THE third instalment of the Wray & Nephew Contender Series promises yet another season of fever-pitch excitement.

Cecil Smith, marketing manager at Wray and Nephew, told the Jamaica Observer that fans should brace for a “very exciting” 2013 season, which sees a return to the middleweight class previously featured in the inaugural 2011 edition.

“We are happy and delighted to be sponsoring the Wray and Nephew Contender Series for a third time. Season three promises to be very exciting with 16 boxers — some old, some new and some from far-flung places — set to participate in the competition. We expect that they will put their talent on show and the best boxer will be left standing at the end.

“Expectations are high… Last year we did some post-Contender research and what came out of it is that we are highly favoured and the viewership is very large everywhere. We expect more people to tune in and also to go to their favourite community bars and support the brand that is bringing back boxing to the fore,” Smith said during yesterday’s launch at the Television Jamaica (TVJ) studios.

Promoted by Mark Kenny’s MJK Production, headlined by Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, and supported by associate sponsors Foska Oats and broadcaster TVJ, the Contender Series is a reality show which opens with 16 boxers battling in an elimination-style competition.

The Series, scheduled to start Wednesday, March 6 at 9:30 pm, is endorsed by the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control (JBBC), which helped to organise the participating gyms and boxers.

The 16 featured fighters are divided into two equal teams — labelled yellow and green — for the opening stage of the boxing challenge.

Thereafter, the team concept will be abandoned and the eight contenders who progress will be seeded to arrange the remaining clashes.

Andrew Boland is the coach of the yellow team, while Carl Grant leads the green-clad outfit.

The 2011 losing finalist Devon Moncriffe and the hard-hitting Tsetsi Davis — both in yellow — are expected to be among the main challengers this season.

Ramel Lewis, who lost the welterweight championship last year, steps up in class to feature this season.

Speaking to the Observer, Moncriffe accepted the tag of favourite given his experience on the local circuit, but added that he knows he will have to “fight hard” to claim the top prize.

“Right now … I gain a lot of experience and learned from my mistake, so I’m taking my confidence and experience to the ring. I learned a lot over the couple years since the Contender started.

“I see myself as a favourite because whole heap of people on the streets a give it to me. Mi nah look down on myself and mi just affi fight hard for my own,” Moncriffe said in plain Jamaican patois.

Secretary of the JBBC Leroy Brown explained that in the build-up to the competition, local gyms were notified to nominate qualified boxers. He added that notices were also sent throughout the Caribbean and North America.

The Jamaican-born pair of Richard Reittie and Alan Cann — both in the green corner — are two persons with close ties overseas who are featuring this year. Reittie, 34, lives in Toronto, Canada.

The 28-year-old Cann, who resided in Arizona, United States for 20 years, currently calls Mandeville his home.

Both fighters are seen as real threats to the local boxers.

The top prize will again be $1 million, while the runner-up will pocket $500,000, and the third and fourth-placed fighters will receive $250,000 and $200,000, respectively.

Rikardo Smith won the middleweight challenge in 2011, while Donovan Campbell topped the welterweight category last year.

The show has been a huge hit among live and television viewers and some argue that it has propelled boxing back into the spotlight.

Teams: Yellow –Tsetsi Davis, Devon Moncriffe, Glenroy Beckford, Kevin Hylton, Lloyd Smith, Dean Palmer, Jermaine Bowen, Lensworth McNaughton.

Green — Ramel Lewis, Derrick Spencer, Richard Holmes, Miguel Ray, Everton Eccleston, Marvin McKay, Richard Reittie, Alan Cann.