Kestna Davis tames 'Iron Dawg' Raye

A mixed reception greeted the outcome of the super-middleweight bout last Saturday night, at the Alpart Sports Club in St Elizabeth, between promising middleweight boxer Kestna Davis and boxer-comedian Miguel 'Iron Dawg' Raye. Their six-round bout was the feature attraction on a six-fight ProAM card, promoted by Creative Sports and I-Fight Promotions in collaboration with the Jamaica Boxing Board, that was dubbed 'Wray and Nephew Fight Night'.

Davis won by unanimous decision, as judges Lindell Allen, 60-54; Ransford Burton, 59-55; and Eion Jardine, 60-50; gave him victory by a wide margin. The antics that came from Raye, his lack of boxing skills and the failure of Davis to end the fight early as he had promised, led to a spirited debate after the fight ended, and there is every indication that it will continue.

There were two professional bouts on the card, and in the other six-rounder, the judges had Toriano Nicholas defeating Doran Weir by unanimous decision, 60-54.

WAR OF WORDS

There was a war of words before the fight, and Davis stated publicly that it would not go the distance. He tried to knock out his opponent, but Raye used fair and foul means to frustrate him. He clinched, chatted, used his head as part of attack, and drew several cautions from referee Peter Richards. In the end, Davis was relieved when the fight ended, and said he had become frustrated by his opponent's behaviour. He conceded, however, that he had learnt a lot from the fight. "Iron Dawg is very unorthodox and did not give me room to fight. My tactics were also bad, as I should have stayed outside and attack his body. Anyhow, I did not do this and he went six rounds. I learnt a lot, however, and will be better next time around," he conceded.

Raye was not too sure what he would do in the future. "I am not sure if I am going to continue to fight," he said. "His height and reach gave him the advantage, and I accept the decision of the judges. I am not sure if I am going to continue boxing. I may go into singing," he confessed.

In a very predictable fight, Nicholas easily won every round against Weir, and near the end, some spectators called out the boxers and told them, "You are boring. Fight."

In the amateur section of the programme, Jamaica and Guyana won two bouts each to square their series after four very entertaining and action-packed contests that gave spectators their money's worth. Jamaica won the first bout when bantamweight Marvin Shea defeated Claremont Gibson on points. Joel Williamson came back aggressively after being floored in the first round to score a second-round technical knockout victory over Jamaica's Ricardo Carter in a lightweight contest.

Colin Lewis had too much speed and punching power for Jamaica's junior welterweight boxer Patrick Sahadeo, and put his team in the lead 2-1, but middleweight Ian Darby salvaged some pride for Jamaica, by outpunching his rival Desmond Amsterdam for a win on points.