Young Smith edges plucky Osbourne

Leroy Brown, Gleaner Writer

After six weeks of explosive action, last Wednesday's edition of the Wray and Nephew Contender boxing show at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium, produced the first fight to go the distance in the 15-week series, designed to produce the new middleweight boxing champion of Jamaica.

After six rounds of slick boxing, mixed with sometimes fierce infighting, Rikardo Smith, representing the Yellow Team, gained a majority decision over Anthony Osbourne of the Green Team. Judges Clifford Brown and Barrington Graham scored it 58-56 each for Smith, while judge Luke Irons had it 57-57. The Green Team now has a 4-3 lead in the series, going into the final fight of the preliminaries next Wednesday.

The MJK Productions promoted series, which is approved by the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control and is sponsored by J. Wray and Nephew, Claro and TVJ, has been providing a lot of explosive action for the fans who have turned out in large numbers each week. On Wednesday however, they were treated to the 'Sweet Science' side of boxing as both men mostly used their skills to earn points.

At the start, Smith, with his longer reach, started to throw jabs to the body and head, while the more conservative Osbourne, bided his time and looked for openings to throw his own jabs and hooks. The younger by 10 years, 25-year-old Smith, looked dominant in these early minutes and most people in the arena thought that he would have kept his promise to finish the fight early.

Going into the second round, however, Osbourne lifted his performance level and seized the initiative briefly. Smith, instead of staying on the outside, where he was more productive, decided to shift to in-fighting, and although he got the better of the exchanges, Osbourne also had his good moments.

Competitive

The third round was one of Osbourne's best and he actually shook Smith with a right hook that made him take notice. Both men paraded their boxing skills in this round which was close and competitive.

The fourth round was a good one for Smith as he used a judicious mix of long-range jabs and body punching to put pressure on his opponent. He seemed to be trying for a knockout, but the wily veteran nullified the attempt and ended the round confidently.

The fifth and sixth rounds were very competitive and it was apparent in the fifth that Smith would not have enough punching power to end the fight by way of a knockout. Osbourne in fact came out aggressively in the final round and was able to put Smith on the defensive a few times. This was one of Osbourne's best rounds and although he lost, he was able to hold his head high, having made it a very close encounter.