When season two of the Contender began over a month ago, the format was a bit different than from the previous season. With season two came a Blue and a Yellow team, along with a team captain who would select the members as if assembling teams for a pickup Basketball games. Suffering the indignation and embarrassment of being the last fighter selected was Cornelius "K-9" Bundrage, who was also picked to fight by Yellow team captain and pre-tournament favorite Michael Clark. A month or so later, the one time last draft pick is now one fight away from fighting for the Contender season 2 title and 500,000 dollars. On Tuesday night, Bundrage squeezed out a tight, somewhat controversial decision over Walter Wright to advance to the semi-finals.

     The fight was billed as a grudge match going in; the rivalry having begun after Wright won his first fight easily over Andre Eason. Bundrage had become close friends with Eason, and was disturbed by some of Wright's post fight comments. Bundrage, taking up for his friend, basically dared Wright to choose to fight K-9 in the quarterfinals. After much talking and even more machismo, Wright did eventually choose to fight Bundrage. Their feud escalated further during training, and as the days crept closer towards fight night. When they finally met in the ring, it was a bit of a disappointment; the fight was mostly ugly, but close. In addition, there were numerous instances of holding and hitting behind the head.

    Like in his win over Michael Clark, Bundrage was able to land the bigger, more damaging punches. Keep in mind that Bundrage came into this tournament fighting his last fight at 154 pounds, while most of the others had fought most of their careers below 147. Going into the fight, everyone knew it would be a match-up of puncher vs. boxer, and that's what it was. Wright looked like the slicker fighter most of the time, and with the footage provided, it could be argued that he won. Bundrage did seem to land the bigger shots, but the fight was marred by a lot of rough play. The fight went to the cards and K-9 won a unanimous decision to the dismay of Wright, who voiced his displeasure loudly.

    Tuesday night's fight was not one of the fights you will see advertised for future seasons of the show. It was a rugged, tough fight. In five round fights it's possible to get bad decisions, but the fight was close. Nonetheless, the one time underdog Bundrage now advances to the semi-finals, where he will meet Steve Forbes for a shot at making it to the finals and fighting for half a million dollars.

    Next week's episode will conclude the quarterfinal round with a doubleheader that will determine the final two in the semi-finals; both match-ups are very intriguing. The two remaining quarterfinal matches will be Gary Balletto vs. Norberto Bravo, and Mike Stewart vs. Grady Brewer.

    The Contender season two finale will take place September 26th in Los Angeles. Tickets for the finale are on sale at Ticketmaster and the STAPLES Center box office. Ticket are $50, $75, $150, $250 and $300.