The brand-new season of the popular Wray & Nephew Contender Series will hit a new high as it takes the action on the road, and deliver bouts featuring the best of local boxing directly to communities.

High-energy

Road to Wray & Nephew Contender matches will be staged in St Thomas, St Ann and St Elizabeth during the month of March, prior to the launch of the series’ seventh season.

Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum, title sponsors of the Contender Series, is bringing the undiluted energy of the series straight into communities outside of Kingston with three

Road to Way & Nephew Contender shows — Colonel Cove in Morant Bay, St Thomas on Wednesday, March 8; Sland Village in Ocho Rios, St Ann, on Friday, March 10; and Breds Sports Park in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth on Friday, March 17.

Pietro Gramegna, marketing manager at J Wray & Nephew Ltd, explained the decision to take the show on the road. “We are enthusiastic and excited about the new

Road to Wray & Nephew Contender component which has been added for the seventh season. This season is labelled the ‘Best of The Best’, so we thought it best to bring a taste of the live boxing spirit to our rural fans. We are looking forward to taking live boxing to the parishes of St Thomas, St Ann and St Elizabeth so that those who are unable to view the matches live in Kingston will have the opportunity to do so in all three counties of Jamaica.

The

Road to Wray & Nephew Contender will see six professional boxers, and past contestants of the series, face off live in communities: Anthony Osbourne vs Patrick Miller in St Thomas, Surrey; Bumpy Beckford vs Kevin “Buss Boy” Hylton in St Ann, Middlesex and Jermain Vassell vs Iron Dog Raye in St Elizabeth, Cornwall.

Like Gramegna, Stephen “Bomber” Jones, president of the Jamaica Boxing Board of Control, is enthused and looks forward to see the results of the three rural fights. He believes this component shows how much Wray & Nephew White Overproof Rum and the organisers of the Contender Series support the development of the sport in Jamaica when they involve more boxers.

“The Jamaica Boxing Board is very enthusiastic about the new component of the

Wray & Nephew Contender Series. Taking the experience of the matches outside of the Chinese Benevolent Association is something we previously requested, and we are happy that those outside of Kingston will now be able to experience the competition live and direct,” Jones said in an interview recently.

He added: “Various boxing matches have been held in the areas where the

Road to Wray & Nephew Contender Series will be held and we have always had good support. The people from St Thomas are great supporters and the shows in that parish are always packed. In St Elizabeth, we have seen one of the largest turnouts for a show on an amateur level, so these communities have proven to be very big on supporting the sport.”

Mark Kenny, executive producer of the

Wray & Nephew Contender Series, says the boxers in the Road to Wray & Nephew Contender Series will compete for a cash prize of $60,000.

“We (the organisers) thought it was time to bring the fights to the country as there has been fantastic support for the show from all the parishes over the years.”

Delayed broadcasts of the three

Road to Wray & Nephew Contender matches will be aired exclusively onTelevision Jamaica (TVJ) on Wednesday, March 15 and 22, followed by the broadcast of the launch of the seventh season on Wednesday, March 29.

Season seven’s live matches will be held at the Chinese Benevolent Association on Wednesdays starting April 5, airing exclusively on

TVJ at 9:30 pm.