No retreat, no surrender! - Moncriffe ready to avenge Salas loss in Wray & Nephew Contender

Devon 'Concrete' Moncriffe might have been unprepared the last time. This time, the Jamaican boxer is in tip-top shape and will be seeking to turn the tables on Ricardo 'Magic Man' Salas, when both meet in the Wray & Nephew Contender semi-final at the Chinese Benevolent Association Auditorium tomorrow evening.

The fight will be broadcast live on TVJ, beginning at 9:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to face the winner of semi-final one, Jamaica's Richard 'Frog' Holmes, on Wednesday, July 18.

Moncriffe fought Salas once, but lost to the firebrand Canadian by a first-round technical knockout at Toronto's Hershey Centre in Mississauga, on October 21, 2017.

"The upcoming fight, to me, is a rematch. I went to Canada last October and he just jumped out on me and hit me in the back of my head and I went down. It happened to me about two times in the first round," Moncriffe recalls.

"Sometimes you get a fight and you don't prepare properly for it. You just make your weight and whatever happens, you just accept it," he continued, noting that Salas should have been penalised for the blows landed to the back of his head.

"When you're in a next man's country, anything can happen. You know that it's a foul blow, but is just so it go. Sometimes it goes against you. It was just one of them days."

Impressive Form

Now that he is on local soil, Moncriffe has shown impressive form during the Wray & Nephew Contender and relishes the opportunity to avenge last October's loss.

"To me, it's not about revenge, but I'm going to show him what I can do. When I heard that he was coming to Jamaica, I said if I don't fight him, Wray & Nephew Contender is not going to be done. So come Wednesday night, it come een like the final, because right now, it's a case of no retreat, no surrender," said the 2013 champion.

Moncriffe, at 40, is twice Salas' age, but the Jamaican says that will not be a factor.

"Don't watch the age, if he's 19 right now I'm 19, too. I'm just taking it to them. The two fights that I've fought already, everybody is wondering if it's me, because of my age, it appears like I'm younger than the next man them. But, right now, he's 20, I'm not worrying about his age," he said.

"I'm going to beat him up. It's going to be a real fist fight. I'm not taking nothing away from him because anything can happen in a fight. He's young, he's vibrant, and he's going to do his best. I'm old, I'm being honest with you, but don't misjudge me and don't underestimate me. I'll be coming to fight."

Continuing, Moncriffe assessed: "He has a good left hook. I underestimated him at first because I never expected him to come out like that and it happened. But right now, I see him and I know, he will have to find something else to attack me with because I'm already prepared for everything."