediately announced that their star Mullings would go up against Beckford. This was a contest that was long anticipated, because when Mullings was slated to make his professional debut on January 16, 2010, his opponent should have been Beckford.

No-show for weigh-in

Beckford, however, did not show up for the weigh-in and the fight was cancelled. Mullings kept issuing challenges to Beckford since that time to no avail, so when the opportunity came his team took it, and they promised Beckford "a beating". Mullings kept his word on Wednesday.

The first few minutes of the fight saw both men stalking each other patiently and Beckford actually landed the first punch, a jab to the body. As they went into the last minute of the fight, the tempo increased and Mullings landed a few telling blows to the body and head near the end of the round, that seemed like warning signals.

Beckford was not, however, intimidated by Mullings, and took the attack to him in the second stanza. This forced Mullings to call on his defensive skills, which he did and weathered the early storm. He again stepped up the pace in the final minute, and scored with some hard body blows.

The third round saw Mullings increasing his flow of punches and there was some good infighting by both men, and this turned out to be a prelude to the fourth round, which saw a lot of action. Both men were aggressive and Beckford made it clear that he was not backing down from the challenge.

In this round, for example, he caught a surprised Mullings with a solid left-hook to the head as he came in, that stopped him in his tracks. The tempo increased significantly after this and saw Mullings again finishing the round aggressively.

It did not surprise anyone when Mullings came out swinging in the fifth round and it was obvious that he had decided by then that he was going to try to end the fight. He attacked relentlessly to the body and head, and this forced Beckford into a defensive mould. He could find no respite, however, and at two minutes seven seconds of the round, his corner threw in the towel. The official verdict was a fifth round TKO victory for Mullings, and the Green Team had won its second fight in a row and sent a clear signal that they meant business. The series continues next week Wednesday.