Jamaican boxing had its hay-day in the 70’s and 80’s with legends such as Richard “Shrimpy” Clarke and Mike McCallum. Now Jamaica’s once favourite sport is back on Prime Time Television with the premier of The Wray & Nephew Contender on TVJ this December.
16 professional boxers will compete for a share of nearly two million dollars with the winner walking away with a whopping one million dollars and the title of Jamaica’s Ultimate Middleweight Contender.
ABOUT THE SHOW
In conjunction with the Jamaican Boxing Federation, The show producers searched the 14 parishes to find the best fighters and found 16 of the top middleweight boxers. With 8 boxers training at Bruising Gym in Kingston and 8 training at the Hard Knocks Gym in Savana-la-mar, the fighters were split into 2 teams: Green Team, representing Urban Jamaica and the Yellow Team, representing Rural parishes.
Bruising Gym head trainer and former middleweight boxer, Carl Grant, heads the Green Team while Andrew Boland, Hard Knocks Gym owner, leads the Yellow Team.
Over the course of 15 weeks, the 2 teams will engage in a series of weekly physical challenges. The winning team will then have the advantage as they will nominate a boxer from their camp as well as choose the opposing fighter from the other camp. These 2 boxers will then fight Live on TVJ to determine who stays and who goes.
Featuring boxing mentors such as former World Heavyweight Champion, Lennox Lewis, motivator and Olympic silver medallist, Juliet Cuthbert and the sexy Wray & Nephew Ring Girls, The Wray & Nephew Contender will herald a new age of boxing in Jamaica.