International flavour to kickstart Wray & Nephew Contender Season 8
The Wray and Nephew Contender boxing series will launch its eighth season of fistic exchanges in spectacular fashion, with former champion Kemahl “The Hitman” Russell defending his North American Boxing Federation (NABF) middleweight title before his home crowd, on a seven-fight card at the National Arena in Kingston on Friday, March 16.
The bouts will be shown live on long-time Contender partners TVJ from 10:00 pm to midnight and on TVJ Sports Network for its entirety from 8:00 pm to midnight.
Russell will face highly-thought-of Mexican Jorge Michael ‘Michi’ Munoz – one of three brothers highly involved in the fight game – in the feature bout scheduled for eight rounds.
Nadia Kiffin-Green, marketing manager, J Wray and Nephew Limited, said: “Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum has consistently shown over the past couple of years that we are committed to preserving and ever improving boxing’s role in the fabric of Jamaican sporting culture. In standing with this commitment, it is an honour to begin this season with a launch fight of an international magnitude in both quality and consequences, as the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) middleweight title is up for grabs.”
She continued: “Our spirit will be available throughout the night and we look forward to our patrons enjoying the number one Jamaican brand responsibly in their mixed drinks.”
The mega boxing showcase will also include local crowd favourite Tsetsi “Lights Out” Davis, and is slated to begin at 8:00 pm with two amateur bouts and run until midnight.
“It’ll be a helluva boxing night,” said Donald Lyew, a lead partner of Creative Sports, one of the entities staging the event. “For a thousand dollars you get a four-hour evening of good, classic boxing, with seven fights. It’s a major event and the price is well worth it.”