Kesta Davis showboats to easy win
Kesta Davis scored a pompous unanimous decision win against Anthony Osbourne in the feature bout of the Wray and Nephew Fight Night in the City International boxing Pro-Am six-card showdown between Jamaica and Panama at the Barbican Beach Complex last Saturday night.
Davis, who dominated the fight from the opening bell with a knockdown in the first round, scored a maximum 10 points by all three judges — Eian Jardine, Clifford Brown and Lindel Allen — to be declared the winner 50-44.It was second win as a professional for Davis and despite what appears to be a homesome victory, the former Bruising Gym trainee now being supervised by Castro Brown, could have tossed away a glorious opportunity to move into the lucrative North American pro circuit.Davis, who has an amateur ring record of 78 fights with 71 wins against seven losses, none of which was in Jamaica, started out by knocking the veteran Osbourne off his feet in the opening round. Osbourne, who is no “chicken” has a ring record of over 60 fights but might have seen better days and Davis was expected to make a meal of his opponent. Instead, after knocking down Osbourne, Davis began to showboat in the ring and allowed Osbourne to last the five-round contest on his feet.In the eyes of Tyler Buxton, Canadian boxing promoter of United Promotions who is a frequent visitor to Jamaica scouting for promising talent, Davis mimicked, dawdled and failed to press home the advantage which could be catastrophic at the highest level in professional boxing.In his post-fight interview Davis did not see anything really wrong with him not following through to clean up Osbourne. “Osbourne was never a threat to winning is my way of seeing things. And after knocking him down so early in the fight I looked into myself and said this is a fighter with a great deal of experience and this is a glorious opportunity for one like me to stay the distance and learn as I go along.“I may never get another chance like this so the best thing is to take advantage of him being in the same ring to learn how he will act or react in given situations. Even as there is a serious element to the fight this is not a serious boxing crowd it is here for the evening’s entertainment and sensing that I try to add light moments for its enjoyment. I know when to be serious and stay focused and when to display a lighter moment,” added Davis.Contrary to the reason that Davis was put under a microscope by his promoters, Brown thought that Davis had done what he had asked of him. “For me he gave a magnificent performance,” Brown interjected.“Here is a young fighter entering the ring for only his second professional fight and the guy he was up against has fought all over the world and has 60 or 70 fights to his credit.“He is an old pro. He’s got the experience. I know their plan (the promoters of Davis’ fight) was to take him (Osbourne) to about three or four rounds and then put him out of his misery by pressuring him possibly into submission. But we set out to counter that approach by winning all the rounds. Knocking him out was not an option. It was just beating him, beating him to win all the rounds. And in so doing, gain valuable experience while in the ring with a journeyman veteran.“This is a young man with lots of potential, but he has to be patient and make the right moves at the right time,” Brown ended.