Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan
Buchanan entered the ShoBox super-middleweight tournament last year in the States and outscored previously unbeaten Lucas Arias over 10 rounds but was then outscored himself over 10 rounds by excellent French southpaw Jean-Paul Mendy (who went on to draw in the final with Anthony Hanshaw).
Mendy remains the only man to have beaten Buchanan in 15 outings.
While both fights were uneventful, the flashy, cocky Buchanan will have gained from the experience, has natural talent, and hits hard, although he struggles to make super-middleweight (the weight at which this series is fought at) and 'switches off' in fights. The 28-year-old from Sugar Ray Leonard country in Maryland certainly has something to prove.
It was Buchanan’s mother, incidentally, who called him “Poo"; the “Sugar" added by former trainer Barry Hunter.
Paul Smith
Unbeaten Smith stopped Nashville's former world middleweight title challenger Jonathan Reid in seven rounds in the Britain vs America Contender challenge in Newcastle in March. It was win No. 20 for the 24-year-old Scouser, who looks a great prospect and hits hard to head and body. "Smigga", a former ABA champion, showed character to climb off the floor against Wolverhampton's dangerous Conroy McIntosh last year in Barnsley to win on points. And he came through his first scheduled 12-rounder in style earlier this year in Liverpool against Alexander Polizzi, flooring the Belgian every time he nailed him and stopping him in eight. Smith is young and hungry and Britain's first Contender proper. As an amateur, he held Canadian star Jean Pascal to an 18-16 scoreline - now a world-ranked super-middleweight. He's been fighting at middle but looks big for the weight and could blossom for the increased Contender poundage. He got the cold eye from Reid before and after their set-to, so knows what to expect out there.
He does have a shout.
Wayne Johnsen
Wayne "Lights Out" Johnsen is a puncher from New Jersey who only took up boxing six years ago after injuring his knee playing college football but is rapidly making up for lost time. He needed just 33 seconds to flatten the formerly unbeaten Josh Hammock on home turf last November before his growing army of fans known as "Wayniacs". He's lost only one of his 17 outings: on a close six-round decision against Detroit's solid Joseph Hill in 2005. He's won his last seven.
So Johnsen is a 'sleeper' in the Contender ranks at 29, a late bloomer who still works full-time in the building trade (getting up to do his roadwork first at 4am) and best-known for serving as Jermain Taylor's sparring partner. But, as he says, "This is one of those deals that's a no-lose situation. Just the publicity alone is worth it." With his power, personality and size (he's a light-heavyweight), he could prove another Cornelius "K9" Bundrage: the surprise hit of the series.
Stopped four of his last six.
Donny McCrary
McCrary, nicknamed "The Savage", blasted the much-fancied Eric Regan in one round in June in Sacramento in a real upset to secure a place on Contender III. He is one of those fighters who tends to win - or lose - by knockout. In fairness, he's still improving at 24 and fought plenty of good men at short notice. Take his war with world class Oklahoman Allan "Sweetness" Green last year in Oklahoma. McCrary came in as a late substitute for Anthony Bonsante and climbed up from a third-round knockdown (body shot) to nail the local star moments later with a series of head shots and Green, unbeaten in 19 going in, froze (literally froze like a statue), took some more, went down by the ropes, beat the count on wobbly legs and somehow survived the remainder of the round to the bell. He was still wobbly early in the fourth but McCrary, a late sub to remind you, now running low on gas, was taken out two rounds later (the sixth).
But Green had tasted the canvas for the first time in his career.
So McCrary carries a whack and the proverbial puncher's chance in season three, although others see him as the joker in the pack, from the boxing backwoods of Missouri as he is.
Won six of his last seven.
Max Alexander
Max Alexander has a degree in criminal justice - and a real presence. Boxing great and Contender guru Sugar Ray Leonard says of the charismatic 26-year-old: "There is just something about this kid I can relate to. He is like a breath of fresh air."
Unbeaten Alexander was held to an early draw by the solid Alfred Kinsey but has breezed through most of his fights since, bar one unofficial and serious hiccup. Get this! He was kayoed in 10 seconds by Minnesota's Marty "The Wolfman" Lindquist last year, but it was declared no-contest after Lindquist failed the post-fight drug test; a real wake-up call for the talented Alexander who some said was showboating in his corner when Lindquist raced across the ring at the bell and flattened him (shades of Honeyghan-Bumphus). Other insisted Lindquist set off before the bell. Southpaw Alexander, who was out for five minutes, vindicated himself earlier this year when he outclassed Lindquist at the legendary Blue Horizon in Philly, knocking him down three times en route to an eight-round shutout
"The kid can box," says Contender trainer Buddy McGirt. "He gave Antonio Tarver a great workout when they sparred together." Max will be trained by the ghastly and massively overrated Pepe Correa in Contender, however, and lacks finishing power (just two early wins). But over the reduced Contender distances, his size, speed and southpaw skill make the Camden stylist a threat.
And his ring intelligence, of course.
Sam Soliman
Slippery Soliman is one of the more experienced Contender enshrinees at 33. The well-travelled, well-liked Aussie has been in with 'names' like Winky Wright, Anthony Mundine and Howard Eastman in a 10-year career and given them real 12-round battles (although Mundine proved the better man in a rematch). And he boasts fine wins over messrs Eric Teymour, Neville Brown, Cornelius Carr, Sakio Bika (also in this series), Raymond Joval, Sean Sullivan, Dale Westerman...
Some resume.
He's lost only to Mundine and Wright in the last six years.
So Soliman, a regular in US rings, starts as one of the Contender favourites - in every sense of the word. The Melbourne man is an absolute delight. His undoubted class in and out of the ring could make him as big a star as previous Contender nice guys Pete Manfredo Jnr and Alfonso Gomez. Everyone's a winner with this guy. While he will be conceding natural weight to some of his fellow Contenders, and is not a banger, "King" Soliman has ringcraft and workrate, and seen it all after 42 outings.
Just one warning: Soliman was stopped for the first time in his career by Mundine last time out. OK, Mundine has improved - but is Sam over the hill?
Jaidon Codrington
"Chin Checker" Codrington is a former top amateur whose only loss as a pro came when he stepped up against super-middleweight standout Allan Green last year - a loss, unfortunately for Codrington, that was catastrophic. The quick, flashy New Yorker went in off nine straight knockouts but his own chin was sorely checked in 18 seconds as he was knocked through the ropes from Green's first bombardment, unconscious. There were horrible scenes afterwards in Green's native Tulsa. Codrington was shoved back into the ring, still unconscious, where he lay for several minutes with nothing in the way of medical attention and with Green's 'fans', who had stormed the ring, jumping all around him. It revived memories of the Greg Page disaster in Kentucky a few years earlier, which left Page brain-damaged. How Ring magazine could make it best knockout of 2006 is beyond me!
It sullied the game.
Still, Codrington has won seven on the spin since, including a 10-round decision over the decent Marlon Hayes earlier this year. He looks more 'rounded' for the Green shocker at a youthful 23 - and still obviously hits hard. His amateur pedigree and current good form give him a shout in Contender, where we can expect a lot of talking from him and another step up.
Oh yes, Codrington is sure to have that chin checked again.
Sakio Bika
Bike wasn't even a pro when Joe Calzaghe won his WBO super-middleweight title back in 1997 but he pushed the Welsh southpaw star all the way for the title last October in Manchester, before dropping a unanimous decision.
He busted up the champion, badly.
So Bika, a rugged, headbutting Aussie by way of Cameroon, is a handful. In 27 fights, he's lost only to Calzaghe, Sam Soliman, Canadian star Lucian Bute and Markus Beyer. He's never been stopped. He challenged Beyer for the WBC super-middleweight title in May last year in Germany and got stuck in to the Hamburg southpaw till the two clashed heads in the fourth and Beyer emerged with a bad cut below the right eye. It was declared a technical draw. "I would have beaten Beyer," said tough-looking Bika, who was well ahead on one of the redundant scorecards (the other two read even). "He was good but I was better and it was only the cut that saved him."
Unheralded Bika got his "Scorpion" nickname from a scorpion bite he survived as a 12-year-old (just). Is he more Survivor than Contender? I wouldn't like to be the man to find out.
Brian Vera
Light-heavyweight Vera looks a dangerman. He's taken out nine of his 14 victims and received rave reviews in the Texas press (he hails from Fort Worth and now lives in Austin), which obviously got back. Vera says the Contender producers contacted him after he took a 10-round decision over journeyman Darnell Boone in Youngstown in June.
"I jumped at the chance," he says. "To be able to work with Sugar Ray Leonard and the trainers is pretty incredible." (First prize for this Contender season, by the way, is $750,000.) "I will ask them everything," adds Vera. "They have the championship experience behind them."
Vera is still a work in progress, and reports labelling him as the "new" Jesse James Leija (another Texan) are premature, but he's done absolutely nothing wrong to date and holds a useful win over Samuel Miller in March (pts 10).
Unbeaten but untested.
David Banks
The quick, counterpunching Banks busted up former Contender runner-up Pete Manfredo Jnr in losing a competitive 10-round decision last time out in June in Connecticut. The only other man to beat him in 17 fights is Nigerian star Albert Eromosele on another 10-round decision.
He has two wins over the previously unbeaten Elvin Ayala.
So 24-year-old Banks has the durability and boxing ability to put himself about in this series. He is not a banger but the previous two Contender winners weren't bangers either. The former wrestler (Olympic-type wrestling) from Portland, Oregon, is a natural super-middleweight and a real dark horse.
Contender - the final 10
Contender - the final 10
Last edited by bennie on 11 Sep 2007, 04:21, edited 1 time in total.
Yeah, one of the American boys blamed Codrington's entourage. I saw the aftermath on Green's myspace page but couldn't watch it after a couple of minutes and missed all that. I just saw a load of fans jumping around, hugging each other, hollering, grinning - clearly Green fans - as Codrington lay there out cold.
I've just watched the first episode, 6 are eliminated in the first show after evaluation of fitness tests & sparring.steve689 wrote:Why the final 10? I thought it was a 16 man tournament.
It looks good this too, the focus was on the boxing rather than behind the scenes rubbish. Hopefully they'll keep the 'boxers-sitting-on-their-beds-crying -about-how-much-they-miss-their-families' to a minimum in the following episodes.
Ahh i see...so who is eliminated thus far? Or am i spoiling it?!
I have never been interested in Contender and have not watched any of the previous ones to be honest but this line up interested me.
I see BN have made Soliman the favourite but i would not write off Bika, he is raw but has world level experience. Also Codrington is a threat with his power. Good to see Danny "Nicest Guy In Boxing" Santiago getting a break too.
I have never been interested in Contender and have not watched any of the previous ones to be honest but this line up interested me.
I see BN have made Soliman the favourite but i would not write off Bika, he is raw but has world level experience. Also Codrington is a threat with his power. Good to see Danny "Nicest Guy In Boxing" Santiago getting a break too.