Moncrieffe scores sensational KO win

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

There was consternation on some faces and smiles of unbridled joy on others, as Devon Moncrieffe, dubbed the 'dark horse' in the J. Wray & Nephew Contender middleweight boxing series, pulled off the biggest upset of the 16-man tournament so far, with a second-round knockout victory over the No. 1 seeded boxer, Tsetsi Davis, in the first semi-final, at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium on Wednesday night.

Moncrieffe, who also upset No. 4 seeded Ricardo Planter in the quarter-finals, has now booked himself a place in the final on April 27, against the winner of the Ricardo Planter versus Sakima Mullings semi-final, which takes place next Wednesday.

Moncrieffe went into the fight supremely confident of victory, and his trainer, Dwight Rainford, said before the fight, "Someone is going to fall tonight and it will not be Devon." The Davis camp was also very confident, and though they did not voice any predictions, made it clear that their man was ready to rumble.

costly error

In hindsight, this was the mistake Davis made. He is a better boxer than Moncrieffe, and the intelligent tactic would have been to stay on the outside for a few rounds, and after his opponent had been made to work for a while, test his chin. What Davis did instead was to go head-to-head with Moncrieffe, who is a brutal slugger with a no-holds-barred attitude, and it cost him the fight.

Davis gave early signs that he contemplated using his jabs to good advantage, and in the early feeling-out process he scored to the body and head with precise left jabs. Moncrieffe did throw a few jabs himself, but very quickly started to bore in and throw bombs, many of which Davis slipped under.

As Moncrieffe continued to attack, Davis threw caution to the wind, and no doubt succumbing to the buzz from the crowd, decided to go toe-to-toe with Moncrieffe. It was brutal. Both men threw a mixture of accurate hooks and uppercuts to the body and head, and Moncrieffe depended to a large extent on his vaunted overhand right, which sometimes entered the realm of the illegal and drew cautions from referee Barrington Graham.

He kept pursuing Davis relent-lessly, however, and this tactic paid off, as Davis decided to fight back, which is just what Moncrieffe wanted him to do. Both men were hurt in the first round, and it was a miracle that neither man took a count. Spectators were on their feet for the duration of the round and kept cheering wildly during the one-minute break.

back with vengeance

When hostilities resumed, both men went after each other with a vengeance, and it became clear that there was no way that the fight would last much longer. The only question in the mind of spectators by this time was which one of them would succumb to the pressure.

It turned out to be Davis, as a series of heavy blows to the head buckled his knees and as he fell against the ropes, Moncrieffe landed a couple of solid punches to finish the job. The referee started to count but called it off after two minutes and 14 seconds of the round had elapsed, when he realised that Davis was not going to make it.

What a fight! This was the view of all who were present, and everyone started to salivate as to what will happen next week, when the other semi-final takes place.

There were also two amateur bouts on the programme, and England-based Jamaican boxers Jovan Young and Reece Shagourie, who are seeking places on the Jamaica team to the Pan American Games qualifiers next month in Ecuador, scored victories on points over Everton Eccleston and Oraine Walters, respectively.