Free 30 day PlayGo subscription means fans across the Caribbean can get the action live and direct on SportsMax while on the go on any device

Castries, St. Lucia – Wednesday, June 7, 2017: As Usain Bolt prepares for his final race on home soil at the upcoming Racers Grand Prix, long-time sponsor, Digicel, has announced that it will be paying homage to the sprint king with a big celebration following the historic race dubbed, “Salute to a Legend” at the National Stadium in Jamaica on Saturday 10^th June, 2017.

And while tickets to the event itself are going like ‘hot bread’, Digicel is ensuring that Bolt’s fans across the region will also be able to get a front row stadium view of his final home run in live and living colour on SportsMax – the Caribbean’s #1 sports channel – via PlayGo, Digicel’s streaming app. And making it even more unmissable, Digicel is offering everyone who downloads the app a 30 day PlayGo subscription for free. Digicel Play TV customers can also tune in the SportsMax channel on their TV to watch the Grand Prix.

“Usain’s accomplishments are nothing short of extraordinary and we are always delighted to leverage our platforms to give his fans the opportunity to watch him in action. Now with PlayGo, people who are unable to attend the Grand Prix can still join in the celebrations,” said Peter Lloyd, Digicel Group Director of Marketing.

The celebrations will be nothing short of spectacular with electrifying performances from the likes of Beenie Man, Ding Dong, Tifa and I Octane who will be taking the stage immediately following the 100 metres race at 10:10pm.

Digicel’s Chief Speed Officer, Usain Bolt, said; “I’m really looking forward to closing out my final race here in front of some of my biggest fans – it’s going to be epic. I’m generally not an emotional person, but I might shed a tear. I mean, this is where it all began for me so I’m definitely looking forward to putting on a show.”

He continued; “I would also like to tell my fans in Jamaica and all over the world, who have supported me over the years – not to mention the amazing reception received in every country – thank you. I love you all.”

PlayGo can be downloaded for free by anyone at the Google Play Store and iTunes Store for Android and iOS users respectively, or atwww.digicelplaygo.com for laptops. The streaming service is available in Anguilla, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Curacao, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts, St. Vincent, Turks and Caicos Islands and in Trinidad and Tobago.

*Available via SportsMax to all Digicel Play TV customers excluding Jamaica.

-END-

About Digicel Group

Digicel Group is a total communications and entertainment provider with operations in 31 markets throughout the Caribbean, Central America and Asia Pacific. Digicel also runs a host of community-based initiatives across its markets, including Digicel Foundations in Haiti, Jamaica, Papua New Guinea and Trinidad and Tobago which focus on educational, cultural and social development programs.

Visit www.digicelgroup.com for more information.

Two Canadians, 34 year-old Phil Rose and 23 year-old David Leblond, will battle each other for semi-final places in the 2017 Wray and Nephew 2017 Junior middleweight Contender series tonight, at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium, Old Hope Road St. Andrew. The programme starts at 8.30 p.m. with two amateur bouts, and the main bout over five rounds, will follow at 9.30.

It will be third appearance in the show for Leblond. He lost his first fight to Tsetsi Davis by split decision on April 19, but got a second chance when another fighter dropped out because of illness. He defeated Jamaican Nico Yeyo again by split decision on May 10, and this has earned him the right to a quarter- final spot . Rose won his preliminary bout against Ricardo Planter on April 12.

Tonight’s fight promises to be another close and action-packed encounter. Rose, who has a 7-4-1 record, is one of the top-rated Canadians, and said from the outset of the competition, that his plan was first to make the finals of the competition, and then to emerge the champion. His fight against Planter was a roller- coaster ride, but he managed to exert enough pressure on his opponent to get the decision of the judges.

He said yesterday, that despite the fact that Leblond has had only three professional fights for a 2-1 record, he is taking him very seriously. “I never underestimate

an opponent, and I regard Leblond to be a dangerous competitor. He has fought very well so far, and I expect another good fight from him tonight.

We have worked out a game plan to win tonight, and all I have to do now is execute.”

He will also have his own Jamaican cheering section tonight, as his parents are Jamaican, and as in his first bout, a sizable delegation of family and friends will be on

hard to cheer him on. “Having family on hand is a blessing” he said, and this will be added incentive for him to win tonight.

When asked about the fact that he is going up against another Canadian instead of a Jamaican, he said that it did not matter. “I have been fighting Canadians all along, so it does not matter, and whoever is in my way to the title will have to go, in this case it is Leblond”.

Leblond, who only speaks French, said through his trainer Patrice Trudeau, that he has been enjoying the competition so far, and is happy that he is still on track to take the top prize of $2-million. He has been training hard for the fight and is in much better condition than when he fought Davis.

” I am working hard and fighting better, and my plan is to win this fight and move to the semis,” he added.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170607/two-canadians-contender-clash

Two Canadian boxers will clash for one of the three remaining places in the semi-final round of the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender boxing championship today, on a three-fight card at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium beginning at 8:30 pm.

Phil Rose, the Team Canada number one seed, will clash with his unseeded teammate Dave Leblond over five rounds, to earn the right to move into the semi-final round there to join Jamaica number one seed Sakima Mullings, who book the first semi-final spot by outpointing Canadian Larone Whye a week ago.

This encounter should not produce much fireworks for Rose, but the Canadian number one should still have his hands full to see off Leblond who, since his reprieve, has buckled down to some serious preparation with his Jamaican trainer Joseph Harrison who thinks he “is in good shape — enough to give a good account of himself”.

In the preliminary round, LeBlond lost a close decision to Tsetsi Davis, the Team Jamaica number three seed. He later got a reprieve and returned to the Contender series after teammate John Ryan Wagner withdrew. Leblond returned to take out Nico Yeyo, the Team Jamaica debutant, over five rounds, and will return tonight much improved.

Rose had a somewhat easy passage into this stage of the contest after easily outpointing Ricardo Planter 2-1, one of the fittest boxers in the opening stages — but his fellow Canadian may not be that generous and he will have to earn the win.

One of the two amateur fights will open the programme at 8:30 pm.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/canadians-rose-leblond-clash-in-contender-series_101146?profile=1498

Sakima ‘The Mauler’ Mullings has said that his win over Canadian Larone ‘Jet’ Whyte in the Wray and Nephew Contender Series on Wednesday night shows that he is Jamaica’s best-conditioned boxer.

Mullings, who many see as Jamaica’s best chance of winning this year, secured a split judges’ decision win to advance to the semi-final of the competition. This was with a performance that made spectators at the Chinese Benevolent Association Auditorium, which was filled to capacity, stay back after the bout to cheer and sing the Jamaican national anthem.

“Listen! Sakima Mullings is the most supreme conditioned boxer in Jamaica, no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” Mullings said.

Mullings was dominant in the first two rounds, attacking from the first bell, blocking and countering for most of Whyte’s shots, while offering combinations of his own. He said that his strategy was to stay away from the ropes and keep Whyte in the centre of the ring.

“We know that he’s (Whyte) slick. He’s tough and he’s short on the inside,” Mullings said. “We saw that he would be able to get off short, clean shots on the inside with Devon Moncrieffe (Whyte’s previous opponent), and he punched a combination on the inside, but that’s Devon Moncrieffe, so we wanted to keep him in the centre.”

Showing Resilience

Whyte, however, showed resilience throughout and battled hard in the third and fourth rounds to make the contest close. Mullings stamped his authority on the bout once more in the fifth round and did well to nullify Whyte, who was looking for the right moment to throw an uppercut, which his corner had been calling for. Whyte said that he fought a good fight but said that he could and should have done more in the five rounds.

“I did good, but I had more,” he said. “I was just trying to box and clip with some clip shots, but I should’ve made it a rougher, tougher fight and bring him to the deep waters, but I was trying to look clean and box with him a little bit. I shoulda’ took it to him.”

He said that Mullings was one of the harder opponents he had faced in his career and he hopes that the two can have a rematch some day.

Mullings said that his coaching team had told him not to play around like he said he did in the first stage against Winston Matthews, and although he was not specifically looking to knock out Whyte, he was waiting for the right opportunity.

“He’s a tough opponent, but I was able to squeeze it (the win) out because of my experience,” Mullings said. “My team sat me down and talked to me about the clowning and the showboating. We wanted to lead from the beginning. We didn’t want to play catch-up. If the knockout was there, we were going to take it, but we weren’t going to force it.

Mullings’ record now moves to 21 wins (14 knockouts), 3 losses, and 0 draws, while Whyte’s now stands at 3 wins (2 knockouts) and 1 loss.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170604/im-jamaicas-best-conditioned-boxer-mullings

Member of Parliament for West Portland Daryl Vaz has added his voice to those endorsing Food For The Poor (FFP) in the wake of the recent controversy surrounding the building of houses by the charity.

Vaz, who is the Cabinet minister charged with negotiating a new contract with FFP based on a directive from Prime Minister Andrew Holness, last week told our news team that he felt compelled to add his voice to the issue based on the work the charity has done in his constituency.

“I can say categorically that the people of Portland love FFP as an organisation because of the wide-ranging help we have got.

“I have seen them go from one bedroom to two bedrooms, so you can see where improvements have been made over time. As a matter of fact, Food For The Poor has gone from just doing houses in my constituency to over time making improvements with sewage, water tanks, furniture and appliances, as well as building the foundations of the houses,” declared Vaz.

He said his relationship with FFP started in 2007 when he became member of parliament, and he has since worked closely with the non-profit organisation to provide housing solutions, among other things, for members of his constituency.

518 Applications

Vaz said between 2007 and June 2017 he submitted 518 applications for housing assistance to Food For The Poor, with 58 housing units having been built while an additional 49 requests have been accepted and are to be built.

According to Vaz, during the 10-year span, 36 fire victims have also been helped, with an additional 98 units constructed following the passing of Hurricane Sandy in 2008.

“Many may ask how have I been so successful, and many would even say it’s because of my position as minister previously or now. It has nothing to do with that,” said Vaz.

“The bottom line is that you have 630 houses that are approved separate and apart from fire and emergency situations, and all I do is put myself in the position that if any other constituency has not qualified for the 10 houses per month I benefit.

“It is not easy to have the documentation and everything in a position where it’s there waiting because you constantly have to be supplying more info. So what I have done is employ somebody full-time in my constituency office to do nothing else but to deal with the applications.”

Under the existing five-year joint venture agreement between FFP and the Government, which expires in August, the charity is to build 1,200 two-bedroom wooden houses per year, which is given free of cost to the poor across the island.

At present, the cost of US$6,400 to deliver a unit is split evenly between both parties.

But FFP’s work in West Portland goes way beyond just providing housing solutions, as it has also helped in sports and youth development, agriculture, disaster relief and welfare and education.

Vaz said FFP has also partnered with various foundations to build five early childhood institutions across his constituency.

“I hope that my own shared experiences will assist other MPs, new and old, of some of the partnerships that can be forged with Food For The Poor,” said Vaz.

“The most important thing is that dialogue takes care of a lot of issues, and the bottom line is all that is required now is MPs to have closer dialogue to iron out whatever misunderstandings and to forge a relationship (with FFP) going forward,” added Vaz.

ryon.jones@gleanerjm.com

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20170604/food-poor-valuable-vaz-mp-says-work-done-charity-west-portland-priceless

Team Canada’s promoter Tyler Buxton has said that he would definitely love to promote a fight night featuring two rematches from this season’s Contender Series.

Following the controversial ending to week three’s bout, Canadian Dave Leblond has been calling for a rematch with Tsetsi Davis and said he would be open to it whether in a latter round of the competition or later this year.

Tougher opponents

Larone Whyte, who lost to Sakima Davis on Wednesday, described him as one of the tougher opponents he has faced in his career and said he would love to step inside the ring with him again very soon.

Buxton told STAR Sports that he is very much open to the idea of setting up an event, if both matches do not take place in the tournament.

“I think either Mullings versus Winston (Matthews, who Mullings beat in week one) or Mullings versus Whyte or Mullings versus both of them is a good idea,” he said.

“They both kind of did very very good against the guy who’s supposed to be number one (Mullings).

“Obviously Tsetsi Davis and Leblond is the one that the whole country’s talking about, so that one’s gotta get done for sure,” he added.

Buxton said he has plans of staging regular events in Jamaica, starting later this year and this strikes him as a very marketable idea, as he said he believes boxing is a well supported sport locally.

“The Contender ends in July, so it depends on how far the guys make it, how much of a break they need, so maybe as early as September or October,” he said.

“The Jamaican crowd’s seen the fight, they know the fight. The people in Quebec and in Canada have seen it but the media hasn’t talked about it as much as the Jamaican media. If there’s a Canadian judge, a Jamaican judge and say, maybe an American judge, and maybe grab an American referee, then the playing field’s level all the way around. So I think that’s what we should do and that’s what one of my first events down there should be. I’ll call it ‘The Rematches.’

Source: http://jamaica-star.com/article/sports/20170603/buxton-open-contender-rematches

Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum has boosted the platform for Jamaican boxers to compete at the regional level by donating an additional $2 million to the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control (JBBC) for the development of boxing in Jamaica. This donation adds to millions the brand has invested in the Wray & Nephew Contender series, which is now in its seventh year.

The $2 million was officially handed over by executives of Wray & Nephew at Usain Bolt’s Tracks & Records in St Andrew during the launch of ‘Wray & Nephew Fight Night in the City’, a series of community boxing events sanctioned by the JBBC, which is being held in the island. The first event took place on Saturday, May 27, at Barbican Beach in St Andrew, where six Jamaican boxers faced off against six boxers from Panama.

After the handover, Pietro Gramegna, marketing manager, J. Wray & Nephew Limited, said that the company was pleased with the results from investing in the development of boxing in Jamaica, especially with regard to the Wray & Nephew Contender, and the decision to donate $2 million was done without hesitation.

NATURAL TALENT

“Jamaicans have a natural innate talent and love for sports, which includes boxing. This is evident through the weekly support of the Wray & Nephew Contender series, whether in support at the Chinese Benevolent Association or by watching the broadcast live on TVJ. Boxing is part of ‘Our Spirit’ and for that, we made the decision to invest more into the sport as it will allow our local boxers to be able to make their names known, not only locally, but internationally,” said Gramegna.

Stephen Jones, president, JBBC, expressed gratitude for Wray & Nephew’s continuous support of boxing in Jamaica.

“Wray & Nephew’s sponsorship is a blessing for boxing. I think not only on a boxing level, but how Wray & Nephew as a brand operates in Jamaica, and it being part of our country’s culture, it goes hand-in-hand with boxing. I think the synergy is very, very good. I think we’re very fortunate to have them sign on again,” said Jones.

He said that since the donation was made, eight amateur boxers from Jamaica and Panama have benefitted when they faced off in the first ‘Wray & Nephew Fight Night in the City’ event. These boxers were Marvin Shea, Sanjay Williams, Janathan Hanson and Ricardo Brown from Jamaica; and Jhonathan Miniel, Leonel Gutterrez, Luis Hern·ndez, and Ronaldo Bermudez from Panama.

At the end of these four amateur bouts, Williams, Hanson, and Brown from Jamaica were announced winners along with Panama’s Miniel. The 3-1 victory will send the country’s amateur contingent off to the World Championship Box-Off in Honduras next month with high anticipation.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170603/wray-nephew-pumps-2-million-community-boxing

Team Jamaica’s Sakima Mullings defeated Team Canada’s Larone Whyte by split decision to move into the semi-finals of the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Boxing Series at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium on Wednesday night.

Mullings, who entered the Junior Middleweight contest at a weight of 153 lbs against a bigger Whyte at 155 1/2 lbs, was never at any stage of the fight looked in danger of losing the contest. Howerver, he was made to work for every point from the rookie Whyte from the opening bell.

It was an excitement that the nearly full house enjoyed as at no time in the fight did the less experienced Whyte backed away from the combustion — displaying confidence and alertness against the vastly more experienced and accomplished Mullings.

But the Mullings had the measure of him and came away from the five-round clincher with an unflustering split-decision. Judges Lindell Allen and Ransford Burton scored the bout 49-46 and 48-47, respectively, in favour of Mullings. Canadian judge Brian Beauchamp saw it 48-47 for Whyte.

Following the conclusion of this four-fight quarter-final rounds there are still another two seven rounders before reaching the final over which the finalists will clash over 10 rounds to lift the Wray and Nephew White Overproof Rum Jamaica Junior Middleweight Contender title with the major share of $3 million going to the ultimate champion..

“Tough fight (and a) slippery opponent, but I thought that I was the better man tonight (Wednesday night) and did enough to win the fight,” said Mullings.

Asked how he felt about not getting the nod from of all three judges. A smiling Mullings replied: “Judging is subjective. Whyte is his countryman (Brian Beauchamp) and he may just see things a little different in his favour (Whyte’s),” said Mullings.

Whyte, meantime, is happy with his performance.

“To tell the truth I thought that I did well. I started to box and got some good shots in, but I should have made it a rougher, tougher fight. The thing is going into the semi-final round I wanted to look cleaner up there, but I should have taken it to him,” he said.

The under-card amateur bouts threw up surprising results as Patrick Sahadeo of the JDF Gym surprised Ricardo Carter of Dreamscape Gym by the split decision route, while a fit looking Ricardo Beckford of the Oracabessa Gym got the better of Carlton Reid of St Thomas Gym in a Light Middleweight contest.

Source: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/mullings-moves-into-contender-semis-with-split-decision-over-whyte_100674?profile=1511

Sakima Mullings, the No. 1 seeded boxer in the Wray & Nephew 2017 Contender series, booked himself a spot in the semi-finals of the competition last Wednesday night with a hard-earned victory over Canadian Larone Whyte at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium on Old Hope Road in St Andrew.

He is now into the money round of the competition, which will pay $2 million to the winner, $500,000 to the runner-up, $250,000 for the boxer who finishes third, and $200,000 for the fourth-place finisher.

After five bruising rounds, which had spectators cheering wildly for the entire time, judge Lindell Allen 49-46 and judge Ransford Burton 48-47 voted for Mullings while judge Brian Beauchamp voted 48-47 for Whyte.

“I gave myself four rounds. I thought that I won fair and square, but so it goes,” said Whyte.

SLOW STARTER

Whyte had shown in his fight with Moncriffe that he is a slow starter. He lost the first two rounds that night, but came back to win the next three. He tried to emulate that feat on Wednesday, but just fell short of his goal. He, again, lost the first two rounds on the scorecards of the judges, but they differed regarding who won the next three and he lost by split decision.

The atmosphere in the auditorium was electric as both men entered the ring, Mullings behind the Jamaican flag, and Whyte with both the Jamaican and Canadian flags, because he has Jamaican parents.

Mullings started quickly, and with jabs and hooks to the body and head, he kept one step ahead of Whyte all the way.

Whyte found his bearings in the third and made things much more competitive, as he and Mullings entered into a battle of attrition.

Mullings said afterwards: “He would not make me rest and I would not make him rest. It was tough going.”

In the fourth round, the pace started to tell on Mullings and he looked to be a bit winded. He switched tactics then – from torrid in-fighting to slick boxing. This gave him some respite, but he still knew that he was in the fight of his life. At the end of the contest, the crowd roared in appreciation and both men paid their respects to each other.

Source: http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/sports/20170602/mullings-books-contender-semi-final-spot

Co-Chair of the Economic Programme Oversight Committee (EPOC) Keith Duncan has expressed confidence that the Bank of Jamaica’s planned multiple-priced foreign exchange (FX) auction will create more efficiency in forex market transactions.

The Government of Jamaica, with a view to creating exchange rate flexibility, has signed off on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recommendation to introduce a forex auction to smooth excessive currency market volatility.

The move, the IMF says, is an important component to successfully move to inflation targeting, which is aimed at sustaining Jamaica’s monetary and financial resilience. To further strengthen FX markets through greater price discovery and transparency, the Bank of Jamaica will gradually phase out the use of surrender requirements and instead establish multiple-price FX auctions, this month, as a market-based exchange rate pricing mechanism for BOJ buying and selling.

The central bank says it is working to further improve high-frequency forecasting of FX flows from corporates, banks, exchange houses, and securities dealers, as well as improved monitoring of the banks’ net open FX positions.

“Right now with the BOJ there is what you call the 25 per cent surrender requirements of what you trade on the market to the BOJ. Now they want to move away from that and have the BOJ buying and selling in the market to build their reserves to supply the market when there is a short in foreign exchange. So they are moving away from reserved requirement into a more efficient market mechanism,” Duncan told media representation during the second quarterly review of the 3-year IMF Precautionary Stand-by Arrangement.

He anticipates that the FX auction will resemble a treasury bill auction, but noted that the term ‘auction’ is not resonating well with the people of Jamaica.

“In the same way we have a treasury bill auction, you have auctions for a GOJ debt. It’s the same kind of mechanism that is going to take place. I believe that it will and it can work; it will be more efficient, it’s how it’s introduced,” he said.

“I think there is a lot of baggage coming from the 1980s in relation to auction but we do have treasury bill auctions which are quite efficient, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do so with the FX,” he reasoned.

But CEO of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Dennis Chung raised concerns about the reintroduction of an auction system in Jamaica.

The background noise was that the country might revert to the 1980s when the Seaga administration settled on an auction arrangement, which was intended to ensure stability and the facilitation of economic growth — but instead enabled a forex black market and was used against large foreign-exchange users to keep them out of the market.

Duncan has, however, assured that private sector bodies are in consultation with the working committee from the industry on how to move forward.

He added that since the implementation date is June, the public should soon be informed of how the system will operate.

“I know there are consultations, there was a meeting and I think people are warming up to it, it’s a change in how the BOJ will interact with the market but I believe its somewhere that we need to go for a more efficient market,” he said.

Source: http://301-joweb.newscyclecloud.com/business-report/duncan-confident-about-fx-auction_100540?profile=1056