The Contender - Season 2

[Eye4NEye]

Season 2 of The Contender gets underway on July 18 on ESPN. I'm not much of a boxing fan, but I watched last season and I enjoyed it. From what I understand, Sly won't be on there this season and similar to TUF3, they have scrapped the challenges. Here are the fighters:

Nick Acevedo 15-1 9 KO's
Gary "Tiger" Balletto 29-2-2 25 KO's
Vinroy "Slick" Barrett 21-4 11 KO's
Norberto "El Gallito" Bravo 20-10-3 12 KO's
Grady "Bad Boy" Brewer 18-11 12 KO's
Cornelius "K-9" Bundrage 21-1 13 KO's
Rudy "El Cachorro" Cisneros 9-1 8 KO's
Michael "Cold Blood" Clark 35-3 16 KO's
"Furious Freddy" Curiel 15-5-2 6 KO's
Andre "Daredevil" Eason 15-4 6 KO's
Ebo "The Xtreme Machine" Elder 22-2 14 KO's
Stephen "2 Pounds" Forbes 29-3 9 KO's
Jeff "Hell Raza" Fraza 17-2 10 KO's
Michael "No Joke" Stewart 38-4-2 22 KO's
Aaron Torres 14-2 6 KO's
Walter "2 Guns" Wright 10-1 5 KO's

As I said, I have no clue when it comes to boxing, since I don't follow it regularly, so I have no idea who these guys are. Having said that I won't make any predictions either, though I'm sure Dadi or some others can jump in here with some thoughts.

[jwinch2]

I really enjoyed the first season though I thought I wouldn't when I first saw it. Of all the "reality game" shows I thought it was the best done...

[ezzthetic]

Steve Forbes will come out victorious. More comments later. :)

[jjaje]

Jeff Fraza was on season 1. I think he is the guy who had to leave because of the Chicken Pox. He did come back for one of the final undercard matches. As I recall he won it.

[Eye4NEye]

Jeff Fraza was on season 1. I think he is the guy who had to leave because of the Chicken Pox. He did come back for one of the final undercard matches. As I recall he won it.


I'm pretty sure that's the guy, Jeff. He left because he was getting really sick and losing weight and it ended up being chicken pox. I'm glad they've brought him back.

[ezzthetic]

I'm pretty sure that's the guy, Jeff. He left because he was getting really sick and losing weight and it ended up being chicken pox. I'm glad they've brought him back.

Same guy. Trained by none other than Micky Ward, and is a fighter in the same mold.

[Eye4NEye]

Steve Forbes will come out victorious. More comments later. :)

So give us the scoop on Forbes, Dadi.

[ezzthetic]

Steve Forbes is a former champ, albeit at 130 lbs. He's by far the most accomplished fighter in the group. He's fought Cobrita Gonzalez, John Brown, David Santos, Carlos Hernandez (awesome fight, prematurely stopped), Yodsanan Sor Nanthachai and Steve Quinonez.

He's always had weight problems, though not always of the same kind! He gets his nickname "2 pounds" from his birthweight!" He lost his title on the scale, despite beating David Santos the second time in the ring. His only two fights at 130 lbs after losing his title were title shots at that weight, both of which he lost on points. He's been much more effective at jr. welterweight (140 lbs) and seems to have found his pop, knocking out some of his opponents there. He's already beaten Steve Quinonez, who is a real 140 lbs contender, so I don't think he'll have too much trouble fighting even a middleweight like Grady Brewer. He's got the same old-school techniques you see Toney use to negate size-advantages.

More later... gone to spar with the champ!

[Eye4NEye]

Damn. Sounds like he is someone to definitely watch out for in the competition. Thanks for the info.

What exactly do you mean by he "lost his title on the scale?" I'm guessing he didn't make weight at the weigh in and the other guy automatically got the title. That has to suck.

[ezzthetic]

Damn. Sounds like he is someone to definitely watch out for in the competition. Thanks for the info.

What exactly do you mean by he "lost his title on the scale?" I'm guessing he didn't make weight at the weigh in and the other guy automatically got the title. That has to suck.

When a champion fails to make weight, the title only become available to the challenger if he wins. If the champion wins, the title is declared vacant... as in fact it was.

[Malikmane]

I cant wait for the contender it's going to be an awesome season

[Eye4NEye]

When a champion fails to make weight, the title only become available to the challenger if he wins. If the champion wins, the title is declared vacant... as in fact it was.

Ah! See, I told you I didn't know anything about boxing! Thanks for the info.

[Eye4NEye]

Did anyone see The Condender Special on last night? It was called "The Latin Kings" and had Mora and Gomez from season one, each fighting a different boxer.

The second fight ended in a controversial ref stoppage for a TKO. If the ref had worn dreadlocks, I would have thought he was Herb Dean. :laugh: Just kidding.

[Eye4NEye]

Contender Season 2 starts up tonight!

[AndrewSimonsen]

My problem with season1 was that when it came time for them to fight they added in the dramatic music and the reaction shots, but I only watched the first episode so maybe they changed it.

[Eye4NEye]

My problem with season1 was that when it came time for them to fight they added in the dramatic music and the reaction shots, but I only watched the first episode so maybe they changed it.

Nope, they kept that in the whole season and I would imagine some of that will still be in there. They've made mention to changing the format (including dropping challenges) so I'm hoping they ditch those "slow-mo shots" too. I didn't really pay attention to the music, but I'm totally with you on the other.

[ezzthetic]

I just hope they focus more on the training segments.

[Eye4NEye]

I just hope they focus more on the training segments.

I was hoping the same thing, Dadi, but no go in the premiere. They showed maybe 5 minutes of training out of the entire 2 hours. :(

[STORMCROW34]

I thought the show was decent last night. But I wish we could see the whole fight because I think it would be nice to decide for ourselves who won. Even if that means shortening the fights to three rounds.

[Eye4NEye]

I totally agree. I'd rather see 3 entire rounds than see snippets of what they want us to see from 5 rounds.

[ezzthetic]

My prediction is looking better and better. Now he just needs to get through Walter Wright and Grady Brewer. The rest don't worry me.

[Eye4NEye]

My prediction is looking better and better. Now he just needs to get through Walter Wright and Grady Brewer. The rest don't worry me.

Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on Forbes. I think he's going to take the whole thing!

[tgace334]

I train under Jim Ralston. The father of Les Ralston from season 3. Les was eliminated w/o ever fighting in that "testing" phase. IMO that did'nt do Les justice. The proof is in the fighting, not testing and he can shure as hell fight.

[Eye4NEye]

Talk about thread resurrection! This thread is almost a year old and should probably be closed.