KINGSTON, דזשאַמאַיקאַ (יולי 24, 2017) – Hall of Fame referee Steve Smoger and International judge Steve Weisfeld, arguably the top two worldwide in their respective positions, are both working דעם מיטוואך (יולי 26) championship final of the seventh annual Wray and Nephew Rum Contender Boxing Series, outdoors on the grounds of The Mico University College in Kingston, דזשאַמאַיקאַ.

Former Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) and Jamaican welterweight champion Sakina Mullings (22-3, 14 קאָס) נעמט אויף פיל “The Assassin” רויז (9-4-1, 5 קאָס) in the 10-round championship final.

Mullings’ most significant victory to date is a 12-round decision in 2013 איבער Howard Eastman (46-11), the former European champion and two-time world title challenger from Guyana. Mullings was born in Kingston and lives in Stoney Hill, דזשאַמאַיקאַ.

Fighting out of Whitby, אָנטאַריאָ, קאַנאַדע, Rose stopped two-time Canadian Olympian Adam Trupish (11-1) in the second round of their 2014 קאַמף, and last November he upset previously undefeated Ryan Young (10-0) with an opening round knockout.

Two Jamaicans battle it out in the consolation fight as ריטשארד “The Frog” Holmes (14-7, 8 קאָס) faces his fellow countryman Tsetsi Davis (18-6, 5 קאָס. The championship and consolation bouts are both scheduled for 10 ראָונדס.

The purse breakdown for the top four fighters is $2,000,000 ($15,623 USD) for the champion, $500,000 ($3905 USD) runner-up, $250,000 ($1953 USD) third place, און $200,000 ($1562 USD) fourth place.

די 2017 series originally pitted 16 professional boxers, featuring eight junior middleweights from each country, Team Jamaica vs. Team Canada, fighting in qualifying rounds leading up to מיטוואך ס championship final between. This is the first year Canada has competed in the tournament. ערשטע וועלט מייַסטער דעמאַרקוס “קאָטלעט קאָטלעט” קאָרליי, who hails from Washington D.C., was champion of last year’s tournament held in the United States.

Phil Rose & Tyler Buxton

“My fiancé is from Jamaica and I first went there looking to promote shows there,” האט Tyler Buxton (United Boxing Promotions), who has served as consultant to the television producer, in addition to being the promoter/manager for Team Canada. “I spoke to the Jamaica boxing commissioner and he told me about past Contender shows. He was concerned about the team fighting Team Jamaica being able to fill the eight-fighter field. I agreed to bring Team Canada and it’s been a great experience for me and all the guys.

“They flew in on a פרייַטיק, fought אויף מיטוואך, and flew back to Canada the following day. They stayed in a mansion, where there was a beautiful in-ground pool, and the fighters had their own cooks. They had to adjust to the heat having been used to fighting and training in Canada. אָבער, היי, they had no problems losing weight. Everybody here has been super nice. The Jamaican media wasn’t nice to us at the beginning, claiming we weren’t good enough to compete with Jamaican fighters, but we won the first round, 5-3, and then got some respect. Our fighters even have some Jamaican fans now.”

Unlike the original version of די קאַנטענדער אין די פאַרייניקטע שטאַטן, which was a reality television show, די “Jamaican Contender” is all about fighting, no behind the scenes stories. It has aired on JTV in Jamaica, drawing 800,000 viewers for the quarterfinals, 1-million for the semifinals, און 1.2 million viewers are projected for מיטוואך סchampionship final. These are incredible viewing numbers considering there are only 2.8 million people living in Jamaica. Fans outside of Jamaica may watch a live stream the championship final online via 1Stopmedia.com.

Jamaica has a rich boxing tradition, producing many world-class fighters and champions such as מייק מקקאַללום, Trevor Berbick, Donovan Ruddock, גלען זשאנסאן, Simon Brown, Nicholas Walters, O’Neil Bell, Uriah Grant, אַליסיאַ אַשלי, Alex Stewart און האָוואַרד שענקען. אין 1973, Kingston hosted the World Heavyweight Championship between a pair of future Hall of Famers, “גרויס” דזשארזש Foreman (37-0) און “Smokin'” Joe Frazier (29-0), in which Foreman captured the WBC and WBA titles from defending champion Frazier by way of a second-round knockout.