Sharkie’s Machine By Frank Gonzalez Jr.
May 24th, 2005
“The Contender Finale”

Tuesday night at Caesar’s Palace, in Las Vegas Nevada, it was show time for the finalists of the new reality/boxing television program, “The Contender,” which aired Sunday nights, with the finale last Tuesday night on NBC. Sylvester Stallone and former Middleweight Champion, Sugar Ray Leonard created an entertaining program that has a little something for everyone who likes competition and the drama of (scripted or spontaneous) human relations in a closed environment.

Boxing fans like the show because the contestants are all pro fighters in a division dominated by the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright. For fight fans, this show gives a glimpse of what professional boxing COULD be if it were administered in a way that rewards merit over popularity. Imagine if pro boxing employed an elimination, box-off style format? It would be the end of today’s mysterious and often crooked ranking system and we’d see the best fighters emerge as Champions. But aside from offering fight fans a snapshot of what the sport of boxing could be like, this is definitely a soap opera for the Men…and the Ladies like it too.

The chemistry was interesting between guys like Ishe Smith and his rivalry with Ahmed Khadour, both of which were arrogant. Alfonso Gomez with his calm, sincere personality, Sergio Mora, who was versed in Sun Tzu and “The Art Of War” and how he got along with everyone and saw above the connivers like Anthony Bonsante and Joey Gilbert, who gave up his prize of a new Truck to Peter Manfredo Jr. so as to manipulate the matchmaking. The always funny Jesse Brinkley to the always preaching Brent Cooper, it was an interesting mix of characters, all playing a different strategy to ultimately win the million bucks.

“The Contender” has stimulated an interest in boxing among mainstream audiences with a weekly TV show that put a group of hungry, relatively unknown fighter together in a ‘reality TV’ show format that focused on more than just boxing. Two teams were formed, the East Coast and West Coast. Each week, the teams competed in non-boxing events before leading up to a boxing match at the end of the show between a contestant from each team. Some of the non-boxing events featured the teams racing each other around a Horseracing track pulling a cart with human cargo or running from one side of a stadium to retrieve an item and bring it to the other side before the other team. Those events coaxed a sense of teamwork within the two groups and friendships and alliances among certain players. The West Coast Team did most of the winning in the non-boxing and the boxing events. The end of show fights were shown in snippets that highlighted the best moments of the rounds. The winners were rewarded. The losers went home after a tear jerking moment in the loser’s locker room.  The fighters each had private housing and were enabled visits from immediate family or girlfriends who cheered for them during the boxing matches and cried with them in the locker room if they lost. The winners got rewarded with trips to famous places, a golf outing with Sly and Sugar Ray or a shopping spree on Rodeo Drive in Hollywood, to name a few. 

WARNING: If you live outside of the USA and haven’t yet seen the final episode—do not continue reading, because I’m about to report on how it all ended and would hate to spoil it for you.  Come back next week and read the rest.

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With four contestants left, Peter Manfredo Jr. got his rematch against Alfonso Gomez and won a close decision. Sergio Mora beat Jesse Brinkley in a fight that saw the battle weary Brinkley get out boxed and lose a seven round match by Unanimous Decision. The two remaining contestants were Peter Manfredo Jr. and Sergio Mora.

Peter Manfredo Jr., of Providence R.I., was undefeated and sported a #3 world ranking in the Middleweight division before the show started. He was considered one of two who were initially favored to win the million-dollar prize at the end. The other favorite was Ishe Smith. Manfredo is a strong fighter with a good chin. With the benefit of a training session with legendary trainer, Angelo Dundee, Manfredo had a chance to tighten up his style going into the final showdown. Sergio Mora, who hails from East Los Angeles California, won all his fights during the course of the show with his fast hands, quick thinking, clean punching and agility. Mora has an unorthodox style and lands punches from all kinds of angles. He is tall, lean and convinced he is destined for greatness. He was the only contestant that never had to hang up his gloves at the end of a show.

The Fight
Peter Manfredo Jr. vs. Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora
(24-2-0-26 KO’s)                (16-0-0-3 KO’s)

Round One
They boxed in the center ring. Manfredo landed a shot that caused a cut on the outside corner of Mora’s left eyebrow. Mora used his hand speed to land some quality combinations but it was Manfredo who did more damage as he cut the ring off and forced Mora into the ropes, where Manfredo was able to go to work on the body and take away Mora’s height and agility advantage.
10-9 Manfredo

Round Two
Manfredo was confident and brushing Mora with power punches in close, building on the momentum of the first round. Mora was throwing one punch at a time and looked rattled from the sight of his own blood dripping down his face. Midway into the round, Mora turned the tables and rallied with a barrage of flush shots that had to hurt Manfredo—who cut off the ring, pressed Mora into the ropes, attacked the body inside until the bell rang. Manfredo threw and landed a punch after the bell. Sergio didn’t take kindly to it.
10-9 Mora (19-19 Even)

Round Three
Manfredo continued to press Mora toward the ropes, where he had the advantage and could neutralize Mora’s mobility. On the outside, Mora would change up from conventional to southpaw, always looking to throw Manfredo off rhythm. Manfredo was on a mission and threw punches continuously to the body in an effort to slow the speedier Mora down. Mora landed some good shots but Manfredo was more aggressive and effective in the round.
10-9 Manfredo (29-28 Manfredo)

Round Four
Mora was hyper early, throwing a lot of shots that were missing the mark. Manfredo kept pressing him close or onto the ropes. Mora took over the momentum, scoring a flurry of shots from all over the place as he moved from the ropes and into the center ring. Mora peppered Manfredo with accurate shots as he danced around and finally stunned Manfredo with a jolting left hook. Manfredo never got discouraged and pressed forward, always on the attack and outworking Mora. But while Sergio may have scored less often, he was landing the cleaner, more damaging shots.
10-9 Mora (38-38 Even)

Round Five
Mora landed flush shots, boxing on the outside and keeping pace with Manfredo on the inside. Manfredo consistently pressed Mora to the ropes and let his hands go. Mora countered with crisper shots that rock Manfredo again. Manfredo reset and pressed Mora back to the ropes and scored in workmanlike fashion. During one exchange in the corner, Mora countered and rocked Manfredo with combinations. Mora took a moment to showboat a little and rev up the already raucous crowd. Manfredo looked a bit woozy as a bump was growing on the right side of his head over his ear. Mora attacked again with stinging combinations that tagged Manfredo, who held his own but took the worst of the exchanges.
10-9 Mora (48-47 Mora)

Round Six
Manfredo pressed Mora into the corner. Mora won the exchange that followed with accurate punches that left no doubt about the quality of Manfredo’s chin. Sergio was beating Peter at his own game—on the ropes. But Manfredo was scoring too and it was an all out war. Blood streamed down the face of Mora, as Manfredo often found the cut with right hooks to his face in close. Against the ropes, Manfredo was losing his edge but he worked Sergio’s body till the bell sounded. Sergio Mora threw and landed a late shot after the bell. Manfredo kept his cool.
10-9 Mora (58-56 Mora)

Round Seven
Manfredo came right after Mora, pressing him towards the ropes, digging shots to the body and head. Manfredo rocked Mora with power punches; Mora returned some lighter combinations. Mora used his legs, turned Manfredo around and popped him with shots from all over. Manfredo looked tired as he repressed Mora into closer quarters. Mora broke away and went wild, landing a symphony of punches—some which staggered Manfredo. At the sound of the bell, Sergio Mora jumped up onto the ropes, arms up in victory to address the cheering crowd. Manfredo humbly walked to his corner.
10-9 Mora (68-65 Mora)

What a battle! The Official scores were 69-64, 68-65 and 70-63 all in favor of Sergio Mora.

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Congratulations to Sergio Mora, who is a million dollars richer and has built a real name for himself. At 16-0, his boxing career is going to get a big boost from this exposure and he deserves it. A rematch with Manfredo or a fight with Alfonso Gomez would be very interesting. The fighters who made it to the ‘final eight’ are all winners in that they are now “names” and have a fan base eager to see them in action again.

“The Contender” ranking format would be a great adaptation for pro boxing. It would legitimize the way the rankings are determined. Wouldn’t it be great if NBC gave “The Contender” a long-term deal?  The only thing that sucks about watching anything on NBC is being bombarded every few minutes with commercial interruptions. If we're  lucky, the show will continue and they might even focus on a different division each season. Let’s hope Sly and Sugar Ray can keep “The Contender” going.

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Comments can be emailed to Sharkie