THE vintage clash between 40-year-olds Derrick ‘Guts’ Spencer representing Team Jamaica and the Guyanese mauler Howard ‘Batter Tea’ Eastman of Team Caribbean will highlight the penultimate fight at the preliminary stage of the 2014 Wray & Nephew Contender Boxing series in the Welterweight division at the Chinese Benevolent Association tonight.

This year’s edition, which has offered greater variety in talent and has gone outside Jamaica to include the wider Caribbean, will witness 16 of the best available talents in the welterweight division compete for a share of the nearly $3 million with the winner strolling away with the major sum of $2 million, along with the coveted title of Jamaica’s Ultimate Welterweight Contender.

The three-fight spectacle, with one of two amateur under-card flicks scheduled for three rounds, will open the programme at 7:30 pm with the Welterweight main event, over six rounds, scheduled to begin rumbling at approximately 9:30 pm.

On the surface, based on records and experience of the opponents, this clash could turn out to be a fiasco for Spencer, but let’s face it, it’s not over until it’s over.

‘Guts’ Spencer, the oldest at 44, standing 5′ 9″, has a ring record of one win and two losses from three professional fights to Eastman’s 47 wins against 12 losses. Eastman is one year younger and stands at 6′ 2″.

Be that as it may on the night, records will not count. Preparation will be, and the best prepared fighter on the night is expected to more than likely be the winner, as the two aging boxers go toe-to-toe for parity while seeking the prized opportunity to remain standing in the crucial boxing eliminator to determine who moves into the quarter-final stage.