Mullings, Smith fighting for final spot

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

Following last week's dramatic upset victory by Devon Moncrieffe over No. 1 seed Tsetsi Davis, excitement has reached fever pitch for the second semi-final clash in the Wray and Nephew Contender boxing series tonight, between No. 2 seeded Sakima Mullings and the No. 3 rated Rikardo Smith.

Fight time is 8:30, with an amateur curtain-raiser. The main bout of televised action will be shown on TVJ, starting at 9:30.

Mullings will be going into tonight's encounter as the favourite. He has had some good victories so far in the competition, having won inside the distance against Glenroy 'Bumpy' Beckford and Martin Anderson. In addition, he has never lost to Smith in their four encounters as amateurs.

His camp is supremely confident of victory tonight, and his trainer and followers have not only declared that there is "no way that Rikardo can win", but have emblazoned themselves with paraphernalia declaring him to be No. 1.

unusually low-key

Smith and his camp are, however, very quietly making it clear that they, too, are confident. His usually talkative trainer, Andrew Boland, has been unusually low-key in the build-up to this fight.

"We are not in a talk situation, this is business and we are taking this one very seriously," Boland said. "We want that belt and that million-dollar cheque and we are going to do what we have to do to win them."

In his victories over Anthony Osbourne and Donovan Campbell, Smith showed that he is fit, ready and on the right path. The tactics employed by him tonight will be very important and will determine the outcome of the fight.

Mullings is a good all-round fighter, with better than average boxing skills and power in his punches. He is also a superb finisher.

Smith, on the other hand, is one of the best defensive fighters in Jamaica today. He is not easy to hit and has the ability - with his incredible hand-speed - to switch from defence to offence very quickly. He does not have one-punch knockout capabilities, but like his idol Muhammad Ali, the number of punches with which he scores add up in the long run.