RAMEL ‘Sub Zero’ Lewis moved into the quarter-final round of the Wray & Nephew Contender Boxing Series 2013 with a unanimous decision over Kevin ‘Bus Boy’ Hylton at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Wednesday night.

It was a fight that was disappointing, to say the least, as there was no real action because both fighters were contented to stay on their legs for the duration of the contest. However, at the end of the six-round hugfest, Lewis, the more active of the two fighters, won the decision of the judges.

Judges Keith Brown scored it 58-56, Clifford Brown scored it 60-54, and judge Stephen Hodges scored it 59-55 all for Lewis.

Following two sumptuous nights of boxing heading into the quarter-final round, Wednesday night’s fight was a major disappointment. Hylton, representing the Yellow Team of coach Andrew Boland, failed to live up to his pre-fight hype with a negative approach. He did not attack his opponent, played possum while covering up for two thirds of each round, and hoped for a miracle which never came. By the third round, an inactive ‘Bus Boy’, whose mind apparently was not on his fight, was so far behind on points that his only hope for a victory would have had to come through a knockout.

Every now and then he showed a glimpse of what might be possible when he came out of his shell to score with some straight jabs to the face and a few uppercuts to the head of his opponent. But he seemed so wrapped up in his thoughts that seemed far removed from the task at hand that his punches lacked conviction and venom to cause any serious concern to his opponent.

So far ahead on points past the half-way mark of the fight, all ‘Sub Zero’ had to do in the final two rounds was to stay focused, continue to beat the body of his opponent and watch out for his sneaking right uppercut, which found its mark on a regular basis when thrown. Lewis did just that and he moved on to the next round.

Representing the Green Team and coached by Carl Grant, ‘Sub Zero’ was neither ecstatic nor joyless by his success: “I thought it was a good exercise for the night. My personal opinion is that I did not think ‘Bus Boy’ came to fight. He is a much better fighter than what we saw.

“While saying that my plan going into the fight was to enjoy myself. I never went into the right to knockout ‘Bus Boy’, my job was to work diligently to win rounds and I thought I succeeded admirably. “

Not one to give excuses, ‘Bus Boy’ was apologetic to his fans for an indifferent display. “I put out the best I could have on the night. My mind was never on the fight. I lost my mother a week before the fight and that naturally affected my performance. I had an obligation to fight and I tried to fulfil it the best I could. The plan entering the fight was to hit and move, but the death of my mother weighed heavily upon me and that could have been responsible for my defensive approach,” Hylton said.