Billed as the most explosive fight of the Contender season, Richard ‘Frog’ Holmes, as the up-and-coming nutcracker from Stony Hill, battles the battle-hardened former quadruple world champion Demarcus ‘Chop Chop’ Corley on a stellar professional, three-card programme for the Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Boxing Series welterweight title at the National Indoor Sports Centre tonight.

Twenty-two rounds of competitive professional boxing are carded, with the main bout between Holmes and Corley being fought over 10 rounds and is scheduled to begin at approximately 9:30 pm.

Before this, two high profile preliminary fights will open the programme with last year’s Contender winner in the middleweight division, Kemahl ‘Hitman’ Russell entering the ring against Denny Dalton of Guyana in a middleweight contest over six rounds that will open the fight card at 8:00 pm.

At 8:40 pm, Michael ‘Sugar Ray’ Gardner, losing semi-finalist to Corley in this year’s Contender Series, will battle another Guyanese fighter, Anson Green for parity in a six-rounder for an undisclosed purse in the second preliminary bout.

With the preliminaries out of the way, Holmes of Team Jamaica and Corley of Team USA, will go hammer and thongs over 10 rounds for the Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum Contender Series Undisputed Welterweight Champion of Jamaica title.

With both chomping at the bit to get at each other, their battle in this boxing warfare is between two armed combatants making the clash gilt-edged, guided by their wits and close-range manoeuvres: weapons to achieve the objective of gaining the upper hand. And whichever way the pendulum swings, the last man standing will be crowned the Contender’s Ultimate Welterweight Champion of 2016 and pocket the major prize of $2 million.

This is the ultimate reason for both boxers to condition themselves to reach this stage of the contest and both summarily declared war on each other during the press launch.

Mark Kenny started the Contender Series in 2011 and was hailed for his innovativeness for an idea which began to give unknown boxers an opportunity to enhance their skill on local soil. It is enjoying its sixth season and receiving critical acclaim in the region as the yearly series provides opportunities for up-and-coming boxers in the region and beyond to improve skills in a professional atmosphere.

In interviews with both Corley and Holmes about their approach to gaining the upper of each other, Corley declared: “I will have Holmes playing checkers while I will be playing chess.”

Holmes’ response was far from being cryptic, he meant business: “Checkers or chess: checkmate will be my modus operandi. This is a glorious opportunity for me to fight such an illustrious technocrat of the art of the sport as ‘Chop Chop’, but I have no intention of not making the best use of this opportunity.”

Trainer Carl Grant intervened: “This lad is in the best shape that he has ever been and I am confident that he will give nothing but the best performance possible if he does stick to his game.”

With 75 fights and following a vey comfortable win against Michael Gardner in the Contender Series semi-final, Corley will, however, be up against a much tougher opponent tonight.

Nonetheless, the man who has fought the invincible Floyd Mayweather 12 times will definitely start favourite to continue his winning ways on the 2016 Contender Series. But even so, he will have a fight on his hand as he will be up against a boxer who takes a punch, but also delivers them to hurt people.