Miller faces stiff Contender challenge from Canada's Cotroni

Jamaican Gregory Miller, faces an uphill battle tonight at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Old Hope Road in St Andrew, when he tackles

Canadian Francesco Cotroni over five rounds, in the preliminaries of the Wray & Nephew 2017 junior middleweight Contender boxing series.

Miller, who has had only one professional fight, is going up against a seasoned fighter, whose record is 11 wins, eight losses and a draw.

The Jamaican made his debut as a professional in the Contender series on March 25, 2015, against Barbadian Deryck Richmond. He was totally defensive in that bout, and lost by unanimous decision. Since then, he has migrated to Canada and has been training there. He told The Gleaner yesterday that he has had great coaching from trainers there, and said that he is ready to give a great performance.

Miller has been in hard training in Jamaica for the past few months, for this return to the series, and one can only wait to see whether this has prepared him well enough, for what will undoubtedly a stern test tonight.

Cotroni, who is from Montreal, was bubbling with excitement yesterday, and is entering the contest with the hope of taking the next step towards the title.

"I can't wait to get into the ring. Jamaica is nice and hot, unlike Montreal, where it is now 10 degrees. I am anxious to get into the ring and win this my first fight in the series. I plan to win this competition, so I have to beat anyone who comes into the ring to challenge me," Cotroni said in the build up to the fight.

AGGRESSIVE CONTENDER

Cotrini, who is seeded at No. 4 on the Canadian team, has a reputation of being an aggressive competitor, and has been a pro since 2011. He has won five of his

fights inside the distance and has himself been stopped four times. His last fight was on October 22, last year, when he lost to Paul Bzdel in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, by unanimous decision over 10 rounds.

This is the fifth week of the Contender series, and so far Jamaicans have won three times and Canada once. The winner of the series will receive $2 million, the runner-up $500,000, third place $250,000 and fourth $200,000.