Chopped down in 55 seconds!

American boxer DeMarcus 'Chop Chop' Corley is a man of few words, but his fists spoke loud and clear on Wednesday night at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium when he destroyed his Guyanese opponent, Revlon 'Lion Heart' Lake, in just 55 seconds of the first round, to move dramatically into the semi-finals of the Wray and Nephew Contender series.

The first semi-final will be on June 8 between Richard 'Frog' Holmes and Tsetsi Davis.

One space was left after three other quarter-final bouts, and Corley cemented his No. 1 ranking in the competition with a sensational victory over an opponent who was expected to give him a close fight. This was not to be, however.

The action started briskly, with both men throwing hard punches at each other. Southpaw Corley found the mark first with a straight left that shook his opponent, but Lake responded quickly with a one-two combination that was designed to send a message to Corley. Everything was pointing to a very exciting encounter at this stage of the fight when out of the blue, Corley landed a savage right hook to the head of his opponent, and down he went, to gasps of surprise from the large crowd.

Referee Owen Nelson started his count, and most people in the arena expected Lake to get back to his feet. He did not, however, move as the count continued, and when at the magic eight he still had not made a move to get back up, the realisation set in that the end was near.

LOOKING DEJECTED

The referee moved the count from eight to 10 and then signalled the end as Lake sat on the canvas looking dejected. He then pointed to his right ankle and said that it was hurting, and he was immediately given medical attention by Dr AndrÈ McDonald, the ringside physician.

His faculties seemed clear, but he indicated that he could not have resumed as he had twisted his ankle and it was hurting. Having been counted out, he resigned himself to the knockout defeat, while Corley celebrated quietly and indicated that he had merely "taken care of business".

"He threw a good combination and I responded with a right hook. It was a sweet shot and it took him out," he said afterwards. He then added, "I am ready to move on to the finals." His opponent in the semi-finals will be Michael 'The Wasp' Gardener, a talented Jamaican amateur, who made his debut as a professional in the competition on April 6 with a second-round knockout victory over American JosÈ Guzman. He then followed this up with a points victory over Ramel 'Sub Zero' Lewis on May 7 and is now ready to do battle with Corley on June 15.

Corley expressed confidence that he would be in the finals, while Gardener taunted him and stated that at age 41, he will not like getting into the ring with him. Corley acknowledged his age but pointed to his achievements. " Yes, I am 41, but any man who went 12 rounds with Floyd Mayweather must be doing something good," he pointed out and then stated confidently, " I will be ready."

In the two amateur bouts on the card, Sanjay Williams from Bruising gym scored a second-round technical knockout victory over Samuel Grant from Sugar Olympic gym, and Fabian Tucker from Sugar Olympic scored a unanimous decision over Seantonie Johnson from the St Thomas Boxing Club.