Yeyo, Salas seek last Contender semi spot

Nico Yeyo, representing Team Jamaica, and Ricardo Salas from Team Canada, will exchange punches tonight at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium on Old Hope Road in St. Andrew, for the last semi-final spot available in the Wray and Nephew Contender series. Fight time is 8.30 with two amateur bouts, and the main bout, which will be broadcast on TVJ, will be at 9.30.

Salas, who is a Mexican, but lives in Canada, goes into the fight with and impressive 8-1 record, and the fact that seven of his victories were inside the distance, indicates that he is a dangerous opponent. In his first bout here, he did not have much opposition from Sceantonie Johnson, who was making his professional debut. He was all over Johnson from the opening bell, and won by technical knockout when the referee stepped in and called the fight off, 50 seconds into round four, with Johnson under pressure and taking unanswered punches.

Salas, who does not speak any English, said then through an interpreter, that he was confident that he will be capable of winning the title and the top prize of $2-million, and he repeated this yesterday. Word from his camp is that he is in great shape, will fight as aggressively as he always does, and expects to make it into the semi-finals.

Jamaica's Nico Yeyo was also confident of victory, and said yesterday that he has trained hard, and is "ready for a tough fight". He believes, however, that his superior punching power will take him to the victory. In his preliminary bout on April 4 against Mayron Zeferino, he came out with blazing fists, and before Zeferino could settle down, he had him in trouble. His surprise attack, and hard punches to the head, threw Zeferino off his game plan, and the referee waived the fight off after only 25 seconds.

Yeyo, who has a record of two wins and one loss, would not divulge yesterday whether his tactics will be the same tonight, but stated emphatically: "I am coming to win. I have trained hard, I am feeling great, and I am ready. I really want this Contender title, and to do so I must beat everybody else. That is my plan.

The other three cash prizes are $500,000 for the runner-up, $250,000 for third place and $200,000 for fourth.

The boxers who have already claimed semi-final spots are Jamaicans Devon Moncriffe and Richard Holmes. Canadian David Leblond is the third semi-finalist.