Davis injured, Contender semi-final postponed

An upper-body injury suffered by pre-tournament favourite Tsetsi Davis has forced the postponement of his highly anticipated Contender semi-final clash with Richard 'Frog' Holmes tomorrow night.

Davis, who lost last year's final to Sakima Mullings but is favoured to win it all this season, suffered the injury in training yesterday and was immediately rushed to the doctor, who said he would not be ready to fight for at least a couple of weeks. This is the third straight year that Davis has advanced to the semi-finals on the popular boxing reality series aired on Television Jamaica each Wednesday night.

Davis defeated Guyana's Howard Eastman to advance to this year's semis.

Contender promoter/producer Mark Kenny, who confirmed news of the injury, said organisers were in discussions about how to handle the postponement.

"We can confirm that, but we are working out a contingency to have the show postponed for a week or so," he said.

Meanwhile, Davis is said to be very disappointed about the unexpected setback. His advisor, Larry McGhie, who also doubles as the boxer's assistant trainer, said Davis was apologetic to his many fans, but highlighted that injuries are a part of the game.

setback

"He is in the best shape of his life. The team has been working well together. Tsetsi is being conditioned by Marlon Gayle, the conditioning coach at G.C. Foster College, head trainer Wayne Sharpe and me, and he has been sparring well with Donovan Ruddock Jr and others," he said.

"It is somewhat of a setback because you get sharp and ready to go, but because of the injury, we won't even be able to spar, so we are disappointed at not being able to fight on Wednesday night."

Davis is the second 'Contender' semi-finalist to have suffered an injury in recent days as Kehmal Russell, who is to fight Devon Moncrieffe next week Wednesday, was reportedly bitten by a Pitbull while out jogging. Kenny said, however, that that semi-final will go ahead as planned.

"The bite wasn't that bad," he explained.