THE grinding stone action hits the 2015 Wray & Nephew White OverProof Rum Contender Series when Tsetsi ‘Lights Out’ Davis and Ricardo Planter will do battle for pride of place in stage two of the contest at the Chinese Benevolent Association Auditorium tonight. One of the two amateur bouts on the three-fight card will open the programme at 8:30 pm. Both amateur fights will be fought over three rounds on each occasion with the main bout scheduled for six rounds at approximately 9:45 pm. Inbetween time, there will be a floor show where the major sponsors J Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum will entertain the crowd and offer giveaways to patrons. Four fights are carded for this round from the eight survivors of the opening stage of 16.

Like the first fight, each bout will go six rounds and in the end four fighters will remain standing to continue on to the next round. Last man standing after four stages of boxing will pocket a whopping J$2 million along with the title of Jamaica’s Ultimate Middleweight Contender. Both Davis and Planter were among the first boxers to participate in Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum’s debut Contender series in 2011. Nonetheless, although participating in two previous series (2011 & 2013), they have never met. And their meeting tonight has raised expectations.

Davis, the most consistent performer in the Series, made it to the finals in the last two years, but suffered defeats first from Devon Moncrieff and Sakima Mullings last year. Sakima Mullings, the 2014 Contender champion, is now the Wray and Nephew Contender Series competition’s brand ambassador. An anticipating ‘Lights Out’ Davis is confident that this year will be his year. “This year is going to be the year for everyone to remember where I am coming from and to see where I am now. The crowd is used to me and everybody wants to see Tsetsi in that ring to beat Planter and everybody that comes after him,” Davis declared, as he threw down the gauntlet.

Ricardo Planter, who is less voluble with his predictions, noted that although this will be the first meeting between the two in the Wray and Nephew Contender, both used to fight against each other in their amateur boxing days. While Planter gained his boxing licence in Miami in 2005 from the Florida Boxing Commission, Davis acquired his licence four years later in Jamaica. Planter acknowledges that his opponent is a good boxer, but said that he has increased his strength training and is planning to be in the heat of battle for the duration of the fight.

“The fights between us are usually very close. Davis, however, is a quick starter and I am always the one who has to close the game. “However, on this occasion I will not allow him to take the first two rounds. I am going to make sure that after I am done with him, he is tired after the first two to three rounds. This is my focus for tonight’s fight,” said Planter.