Devon Moncrieffe booked the final spot in the semi-final of the Wray & Nephew Contender Boxing Series 2013 with a unanimous decision over Richard Holmes at the Chinese Benevolent Association Auditorium on Wednesday night.

Moncrieffe, who won the first four rounds of the six-round eliminator and slowed the pace after mauling his opponent in the fourth, racked up identical scores on all three judges’ scorecards. Judges Keith Brown, Clifford Brown and Stephen Hodges scored the bout 59-55 for a unanimous decision win.

Following the judges’ decision which was announced by ring announcer Olive Hardie, Holmes stomped off and refused to give the usual immediate post-fight interview in front of the Wray & Nephew billboard in the auditorium. However, winner Moncrieffe was present and said that he felt good about the result: “I will have to continue to practise diligently in order to progress further.

“I felt good in tonight’s fight, but I am not lying, if I did not train hard I didn’t think I could have finished the fight as the boy stood up to me. This challenged me and I said to myself, no matter what, I am just going to work his body, so I started working his body and he started to go down. So I said to myself I will just have to continue to work the body, and it worked for me.”

Being ahead after four rounds, Moncrieffe said that he was advised by his trainer Andrew Boland to step back a bit, but keep focus for the next two rounds, as if “he (Holmes) did not knock me out he could not win the fight. So I followed the instructions and it paid off”. He also said that at no time was he hurt by Holmes, as the shots he threw “just grazed me, and my left hand in his face worked very well,” Moncrieffe explained.

In the two amateur three-round preliminary bouts, Jordan Hanson of the Tiger Gym outpointed Michael Gardener of Bruising Gym in an Open Class contest, while in the novice lightheavyweight second fight of the evening between Leon English and Romain Richards, referee Peter Richards stopped the fight one minute into the third round in favour of Romain Richards.