The contender question

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 10 May 2005, 15:35

Just a question on the show - does anyone know if these bouts officially count as part of their fight record. I looked at Boxrec and it seems like it does, although sometimes boxrec has included exhibition contests in someones record.

Seems like an odd thing, to count them as official fights as it hasn't been made clear how long each round is. There is no sign of a weighing and there is a fairly large difference in weight if you look at their pro records before the show. Ishe has mainly fought and Welter and Jonathon Reid fought William Joppy for the Middleweight title.

I was shocked to see them included as official fights, I know there is a big pay day in the end but I'm not sure if it was worth risking the undefeated record for - I'm mean, 5 rounds is nothing and a bad start could cost you your undefeated record and your world ranking (for Ishe and Peter Manfredo).

I thought it was like the Cedric Krushner "Fist full of Dollars" PPV, in which the bouts were sanctioned but sanctioned as exhibitions - so didn't effect the fighters standing and record.

ArtOfWar · Post by **ArtOfWar** » 10 May 2005, 15:40

They are classed as official fights. Your right also, that a few of the fighters on the show aren't middleweights. It's the money that's made them try out for the show as middleweights.

You should watch the ultimate fighter on bravo tonight at 11pm. It's the MMA version of the contender. It's much better though. No Hollywood bullshit, and they show the full fight.

tonyevs · Post by **tonyevs** » 10 May 2005, 16:08

This is the main thing I don`t agree with in the show, 5rnds.
These are supposed to be contenders, yet they fight over the novice 5rnds.

I watched a full two episodes last night ( nothing else on the TV) and must admit to only catching a little of the first couple of episodes.

But its so cliche, I mean an actor plays the part of a boxer in a few films and all of a sudden he gives out advise on fighting to a proffesional fighter.
Every fight is in the balance till the last rnd, total Hollywood

Boxingnut · Post by **Boxingnut** » 10 May 2005, 16:54

Who were the original 16 boxers on The Contender? I can only think of 14, namely Brent Cooper, Juan De La Rosa, Tarick Salmachi, Jesse Brinkley, Jonathan Reid, Peter Manfredo jnr, Anthony Bontosante, Ishe Smith, Jimmy Lange, Joey Gilbert, Sergio Mora, Miguel Espino, Alfonso Gomez and Ahmed Kaddour. Who are the other two? There was they guy who had to pull out because he had chicken pox.

Agree that it is totally OTT though.

Zhuge · Post by **Zhuge** » 10 May 2005, 23:31

They are official fights, and this was announced to the fighters by Stallone in the first episode I think.

Loftgroov · Post by **Loftgroov** » 11 May 2005, 04:15

Boxingnut wrote:Who were the original 16 boxers on The Contender? I can only think of 14, namely Brent Cooper, Juan De La Rosa, Tarick Salmachi, Jesse Brinkley, Jonathan Reid, Peter Manfredo jnr, Anthony Bontosante, Ishe Smith, Jimmy Lange, Joey Gilbert, Sergio Mora, Miguel Espino, Alfonso Gomez and Ahmed Kaddour. Who are the other two? There was they guy who had to pull out because he had chicken pox.

Agree that it is totally OTT though.

Najai isn't on your list, the one that shot himself after filming.

E · Post by E » 11 May 2005, 04:37

Loftgroov wrote:
Boxingnut wrote:Who were the original 16 boxers on The Contender? I can only think of 14, namely Brent Cooper, Juan De La Rosa, Tarick Salmachi, Jesse Brinkley, Jonathan Reid, Peter Manfredo jnr, Anthony Bontosante, Ishe Smith, Jimmy Lange, Joey Gilbert, Sergio Mora, Miguel Espino, Alfonso Gomez and Ahmed Kaddour. Who are the other two? There was they guy who had to pull out because he had chicken pox.

Agree that it is totally OTT though.
Najai isn't on your list, the one that shot himself after filming.

jeff Fraza was the dude with chicken pox.

Kilburn · Post by **Kilburn** » 11 May 2005, 04:42

I only watched The Contender for the first time the other night, it was alright but somehow I don't trust that the edited highlights of the fights give you the full picture. That Alfonso Gomez looks the likely winner to me, no matter how hard you hit him he hits you right back.

I enjoyed that Ultimate Fighter showdown last night between Chris and Josh, although I could never understand why they were rating Chris like they did, he wasn't even that fast with his "strikes".

ArtOfWar · Post by **ArtOfWar** » 11 May 2005, 17:25

Kilburn wrote:I enjoyed that Ultimate Fighter showdown last night between Chris and Josh, although I could never understand why they were rating Chris like they did, he wasn't even that fast with his "strikes".

They do that quite alot in MMA. A good striker in MMA doesn't really equal a good striker in boxing. He probably does have some led in those fists though, and it doesn't take much to ko a guy with those gloves on.