The Contender

natedogg

natedogg

Well-known member
Don't know if any of you have been following Sly's new boxing reality show the past few weeks, but it's pretty good. Last night that jackass Ahmed was beaten by Ishe. Pretty good fight. I couldn't handle how much Ahmed was just so full of himself. I felt like kicking his ass. This one's a little more personal as opposed to the Ultimate Fighter. The boxers are allowed to live with their family during the show and what not. I have a question though. Last year Oscar De La Hoya had a boxing reality show on Fox called The Next Big Champ. It was alright, not as good as this, but I was getting into it. Anyways, it went off the air for a few weeks due to the Baseball playoffs, vowing it would return in 3 weeks. It never did. What was up with that? Bad ratings I suppose?
 
Perhaps Sly and company sued them? I remember reading that Sly originally approached Oscar about being a part of his show then suddenly..........voila..........Oscar had his own. WAs quite a big deal from what I remember.
 
The ratings nosedived with Oscar's rip off, "The Next Great Champ"

It was already filmed and edited so they continued showing it on Fox Sports channels but it never made it back to primetime after the baseball layoff. Sly's "The Contender" was actually the original and was knocked off by Fox, as they do with most reality shows.

The one HUGE difference between the two shows is the level of fighter. The Next Great Champ had absolutely no one of any mention fighting in it.. whereas the Contender has guys that are legitimately ranked in the top 10, even top 6 of the weight class. Ishe is typically #6 and Manfredo was #3/#4. Oscar's show was a joke when it came to light that many of the guys in the camp had never even had one professional fight... sure... they were the next champ... right.

Personally, I'm starting to really like The Contender. It would be better if they didn't edit the fight sequences but if that's what it takes to keep it on the air, I can live with it. I watch probably 100 rounds of real boxing a week so the constant slo-mo's and crowd shots are distracting; you can't be expected to judge the rounds.
 
spitboy said:
The ratings nosedived with Oscar's rip off, "The Next Great Champ"

It was already filmed and edited so they continued showing it on Fox Sports channels but it never made it back to primetime after the baseball layoff. Sly's "The Contender" was actually the original and was knocked off by Fox, as they do with most reality shows.

The one HUGE difference between the two shows is the level of fighter. The Next Great Champ had absolutely no one of any mention fighting in it.. whereas the Contender has guys that are legitimately ranked in the top 10, even top 6 of the weight class. Ishe is typically #6 and Manfredo was #3/#4. Oscar's show was a joke when it came to light that many of the guys in the camp had never even had one professional fight... sure... they were the next champ... right.

Personally, I'm starting to really like The Contender. It would be better if they didn't edit the fight sequences but if that's what it takes to keep it on the air, I can live with it. I watch probably 100 rounds of real boxing a week so the constant slo-mo's and crowd shots are distracting; you can't be expected to judge the rounds.
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The Next "Great" Champ. That was it. I'm sure they edit out the boring fight sequences. 5 rounds would take up some time and leave no room for story lines.
 
I've been following this one, and have it TiVo'ed just in case I miss it. So far, I have to say it is a well put together show, with some very talented fighters.

Last night's fight was a good one. At first, I wanted Ishe to lose. Just because he kept backing down from fighting Ahmed, even after all the smack talk he was dishing out. Then, after seeing the two in their homelife, I wanted Ishe to crack Ahmed's skull open.

Actually, all three fightshave been very good. None have been a disappointment. It's going to be interesting to see who the two teams vote back on for next week.
 
I've accepted that the fight editing is necessary if I expect this to stay in primetime. I'd personally rather have a little less family story and a little less editing.. but the show has opened my eyes that these guys have real, tough lives.. and even being ranked in the top-10 does not necessarily mean you have money to spare.

And yea, all 3 fights have been excellent. Unbelieveable that the two top-ranked, most well-known, and most experienced have been kicked out in the first 2 weeks. I was sure Alfonso would look like a fool challenging Manfredo.... but HEART really seems to matter when there is a $million paycheck at the end.

I think they're going to bring back Ahmed... they would be insane to bring back Manfredo or Reid. Even if it strengthens their team, it is someone you have to beat to win the cash.
 
I wasa told that one of the fighters commited suicide, either during filming of the shows, or soon after. I'm curious if this is true, and which one it was. I was told they were going to leave the fighter in the storyline, to keep the integrity of the show.
 
So what do we all think Sly is on. Hes late 40's early 50's?? But now he is bigger than any of his movies Rambo Rocky ect. Hes in great shape for being a geezer.
 
Cuffs said:
I wasa told that one of the fighters commited suicide, either during filming of the shows, or soon after. I'm curious if this is true, and which one it was. I was told they were going to leave the fighter in the storyline, to keep the integrity of the show.
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Najai Turpin is the boxer who committed suicide. The producers said they would not edit out his parts but I can't ever recall seeing him speak in the show so far.
 
spitboy said:
Najai Turpin is the boxer who committed suicide. The producers said they would not edit out his parts but I can't ever recall seeing him speak in the show so far.
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Damn. That's pretty sad.
 
Ishe showed to be the better overall boxer. Ahmed was just a puncher (from what you could see).
His ego was his undoing. I just loved Ahmed's girlfriend saying he better win cause she wouldnt be
with a loser. Her face was priceless when he lost. She looked like she was leaving with her friend
afterwards & she didnt seem to be in the locker room afterwards. Bye Bye pretty boy!!!
I was just cheering when ego boy lost.
 
Agreed ^^ Though it's hard to judge the fighters through the editing; it seemed Ahmed was one-dimensional and couldn't adjust. However we'll never know about the real defensive skills they have since that side of boxing is too boring to make the cut.

After seeing Ahmed disrespect Sugar Ray and then bragging about 'what he could do to him' ..... well, he deserved the walk of shame.
 
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