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View Full Version : The Contender-Petition to bring it back!


brent102fire
05-26-2005, 03:07 PM
I'm not sure who watched the Contender, but if you didn't you sure missed out. There were some serious battles going on, especially the last two fights. Please sign the petition to help bring it back. NBC has chosen not to bring it back in the fall.


http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?wato

Nightfyre
05-26-2005, 03:08 PM
I really didn't like the lack of technical boxing I saw in the one match I did see. It was like either person could hit at will because the other person didn't know how to hold their arms up.

jspchief
05-26-2005, 03:15 PM
I really didn't like the lack of technical boxing I saw in the one match I did see. It was like either person could hit at will because the other person didn't know how to hold their arms up.Whatever the boxing lacked in technique, it made up for in action. If I want to see another drawn out 12 round hugfest, I'll pony $50 for two no-names on par-per-view. Professional boxing could learn a few things from that show.

Nightfyre
05-26-2005, 03:16 PM
Whatever the boxing lacked in technique, it made up for in action. If I want to see another drawn out 12 round hugfest, I'll pony $50 for two no-names on par-per-view. Professional boxing could learn a few things from that show.
Its truly entertaining, Im just saying they should attempt to acquire technique before diving into a nationally televised fight.

jspchief
05-26-2005, 03:30 PM
Its truly entertaining, Im just saying they should attempt to acquire technique before diving into a nationally televised fight.I don't know which fights you saw. There were some that were definate duds, but others that were really good. Some of those guys are good boxers. I think the fact that they were 5 round fights made some of the guys abandon defense in exchange for offense/scoring. It's hard to make up ground with only 5 rounds, so you have to be aggressive.

I think the show was on the border of being great. A little bit of tweaking could get it there. I got the impression that there weren't enough people involved that knew what makes TV work. If they can polish the 20% of it that was really bad, it would be a great show.

DaneMcCloud
05-26-2005, 03:39 PM
My wife and I flew into Vegas Monday night for the Finale on Tuesday. We paid $1500 for a pair of tickets and it was worth every penny! Not only was the fight awesome, we met many of the fighters, took pics and hung out. Jesse was particularly cool, and Sergio's mother, Jimmy Lang and Peter Manfredo were all extremely nice. I also met Thomas "Hit Man" Hearns and shared a few drinks with some movie celebs afterwards.

Sergio was the man I picked to win the tournament from his first fight. He will be a world champion for a long time to come. He has it all; Brains, body, skill and most importantly, desire. It was really a great event and I think there will be another "Contender" Tournament this summer.

Dane

Iowanian
05-27-2005, 08:31 AM
I think it was a good show, and would love to see it have another season.

Sergio is a unique fighter with an unorthodox style and I'm assuming he'd fight around 160?

I don't see him beating the likes of Vargas, Trinidad, Wright. Hopkins is the champ but just doesn't ever look that impressive to me.

DaneMcCloud
05-27-2005, 09:57 AM
Sergio may not be able to take those guys right now (he's only 25), but he will be a champion. With the exposure of this show, he will get a world championship trainer and training facilities. I think he'll eventually be a light heavyweight because his body has so much room for growth. He's so long and lean surprisingly, looked much bigger and stronger in person (though I towered over all the guys because I'm 6'2, especially my man Jesse).

After watching the fights on Tivo when we returned from Vegas, I was immediately shocked at NBC's production poor values (which shouldn't be surprising because I always thought that their coverage of the AFC looked like crap). The ref kept getting in the way, the lighting was poor and there just weren't enough camera angles. In addition, Sergio freakin' OWNED Manfredo in person, but that wasn't as evident when watching it on TV. They also didn't catch all the nonsense that was going on between Manfredo's girlfriend & Dad that was directed at Sergio. And though Sergio apologized at the end, Manfredo's camp should have apologized as well.

I wish that I would have bought tickets for the Bronze medal round, because even though Jesse was my favorite personality on the show, I think Alfonso has a great future ahead of him. And with NBC renewing shows like Average Joe, I can't understand why they wouldn't renew The Contender, though NBC Prez Jeff Zucker was present at the fights. But decisions like putting The Contender in a bad time slot, then not renewing it is probably why they're the 4th place network.

Dane

Iowanian
05-27-2005, 10:04 AM
I was going to say, that out of all of them, I think Alphonso will move down to his natural weight and make some noise.

If nothing else, this show brought some boxing back into the mainstream. Considering the Pathetic crop of HWTs right now, hopefully more people will come to appreciate the lighter guys........you never see a fight as good as the ward-Gatti fights at hwt.

I wish they'd have shown the Bronze fight as the undercard, and cut out some of the add sales bullshit, and worthless sly-time.

DaneMcCloud
05-27-2005, 10:11 AM
You didn't see the Bronze fight undercard? They showed it as tape delayed during the 2 hour broadcast. It was extremely close, one point on every judge's score card. Jesse waited about 20 seconds too late to begin his attack, because he really caught Alfonso at the end!

And I agree about Sly. I love the guy, but I'm glad we didn't have to hear his nonsense during the fight at Caesar's. That was pretty annoying.

saturnknts
05-27-2005, 10:19 AM
as usual the shows i like get cancelled :(

yes alot of it was corny but the fights were for the most part awesome since you knew more about the guys fighting and what it meant to them.

Iowanian
05-27-2005, 10:22 AM
I saw the tape delayed undercard...I was really pulling for Brinkley, but it was hard not to root for both of those guys. He sure did nail Alphonso at the end when he raised his hands too early....He could have won that fight, but just wasn't aggressive enough. He's going to have to find some dedication to training if he's going to do anything professionally.

Stallone gave some celeb credit to the show during the season, but he should have stepped away from the Mic during the broadcast.........


I'd have liked to see that fight ref'd by Judge Mills Lane.

Most of these guys at least should be able to get some better fights because of the name recognition.

BIG_DADDY
05-27-2005, 11:00 AM
It's stupid that their not bringing it back.

Iowanian
05-27-2005, 11:05 AM
I flipped through a couple of pages of the sigs just for grins.....one caught my eye

a guy signed that they were stupid for not having a second season, because he was enjoying a cool sierra mist, without the aftertaste and off to check out some Toyota Tacomas.

TRR
05-27-2005, 11:19 AM
I liked the show quite a bit. My personal favorite was Anthony. Just liked his personality. I absolutely hated Sergio. All he did was talk trash. He backed it up in the end, but I really stopped pulling for him when he ran from Jessie the entire last round before the Championship.

Hope they decide to bring it back.

bloomer88
05-27-2005, 11:34 AM
It really is too bad this show was canceled. It was by far one of the better shows on tv this year. It really got me interested in the boxing world again.

Iowanian
05-27-2005, 12:51 PM
If Anthony is the guy from Mn.....I couldn't have been happier when someone was KO'd....I hated that guy.

DaneMcCloud
05-27-2005, 01:07 PM
Anthony's constant whining and crying about his kids really bugged me. It was like "Enough already" and I was happy that Jesse put "Hairy" to sleep. I really disliked Ahmed (though his girlfriend was hot, especially in person) and really grew to dislike Ishe Smith.

The show never focused on Jimmy Lang and in person, he was extremely nice. He was walking back from the arena and heading for his hotel room with one of his twin sons in his arms (and looking rather beat up from his fight) and struck up a conversation with me. Very nice and very personable.

I didn't talk to Joey Gilbert but he really seemed to be lapping it up in the spotlight. Manfredo seemed really personable as well, as was his father and wife. But by far the most personable and friendly was Jesse Brinkley (though his wife had a sour look on her face all evening). Jesse took pictures with anyone and everyone who asked for hours on end, even after losing in the Bronze medal round. He was just super, super cool.

I never got that Sergio was talking smack from the show or his bouts, with the exception of the Finale in which Manfredo's wife and father instigated it. His mother was very nice, and it was very apparent by her hands (they were extremely rough and calloused) that's she hasn't had an easy life.

All in all, I think that Jesse, Alfonso, Peter and of course Sergio all benefited the most from the show, and I think we'll be seeing them in future, whether it be boxing, or in Jesse's case, maybe even acting. He's got quite a bit of personality.

Joey didn't need the show (he's a practicing lawyer) and neither did Tarick (who's in Real Estate). Ishe Smith could have benefitted, but I think he came off as a two faced jerk. The rest of the guys weren't talented enough as boxers or not entertaining enough as people to really boost their respective careers, at least IMO.

Dane

BigVE
05-27-2005, 01:54 PM
To me its obvious that the show needed some work because at times it was absolutely ridiculous! The old guy that always wore shades and had the collars of all his shirts turned up...bad. He was a neat guy but he seemed too fake or made-for-tv. What was the deal with having the old ugly lady around AT ALL? At the very end when they are all sitting around and discussing the fight that just happened...WHO CARES what Sly Stallone (an ACTOR) thinks about boxing/fighting...he doesnt know SQUAT! And occasionally during an episode SLY was trying to give some of these guys pointers and training tips.....come ON, ACTING like a fighter is NOT the same thing. All this being said I DID like the show overall because they did one thing very very well: they chose fighters with great personalitys, the chose a couple with big egos, they chose a few that were humble...and when they were all mixed together it created a good guy vs. bad guy matchup OR a good guy vs. good guy matchup that you HAD to watch. Nobody really mentiond Joey Gilbert very much but he was my favorite. When he stopped short of the finish line in the one contest and let Manfredo win the toyota truck that was COOL as heck. And when he pulled his hamstring and re-injured it DURING a fight and STILL won, that was impressive. He ALMOST won his last fight too...it was very close. All in all the show was good but if they decided to bring it back it needs some cleaning up.

DaneMcCloud
05-27-2005, 04:25 PM
That "Old Guy" is none other than legendary boxing trainer Tommy Gallagher. The "Ugly Woman" is Jackie Callan, the first female manager of a world champion (James Toney, who just won the Heavyweight Championship but had to give up the belt because of steriods). here was also a movie starring Meg Ryan out in 2003 that was about Jackie. And whether you like him or not, the show would not be the same without Sly Stallone. I think that 3 bonafide boxing experts (Ray Leonard, Jackie Callan & Tommy Gallagher) along with Stallone make a fine team.

The reason you didn't hear much about Joey Gilbert is because there's not much hardship there. It's tough to become emotionally attached through a boxing TV show to a guy who's parents are doctors, while he's a lawyer. The other contestants had more to gain from the show.

Dane

DaneMcCloud
05-27-2005, 07:35 PM
Sergio's on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights as a guest, for those who are interested