Davis stops Hylton

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

Tsetsi Davis, the No. 1 seeded boxer in the Wray and Nephew Contender boxing series, booked himself a semi-final berth last Wednesday night, when he knocked out Kevin Hylton at 33 seconds of the fifth round, at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium.

It was, however, a far from impressive performance, as Davis was wild, allowed himself to be rattled by the extremely negative tactics of his opponent, whose policy was to 'run and hold all night'. Davis did manage to corner Hylton on a few occasions and eventually caught up with him in the fifth round to deliver the decisive, finishing blow, a left hook to the body, that put Hylton on the canvas for the full count.

With the main prize of $1 million now in sight, Davis came out a determined man and one could sense that he meant business. The question to be answered, and it was clear at the outset, was how Hylton would perform against Davis. His negative tactics against his earlier opponent, Ian 'Hagler' Smith, had caused a frustrated Smith to commit a deliberate foul, which cost him the fight by disqualification.

It was clear from the opening bell that the tactics would be the same, as Hylton slipped into a negative, defensive groove immediately. He backed away with Davis chasing, but Davis was too wild and missed repeatedly. Hylton received two early cautions for holding, and this spurred him into engaging Davis briefly. Davis was then able to land enough telling blows to take the round.

Embarrassing moment

Davis came at his man wildly in the second round and had an embarrassing moment, when a mad rush by him was eluded by Hylton, and Davis fell into the ropes and on to the canvas on his knees. With his pride hurt, he steadied himself briefly and launched a few body attacks. Hylton surprisingly engaged him and scored with a good left hook, followed up by some crisp jabs. Davis then landed solid body shots just before the bell, to also win this round.

The third round saw Davis chasing the constantly retreating Hylton, but in the fourth, Davis, who by now had settled down and was more precise with his punching, caught up with Hylton and repeatedly scored to the head and body with right and left hooks. In one of these exchanges, a solid right hook to the head put Hylton down. He took the mandatory eight count and came back fighting, but a now methodical Davis stamped his authority on the contest and ended the round with a confident look on his face.

The fifth round saw the fight ending abruptly, as Davis came out on the hunt and he engaged his opponent quickly. In a flash, he had his opponent covered and a left hook to the body saw Hylton crumple in agony to the canvas. Referee Graham started the count but when he saw clearly that Hylton was finished, he waved the fight off and called in the ring doctor.

It was a good night for Davis, but he must be aware that he has a lot of work to do before his next fight, much of it mental.

In the two amateur bouts on the card, which were sanctioned by the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, promoted by MJK Productions and sponsored by J. Wray and Nephew, Claro, TVJ and Foska Oats, the Job Walters Gym from Anchovy had two winners. Oraine Walters had a hard- fought victory over Catoney Robinson from Stanley Couch Gym, and Romario Stephens defeated Krishna Gibbs from Heavy Metal Gym.