LEROY BROWN, STAR Writer

There were loud cheers for Richard Holmes, representing the Jamaica Green Team on Wednesday at the Chinese Benevolent Association auditorium, after he scored a unanimous points victory over Charwin Estwick from Guyana, representing the Caribbean Yellow Team, in the preliminary round of the Wray and Nephew 2015 Middleweight Contender series.

Judge Eion Jardine scored it 60-52, while judges Clifford Brown and Lindell Allen had it 58-55 each.

easy passage

Holmes, who now moves on to the quarter-finals of the competition, had an easy passage as he was able to score freely against an opponent who was simply outclassed. It was obvious from the start, that Holmes, who had a 7-4 record going into the fight, was trying for a knockout, which is a cardinal sin in boxing.

He did not do the preliminary work of setting up his opponent with his jabs, and just kept swinging, sometimes wildly. He did land some solid punches throughout the fight, however, and scored a knockdown in the fourth round. This came near the end of the round, so Estwick had the one minute interval to recuperate.

performance

Estwick, who went into the fight with only one professional fight, now has two losses.

Although Holmes won, his performance was not convincing, and he will have to improve considerably to make it to the semi-finals.

There are two more contests left in this round, and next week, Ricardo Planter will go against Anthony Osbourne, who has come in as a substitute for Winston Pompey from Suriname, who suffered an injury a few weeks ago, and is unable to participate in the competition.

The following week Devon Moncriffe will fight Courtney Pennington.