DEVON Moncrieff secured the final spot for the Yellow Team in the preliminary round of the Wray & Nephew Contender Boxing Series with a second-round knockout of Miguel Raye at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Wednesday night.

The win by Moncrieff brought the number of qualifiers to four each for both the Yellow and Green teams to move on to the next round of eight boxers.

The Green Team, prepared by Carl Grant of Bruising Gym, won the first four preliminary fights through Ramel ‘Sub Zero’ Lewis, Derrick ‘Guts’ Spencer, Richard Holmes, and Richard Reittie, while the Yellow Team, trained by Andrew Boland, secured their spots through Tsestsi Davis, Ricardo Planter, Kevin Hylton and Moncrieff.

The draw for the four top seeds of the eight fighters to move into the second stage of four fights will be announced shortly to move into next Wednesday night’s second stage.

Wednesday night’s fight, though it was as brief as the majority of the preliminary fights, it was by far the most entertaining of the elimination bouts which lived up to its billing. A full house turned out to witness how the carnivorous ‘Growling Dog’ Raye would meal deal a ‘Concrete and Steel’ Moncrieff.

As it turned out, there was more bark than bite, as Moncrieff ended the affair before Raye could find his range and connect with one of his power-packed round houses.

Raye did connect with a few of his punches, but in the after-show interview, Moncrieff said: “I was never troubled by his punches and wanted to carry on the fight a little longer, but when I looked and saw he did not have anything left, I just said to myself let me just finish it and done.”

Raye, meanwhile, said that he was not nervous in the ring up against Moncrieff, his more celebrated rival.

“I was just outclassed. It was like skipping class moving from one class to another before completing the one you were in before. But let it be known that I am not quitting boxing, (because) it is a sport I love, and when you see me again, it will be a different dog in the ring,” he said.

Raye, upbeat in defeat, said he was happy to play his part in providing an entertaining evening for the fans.

“I must thank the people for coming out and enjoying themselves. People need entertainment in boxing,” said the man who had 14 amateur fights with two defeats before entering his first pro-fight on Wednesday.

Now down to the final eight boxers, the winner will eventually pocket a cool $1,000,000 and the titles of Jamaica’s Ultimate Middleweight Boxer and the Wray & Nephew Contender. The runner-up will take home $500,000, third place $250,000 and fourth place $200,000.