Planter wins by majority technical decision

By Patrick R. Anderson

The fight promised so much as the Wray & Nephew Contender Middleweight series continued on Wednesday night.

These two boxers met twice before. First in the inaugural season in 2011 and again in 2014. On both occasions Anthony Osbourne was the winner. But on both occasions Ricardo Planter was convinced he was the victim of bad decisions.

They had a score to settle. Or at least Planter thought so. Osbourne said he wanted to keep what is rightfully his.

But it didn't happen due to one of those occurrences in boxing. An accidental clash of heads.

There is not much that one can say or write about this contest which lasted two plus rounds. The boxers started out busy in the opening round which I scored in favour of Osbourne, because I thought he outworked Planter who is usually a slow starter.

But then Planter got busy in the second round and was more industrious than Osbourne. Planter boxing from the outside and delivered a short right cross which opened a cut on the cheekbone below Osbourne's left eye. That's always a dangerous place for a cut in boxing, and Planter worked on it for the rest of the round which he clearly won as Osbourne was initiating the holding.

Round-3 underway, and both boxers were busy. Planter said he threw a punch and then he only felt the accidental head butt. Osbourne was remonstrating to Planter, saying the head butt was deliberate. The outcome of that clash of heads was a nasty cut above Osbourne's right eye on his forehead, after his corner did an excellent job in closing the cut below his left eye.

The ringside doctor Andre McDonald made the right recommendation  to referee Ian Jardine that Osbourne was in no shape to continue due to the severity of the cut on his forehead.  Only the referee can stop a fight, and that is what Jardine did.

Under the rules of boxing the contest would have been ruled a technical draw because the fight did not go beyond its midway point. However, because this is a tournament and there had to be a winner, the judges' scorecards came into play,  and they had to score round-3 as a completed round.

Judge Clifford Brown scored it 29-28 for Planter; judge Peter Richards scored it a draw at 29-29; while judge Lindell Allen scored it 29-28 for Planter, who was declared the winner by majority technical decision.

This writer scored it 29-28 for Planter.

So Planter who seemed to be in excellent physical condition and weighed in at 159 pounds, one pound below the limit, has progressed to the quarter-finals of the Wray & Nephew Contender Series.