Michael ‘Wasp’ Gardner made a smashing professional debut with two victories in the Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Boxing Series to reach the welterweight semi-final stages.

He will now encounter his sternest test by facing DeMarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley at the Chinese Benevolent Association Auditorium tonight for a place in the final.

The winner of this contest will meet Richard ‘Frog’ Holmes.

The long-awaited clash between these two gifted boxers, the emerging Gardner and the receding Corley, will headline a competitive three-fight card with the first of two amateur fights opening the programme at 8:30 pm. Fight time for the main bout is set for approximately 9:45 following the usually rib-tickling entertainment segment.

Gardner, schooled in the classic style of boxing by trainer Carl Grant, now managed by Castro Brown and assisted by Kemahl Russell, knocked out Jose L Guzman in one minute 22 seconds of the second round of their five-round bout to launch his professional career.

Gardner returned a few weeks later to carve a masterful unanimous points decision against the experienced Ramel ‘Sub Zero’ Lewis to move into the semi-final round, and thus set his aim on continuing the dream by winning the Contender series the first time of asking.

The victory against Lewis pitted Gardner against the winner of the Revlon Lake/Corley semi-final clash, and following Corley’s emphatic 55-second knockout victory against Lake, Gardner immediately declared publicly that he is “the future” and is primed to take out the ageing master to reach the final of the contest.

But Corley, a four-time world boxing champion, said that he has few lessons he would like to pass on to the young upstart.

“At 44 I am not old. Boxing is a sport that thrives on good conditioning, and, at present, I am in a championship-winning shape as I have been preparing assiduously for this fight.

“He (Gardner) is a promising talent with a useful ability and I can assist him to develop on what he already has but in the fight, I will box him and then knock him out. Young and upcoming boxers should look and learn from us and be respectful of the path that we the older boxers have struggled to create for them to follow, and with time they will be the leaders,” Corley said.

Holmes, who also reached last year’s final in the middleweight division, booked his spot in this year’s final in fortuitous fashion. This was after his opponent Tsetsi ‘Lights Out’ Davis was unable to continue following a clash of heads during the opening round of their semi-final contest which ended at one minute and 37 seconds.

Davis was the worst affected of the two fighters as he suffered a severe cut above the left eyebrow and another also under the left eye. He was then declared unfit to continue for at least another eight weeks.