Classy Smith stops Moncrieffe

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

A scintillating mixture of guile and punching power were the weapons used by Rikardo Smith on Wednesday night to defeat Devon Moncrieffe by technical knockout, at one minute 36 seconds of the eighth round in the 10-round contest.

The payoff for him was to be crowned the first J. Wray & Nephew Contender and the middleweight boxing champion of Jamaica. In addition, he took home a million dollars in purse money.

A large crowd flocked to the Constant Spring Sports Complex to see the culmination of the boxing series that was broadcast on Television Jamaica (TVJ) each Wednesday night since January 5 this year. Promoted by MJK Productions, in association with the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, and with sponsorship from J. Wray & Nephew, Claro, Foska Oats and TVJ, the competition started with 16 boxers drawn from all over Jamaica vying for the top prizes. Apart from the million-dollar first prize, the runner-up Moncrieffe received $500,000, third prize of $250,000 went to Sakima Mullings, who lost to Smith, and fourth prize of $200,000 went to Tsetsi Davis, who lost to Moncrieffe.

Moncrieffe, who was not seeded in the contest, scored upset victories over Ricardo Planter and then Davis, the second and fourth seeds, to get to the final. Smith, who was seeded number three, got into the finals with a thrilling victory over the No. 2 seeded Mullings.

On Wednesday, it was the slugger Moncrieffe against the master tactician Smith, and in the end it was a mixture of brain and brawn that gave Smith the victory. He had a plan of action going into the fight, executed it brilliantly and ended up stopping the man with credentials as a knockout artist. It brought back to mind the victory by Buster Douglas over the then feared heavyweight champion of the world Mike Tyson, on February 11, 1990.

Moncrieffe's plan going into the fight was to attack, attack, attack while Smith made it known that he would be adopting the role of a matador. He did. He nullified Moncrieffe's vaunted right hand power punch with a tight high guard, and he gave Moncrieffe so many different angles to work against that he could not land his favourite haymakers. Smith's ability to switch quickly from orthodox to southpaw also paid dividends, as he confused Moncrieffe time and again.

Dramatic end

It was, however, a very close contest and before the dramatic end Smith led by only one point, 67-66 on two scorecards, but by five (69-64) on the other. Moncrieffe actually won the first two rounds with skilful boxing, but Smith found his range in the third and won it with powerful jabs and deft head movements that made Moncrieffe miss a lot. Moncrieffe stormed back in the fourth, but Smith changed gears and decided to take the fight to his opponent. This paid dividends, and the crowd had a lot to cheer about, as both men had their periods of ascendancy.

There was a definite shift of the momentum in the fifth, as a now very confident Smith opened his bag of tricks and gave his opponent a lot to think about. His defensive skills were put on display to frustrate Moncrieffe, after which he would shift quickly to aggression, to the delight of his supporters.

As the rounds unfolded, so did the intensity of the action and spectators were on their feet cheering throughout each round. Things reached fever pitch in the eight when Smith threw caution to the winds and exploded. A short solid left hook to the head shook Moncrieffe as he tried to attack, and Smith seized the momentum from this and threw everything at his man.

A hurt Moncrieffe tried to fight back, but Smith was too elusive, and when he held on so as to get some respite, Smith upped the tempo and hit him with short, sharp punches. During one of the salvos, Moncrieffe lost balance and his knee hit the canvas, but the referee allowed the fight to continue, ruling that this was not from a punch.

The end was near, however, as Smith threw everything at him. After a short right hook to the head caught Moncrieffe solidly and hurt him, referee Graham stepped in and called a halt. Moncrieffe's corner protested, but the decision was a correct one, as Moncrieffe was out on his feet.

It was a wonderful end to an intriguing series and the word now on the street is that "boxing in Jamaica is back".