Moncriffe dedicates Contender KO win to mother

"This win is for my mother, who died recently and will be buried on Saturday. I am feeling great tonight, and the title is my goal," said a subdued but happy Devon 'Concrete' Moncriffe on Wednesday night after scoring an impressive fourth-round knockout victory over Waseem El-Sinawi in their Wray & Nephew Contender quarter-final bout. He is the first Jamaican to make it to the semi-finals. Last week, Team Canada's David Leblond took the first spot, with a victory over Donovan 'Police' Campbell.

Moncriffe, whose record is now 14 wins, eight losses and a draw, won the Contender title in 2013 as a middleweight (160 pounds) with a split decision over Tsetsi Davis. He fought a technically sound fight on Wednesday, elected to be the aggressor, and was dominant throughout. His preliminary bout on April 25 against Tyler Wilson also ended in the fourth round, but on that occasion, it was by technical knockout 39 seconds into the round. This one lasted a little longer as the knockout came at two minutes and 50 seconds.

MAKING WEIGHT

The maximum weight for this year's contest is 147 pounds, and Moncriffe took time out to speak about making weight for the fight and how some of his colleagues have struggled to do so. He pointed to the fact that when he started training for the series, he was close to 170 pounds. He said that it took discipline and hard work to take off the weight, and he was pleased.

"I am now walking around at less than 150. If you put your mind to it, you can do it, and I am feeling much better at this weight and think that I can win the title," he said. He also suggested that his colleagues who cannot make the weight limit "are not serious".

"You have to be disciplined," he said.

He was workmanlike from the start and kept moving forward from the opening bell. El-Sinawi had a four-and-a-half inch height and reach advantage, but by keeping close to him, Moncriffe nullified this advantage from the opening bell. El-Sinawi could not get his jabs going, and Moncriffe was able to get close, attack his body with hooks and jabs and threw in his well-known overhand rights to the head for good measure.

He constantly lured El-Sinawi into dropping his left hand and then made him pay the penalty for this mistake. El-Sinawi said after the fight that his left elbow hurt a lot after the first round, and this distracted him. He also failed to follow some of the instructions from his corner.

"I did not follow the instructions from my corner, and this cost me big," he said.

His trainer, Richard Phillips, was disappointed that his boxer "did not listen and did the wrong thing". "It cost him the fight", he said.

Cheered wildly by the large crowd, Moncriffe dropped his man twice in round four. El-Sinawi took the mandatory eight count after the first knock-down and seemed fine, but a solid right hook to the head shortly afterwards put him down and out for his third defeat in five professional fights.