Controversy hits Contender series

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

"We were robbed" said members of the Yellow Team in the Wray and Nephew Contender series last Wednesday night, after their team member Patrick Taylor lost a very close majority decision to Donovan 'Police' Campbell of the Green Team.

This was the fourth week in the 15-week televised boxing series being held at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium, which is approved by the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, promoted by MJK Productions and sponsored by J. Wray and Nephew, Claro and TVJ. The winner will take home prize money of $1 million and the title of middleweight boxing champion of Jamaica. The other boxers in the top four will earn $500,000, $250,000 and $200,000 respectively.

It was a hard-fought contest, and at the end of six rounds judges Clifford Brown and Ransford Burton each voted 57-56 for Campbell, while judge Lawrence Bailey had it 58-55 for Taylor. When the scores were announced, the large crowd was vociferous in showing its disapproval of the decision of the judges. Taylor and members of the Yellow Team, after standing by in disbelief for a short time, joined the chorus of those who said that it was a bad decision.

The fight was very close and Campbell had his best moments in the first three rounds. Taylor was, however, dominant from round four, and had a terrific last round that cemented the belief in his mind and those of most of the spectators that he had won the fight. There was a look of disbelief in his eyes when the decision was announced.

Taylor also did not help his cause when he was penalised a point by referee Barrington Graham for consistently holding and hitting. The referee had cautioned and then warned him for this infraction, and when he continued to do so a point was deducted. If he had not lost that point, the decision could well have been different.

Slight edge

Campbell, who was the favourite going into the fight, was tentative in the early stages and this allowed Taylor, with his longer reach, to score with jabs to the body and head. As the round progressed, Campbell got closer to his opponent and landed a few punches to the body and head. This was a close round with Campbell having a slight edge.

There was more activity in the second, with Taylor again using his reach to score from long range while Campbell tried to keep the action closer. There was a fair amount of clinching in this round and the referee was kept busy.

A more positive Campbell stepped up the pace in the third round, and Taylor engaged in a lot of holding so as to keep him at bay. He ended up being warned by the referee, and when he did not desist, the referee penalised him by deducting a point for consistently holding and hitting. This decision had a devastating effect on the final outcome of the fight.

It also served as a wake-up call for Taylor, as his performance improved considerably. He became aggressive, won the fourth round, was held close in the fifth and then finished in blazing fashion in the sixth and final round, which he won on all the scorecards. He went back to his corner confident of victory.

That was not to be, however, as what had happened in the first three rounds and the point deduction added up to a very close loss for Taylor, and it is Campbell who will move on to the next round of the competition.

The two amateur bouts on the card ended early. In the first, Bruisin' Gym's Kestna Davis had too much power for Nashani Powell from Heavy Metal Gym and the referee stopped the contest in the first round.

In the second bout, another Bruisin' Gym boxer, Michael Gardener, scored a first-round knockout victory over Cleon Allwood from Heavy Metal Gym.