Ricardo Planter made a valiant attempt to give his well-supported Team Jamaica a 2-0 lead in the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Series, but went down to Team Canada’s number one seed Phil Rose by split decision at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Wednesday night.

After failing to fire the first salvo, Team Canada’s number one seed stepped forward and took the second round as Planter seemed to wilter. The third probably could have gone either way, but Rose landed some terrific shots which seemed to have taken the sting out of the legs of Planter and promptly took the fourth.

The fifth and final round was a watershed round for Planter, and after probably playing possum during the fourth, returned with fire in his eyes and fists to take the round to give himself a chance.

However, bar knocking out his opponent, his final effort was simply too little, too late.

Ring announcer Oliver Hardie announced in favour of the Canadian after judges Lindel Irons and Ransford Burton scored the bout 48-47 and 49-46, respectively, in favour of Rose, while Canadian judge Jeremy Hayes scored it 47-48 in favour of Planter.

But the knowledgeable boxing crowd had already conceded victory to the Canadian Rose. Rose is no “Sugar” Ray Robinson and is more of a Rocky Marciano type with an awkward approach to his craft. Rose’s strength lies with the use of physical strength with a great gushing thrust to force his opponents on the back foot — a ploy that could open scoring opportunities regularly to the head and body of a receding opponent.

Rose, however, promised in his post-match interview “to be in much better shape” for his other fights.

His team manager and coach, Jack Armour, was not impressed with the opening fight display from his fighter: “He stuck to the plan earlier, (but) he, however, got hit in the later rounds, but was able to come out of it and does have much more work to do in the gym to get back into his best shape.”

Planter, the Clarendon native, was convinced that he could have done better against Rose. “What cost me the fight is a bit of ring rust. I have not fought in two years, so it just showed me up against this guy.

“He (Rose) just defeated two-time Olympian Adam Trupish on March 1 and I was looking forward to seeing more from him. But that apart, this guy is very strong, albeit awkward,” said Planter.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Rose-blooms-as-Planter-withers-in-Contender-feature_95680

JAMAICA’S RICARDO Planter makes his third try for the Wray & Nephew Contender title when he takes on Canadian Phil rose, in the second contest of the 2017 junior middleweight series, which continues tonight at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium on Old Hope Road in St Andrew.

The action starts at 8:30 pm with two amateur bouts, followed by the main contest over five rounds at 9:30, which will be broadcasted live by Television Jamaica. Jamaica’s Sakima Mullings defeated Canada’s Winston Mathews on points in the first round of the competition.

Planter, who has a 6-8-2 record, will face a stiff challenge from an opponent who boasts a 6-4 record and said yesterday that his mission when he entered the series was to win the title and the $2-million.

“Two things fascinated me about the Contender series,” he told The Gleaner yesterday. “First in the prize money, which I can use, and second, the venue is Jamaica, the birthplace of my parents, Phillip and Claudette Rose. I was born in Canada, and I have never been to the place they call home, so this is great opportunity for me.

“In addition, I will have a lot of family from Red Hills cheering for me,” he added. “I have been reaching out to uncles and aunts and cousins since I came in over the weekend, and I know that they are anxious to see Pablo and Paulette’s son perform.”

Those are the names that his parents are known bu in his family circles, he volunteered.

‘UPBEAT’ STYLE

Describing his style as “upbeat”, he said that he never underestimates an opponent, and tries to fashion his tactics to what his opponent brings to the table. He said that he has looked at tapes of Planter in action, and has worked out a plan for victory with his trainer Don Nelson.

“I will take a good look at him in the first round and then take it from there,” he said. In his last fight in November, Rose stopped Ryan Young, who is on the Canadian team to Jamaica, in the first round.

“I am ready for action,” he declared.

Planter was in a subdued mood when he spoke with The Gleaner.

“I have worked hard for this contest as I want it to be my most successful. I have been there twice, and this time I am aiming for the final,” he stated.

Commenting on his opponent, he said that he has looked at tapes. “The first thing that struck me is that he is a big guy. He will give have size over me, but I will counter that with my speed,” Planter said.

This promises to be an evenly matched encounter, and there should be plenty of action from round one.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170412/planters-time-shine

Team Jamaica’s Ricardo Planter takes on Team Canada’s number one seed Phil Rose for the right to advance to round two and beyond in the Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Boxing Series extravaganza at the Chinese Benevolent Association in Kingston tonight.

Sixteen fighters — eight Jamaicans and eight Canadians will trade punches in four stages for the right to share the major share of a $3-million purse and the title of Jamaica’s Ultimate Junior Middleweight Contender in 15 fights.

Stages one and two of eight and four fights, respectively, will be fought over five rounds each. Stage three, which is the penultimate stage of the contest and the semi-final rounds, will be fought over seven rounds each, with 10 rounds set for the final round.

Today’s second-round kaleidoscopic packaging floor show will begin at 8:30 pm with two amateur fights over three rounds each. This will then be followed by a rib-tickling variety element for patrons 18 years and over laced with Wray & Nephew give aways, after which the day’s main event will begin approximately 9:45 pm.

Tonight’s fight between Planter and Rose is expected to be a keenly contested affair as both boxers enter the ring with similar ring records. While little is known of the preparedness of Rose, Planter will make his third entry into the Wray & Nephew Contender Series in the best shape he has been since his days of representing Jamaica as an amateur.

As a fighter among the professional ranks, Planter has an accumulative ring record of six wins, eight defeats and two draws from 16 pro fights. The number one-ranked Whitby native for Team Canada sports a ring record that shows from 11 fights, where he has won six (two knockouts), lost four with one draw.

Planter principally is no knockout specialist, but he is not a powderpuff either. The former national amateur champion, who has been boxing for 10 years, is entering the Contender for the third time with the fervent hope it will be a good one for him.

“In my few years of professional boxing, it has not all been smooth sailing. There have been ups and downs for me. I had some good times; I had some bad decisions against me and sometimes I thought that I was at fault for not persevering with planned matters to be acted upon,” Planter shared.

“With my performance in the Contender Series, I usually make it to the quarter-finals, but now [I have] received a tough draw in my third appearance. It is a challenge that I welcome. There is not much time remaining for me in the sport. I have therefore taken steps to try and win this fight and then move on to the second, then to see how I can go from there onward. This to me is a watershed fight where my career as a fighter is a concerned. I am in much better shape for this fight, as I had a fair amount of preparation overseas and my plan therefore is to see where that will take me,” said the 36-year-old Clarendon native.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Planter-faces-Rose-as-Contender-Series-continues_95414

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Port of Spain, 11 April 2017

#CPL17

Trinbago Knight Riders add Miraz to Hero CPL squad

Following the Hero Caribbean Premier League (CPL) Player Draft last month, there has been a change to the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) squad.

Australia’s Brad Hogg will no longer be available for the 2017 season. TKR have replaced Hogg with Bangladesh’s off-spinning all-rounder Mehidy Hasan Miraz, who will be making his tournament bow.

Miraz, 19, has played in seven Test matches and made his One-Day International (ODI) and T20i debuts in the recent series against Sri Lanka.

-ENDS-

For further information please contact:

Mobile: +353-85-7205752 (Ireland)
Skype: pbreen67

Wray and Nephew Contender Junior Middleweight favourite Sakima Mullings said his latest fight against Winston Matthews was a mismatch.

Mullings, who won the competition in 2014 as a Welterweight, won the opening bout of the contest last Wednesday against the Canadian, in a unanimous judges’ decision after five rounds

All three judges scored Mullings winning four of the five rounds and the boxer said that he felt he should be facing better opponents than Matthews.

Very durable

“Honestly, me having 22 fights under my belt, it’s definitely a mismatch. I shouldn’t be fighting a guy with only three fights. But (Matthews) is a tough guy, he’s very durable. I think that I caught him with some clean shots and he stood up to them.”

Meanwhile, Mullings has admitted he has been having trouble adjusting to his new weight.

“I wouldn’t call myself faded but it’s a learning process and it’s an adjustment process,” he said.

“It’s a new weight class for me. I’m fighting bigger, stronger guys, so I’ll go back, listen to my team, look at the tape and we’ll work on certain things and move forward from here. There’s always room for improvement.”

He said that although he was not worried about losing to Matthews, he is happy to have walked away without any injuries after advancing to round two, and now he is going into what he calls “down time” until it gets started.

“We’re coming off three months of work,” Mullings said. “So we’re gonna rest, recover and for the next match, we’re gonna watch a couple of the fights and then we’ll start training and getting fit. When we find out who we’re (he and his team) gonna fight, we’ll work on a game plan for them.”

Source: http://jamaica-star.com/article/sports/20170410/contender-fight-was-mismatch

The Digicel Foundation will partner with five infant schools in rural Jamaica and has outlined plans to give them all the support they need to achieve full certification from the Early Childhood Commission (ECC).

This certification process requires early childhood institutions (ECIs) to fulfil the criteria set under the ECC’s standards, which relate to health and safety (public health and fire safety reports and police records); and educational quality, including teacher qualification certificates.

To be fully certified, schools must also undergo an extensive inspection activity.

The Digicel Foundation’s action is in keeping with its history of strong support for programmes in education, having recently completed a four-year partnership for education enrichment with the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Information.

Speaking at the recent closing ceremony for the Enrichment Initiative Programme, State Minister in the education ministry Floyd Green lauded the Digicel Foundation for its continued impactful work with early childhood institutions.

BOOST TO GOV’T VISION

“The Digicel Foundation’s corporate social responsibility has been a boost to the Government’s vision of developing our children to their fullest potential, irrespective of their social and economic backgrounds,” said Green.

Mission Director for USAID Maura Barry Boyle also expressed delight at the impact of the collaborative effort of her organisation, the foundation and the education ministry on students.

“Together, we have successfully improved the early grade reading skills of hundreds of the island’s children. I commend the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information and the Digicel Foundation for their commitment to achieving a 100 per cent literacy rate for all Jamaicans,” said Boyle.

“The data we gathered from the project forced us to start rethinking our efforts towards ensuring that the important markers in the education sector are achieved,” noted Dane Richardson, CEO of the Digicel Foundation.

“That’s why we’re focusing on ECIs, starting with the schools we’ve selected, which are all located in rural Jamaica.”

The schools are New Works Primary and Infant School in Westmoreland, Upper Rock Spring All-Age and Infant School in Hanover, Pratville Infant Department in Manchester, Carisbrook Infant Department in St Elizabeth, and Cassava River Primary and Infant Department in St Catherine.

The ECC, which has regulatory responsibility for all early childhood institutions, will now work closely with the foundation to ensure these schools meet all the necessary standards.

FOSTERING BETTER LEARNING

Karlene Degrasse-Deslandes, executive director of the ECC, said: “We are happy to welcome yet another partner on this journey to improve our early-childhood sector and guarantee a better learning environment for our children.

“The commission is convinced that this level of commitment from Digicel Foundation will encourage other stakeholders in the private sector to provide support needed to raise the standard of education.”

Since 2009, the Digicel Foundation has been a committed partner in education, working with 231 primary schools across the island to improve literacy between grades one and three. To date, more than 100,000 students have been impacted and more than 250 teachers trained.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170409/digicel-foundation-pledges-help-five-rural-schools-achieve-full-ecc

Sakima “The Mauler” Mullings got the seventh staging of Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Boxing Series off on a successful note on opening night.

This was after carving a well-earned unanimous points decision over rock-tough Canadian bruiser Winston “The Punisher” Matthews before a massive and appreciative crowd at the Chinese Benevolent Association in Kingston on Wednesday night.

After a pulsating five rounds of heavy punching from both boxers, judges Keith Brown scored the bout 49-46, Lidell Irons 48-47 and Martin Dalida 49-46 to call it for Mullings. It was a decision that was greeted with tumultuous shouts of approval by the record attendance crowd on an opening night.

Matthews did not stay around for additional interviews following the mandatory interviews for the sponsors. This probably can be ascribed to his failing to get the decision of a fight he thought he might have won. But win or lose, he has everything to be proud of. For, despite his inexperience (three fights with one win and no loss) against the 21-19-1-0 Mullings, he managed to use his ruggedness and awkward stance to fend off many a Mullings attacks. And he himself nailed Mullings with a few good shots, especially to the face. These were attacks that the wily Mullings shrugged off as they were far too sporadic to cause the Team Jamaica number one to back up.

His coach, Jack Armour, in his post fight interview, said: “It was a great fight. It was lots of talent from both guys. I thought Sakima was shoe shining for the first two rounds, and I thought we won those two rounds quite easily and needed only to win one of the last three rounds and I thought that we accomplished that.”

Asked what he believed Matthews should have done to win the fight, Armour said: “Man I do not know what to say to you; I just thought he fought a great fight. I thought he stayed in the park as he needed to….I thought he traded with him. I thought he was able to outbox him staying on the outside and not get hit by him. I thought it was the crowd.”

Armour expressed the view that the judges were seemingly “influenced by the crowd”, as when Mullings threw a punch and it hit thin air the crowd reacted as though they really connected.

Mullings, for his part, was not disappointed with his winning result, but admitted: “I did not carry out my intended plans going into the fight. The plan going into the fight was to run over him (Matthews) like a DC cane truck. But my opponent proved to be durable, strong. I thought that I caught him with a few clean shots, but he is a durable, tough guy.”

Asked about his showboating, Mullings said: “My opponent was showboating, so I demonstrated to him that I can also showboat… Tonight I did not do too much boxing. I allowed my opponent to be the aggressor and then I would counterpunch. My opponent is a very strong guy and a heavy puncher, so I had to buckle down and be brave enough to stay the course,” Mullings said.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sport/Mullings-off-the-mark-with-unanimous-win——-_94907

Wray and Nephew Contender junior middleweight favourite Sakima Mullings says that he needs some time to adjust to his change in weight class.

Mullings, who won the competition in 2014 as a welterweight, won the opening bout of the contest last Wednesday against Canadian Winston Matthews in a unanimous judges’ decision after five rounds, but seemed to have suffered fatigue after the third.

He said that the reason for this was that he was not only adjusting to his new weight, but also facing heavier-hitting boxers.

“I wouldn’t call myself faded, but it’s a learning process and it’s an adjustment process,” he said. “It’s a new weight class for me. I’m fighting bigger, stronger guys, so I’ll go back, listen to my team, look at the tape and we’ll work on certain things and move forward from here. There’s always room for improvement.”

He added that the plan this season is to be hard-hitting versus his opponents in each round.

“The game plan is to run over everybody like a DCK truck. Big truck series, we running over everything,” he joked.

Mullings, who all three judges scored winning four of the five rounds, said that he felt he should be facing better opponents than Matthews.

“Yeah, definitely (it was a mismatch),” he said. “Honestly, me having 22 fights under my belt, it’s definitely a mismatch. I shouldn’t be fighting a guy with only three fights. But my opponent (Matthews) is a tough guy. He’s very durable. I think that I caught him with some clean shots and he stood up to them.”

HAPPY TO BE INJURY FREE

He said that although he was not worried about losing to Matthews, he was happy to have walked away without any injuries after advancing to round two, and now he is going into what he calls “downtime” until it gets started.

“We’re coming off three months of work,” Mullings said, “so we’re gonna rest, recover and, for the next match, we’re gonna watch a couple of the fights and then we’ll start training and getting fit. When we find out who we’re (he and his team) gonna fight, we’ll work on a game plan for them.”

Mullings will not know his next opponent until the completion of round one of the contest on May 24.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170410/mullings-adjusting-new-weight-class