Mullings finishes Sub Zero in third-round TKO

Sakima 'Mr Smooth' Mullings, the Wray & Nephew 2017 Contender champion, made light work of his opponent Ramel 'Sub Zero' Lewis last Saturday night, when he stopped him by technical knockout in the third round of a six-round bout that was the main event on a five-fight ProAm card at the Manchester High School in Mandeville.

Mullings, with a 23-3 record, went into the fight as the overwhelming favourite and showed from the start that he would be hard to beat. He was methodical, precise, and powerful, and although Lewis fought back gamely in rounds one and two, the devastating body attack that Mullings used against him proved to be too much.

Round One set the pattern for what was to come, as Mullings kept the action close and scored with power punches to both the head and body. He threw more jabs in the second round, as a setup for hooks to the body, and when he came out for the third round, it was obvious that he had a stoppage in mind.

Withstand the pressure

Mullings put more power behind his punches and it became obvious very quickly that, game as he was, Lewis would not be able to withstand the pressure. He did not, and a solid right hook to the body put Lewis on the canvas. Although he got to his feet, it was obvious that he was hurt, and referee Peter Richards called a halt after two minutes, signalling a win for Mullings.

Lewis said afterwards that the punch caused him to experience cramps. An elated Mullings saw this as a stepping stone to one more "big fight this year". Asked about this, he said that the man he badly wants to fight next is DeMarcus 'Chop Chop' Corley, also a former Contender champion.

Mullings said that negotiations are progressing, and the main stipulation is that for that fight, he has to go down to 140 pounds, because that is the heaviest weight at which Coley, who is smaller than him, will fight.

Very aggressive

In the other professional bout, Donovan 'Police' Campbell and Fabian Tucker fought to a draw over six rounds. The crowd on hand voiced their agreement with cheers when the announcement was made. Campbell was quick and threw a lot of punches, but Tucker, who recently joined the pro ranks, was very aggressive, and held his own. Judge Ransford Burton scored it 59-55 for Campbell, Lindell Allen had Tucker ahead 58-56, while judge Laurence Neuville scored it 57-57.

All the amateur bouts were exciting and saw Kymani Dennis winning by split decision over Marvin Shirley, Sanjay Williams edged Patrick Sahadeo, and Ian Darby had too much skill and power for young Ronaldo Beckford. There were two entertaining exhibition bouts, the first between Oshane Cleary, who was returning from a long layoff, and Omar Campbell. The other was a women's bout between Britney McFarlane and Faith Powell.