Middleweight boxer Najai Turpin, a contestant on the upcoming NBC boxing reality series "The Contender," has taken his own life in Philadelphia, according to the NY Times. Turpin was 23 years of age and had a record of 13-1. The series will go on as planned March 7 and NBC executives say Turpin's segments are expected to air as scheduled.

yeah read the whole story very sad to hear something like that happening. :(

on the sick side for a second I wonder what this will do to ratings, my wife is watching for sure now.

Here he is
http://www.applepics.com/51/userfiles/42129002d6d9f.jpg


Born and raised in the ghetto, Najai is extremely soft spoken, polite and a very motivated and focused fighter. His mother died when he was 18-years old and Najai was left to raise his younger brother, sister, niece & nephew. He still cares for them even though his grandmother and brothers have stepped up to help.

Najai is a hard worker. He does road work in the early morning, works from 10am - 5pm at a restaurant cleaning seafood, then trains for two hours only to return to the restaurant to work until midnight. Any free time he has he runs to see his baby daughter Anje to whom he dedicates everything.

Just a few months ago, Najai was robbed at gunpoint and lost nine hundred dollars. The next morning he was informed he earned a chance to compete on The Contender. He believes that the news was a sign from God.

You don't kill yourself specially when you have a lil daughter to feed.

5'5 middleweight, he wouldnt have gone far.

You don't kill yourself specially when you have a lil daughter to feed.

yeah that is pretty cowardly to do that.anyway does anyone want to place some bets on that show? i say ishe smith wins :boxing:

That's a shame to hear, with all that going for him
A daughter at home, It's tragic what some people do
He must have had something seriously wrong at home
For him to do something like this to himself
RIP Najai man, life goes on...

he kill himself cause he got robbed of 900 dolars and relized who couldnt take care of his family anymore?

Still had a good record and got a on a TV show, why now? Doesnt make sense. Also sorry for creating a new topic, its hard to see if threads are already made.

Also, maybe he lost on the show and got eliminated? They do tape these shows in advance so that could be a potential reason.

ya thats what im thinking he got robbed then got eliminated wow that sucks

ya thats what im thinking he got robbed then got eliminated wow that sucks
yeah if that's the case that's terrible

yeah that is pretty cowardly to do that.anyway does anyone want to place some bets on that show? i say ishe smith wins :boxing:
500 GRAND on Peter Manfredo jr. :boxing:

wasnt the contender oscar's show?

wasnt the contender oscar's show?
No thats The next great chump :bottle: .This is Sylvester Stallone and sugar Ray Leonard's show.

o i forgot about that u know just cause sly played a boxer on TV doesnt mean he should make a show liek he knows crap about boxing or does he :X maybe its really ray's show but sly is the figure head i guess

That is sad. I feel for his family.

He will get some exposure being on TV, he could have improved, I think he gave up to quickly. It just sucks!

I really hope NBC doesn't exploit the tragety to their advantage, but this is a network and networks are ruthless for ratings.

Middleweight boxer Najai Turpin, a contestant on the upcoming NBC boxing reality series "The Contender," has taken his own life in Philadelphia, according to the NY Times. Turpin was 23 years of age and had a record of 13-1. The series will go on as planned March 7 and NBC executives say Turpin's segments are expected to air as scheduled.

Thats a damn shame..so very sad! :(

No thats The next great chump :bottle: .This is Sylvester Stallone and sugar Ray Leonard's show.

Thats right...I didnt watch Oscars cause I had a feeling it was gonna suck, and from everything I read while it was on it did suck! I dont "do" reality tv, but definately plan on watching this one!! :D

yeah that is pretty cowardly to do that.anyway does anyone want to place some bets on that show? i say ishe smith wins :boxing:
WTF you talkin about cowardly? The kid was sick! Its a sickness that sometimers leads to suicide :rolleyes:

if he quit because of some stupid show then he's a ***** at heart

maybe someone killed him and made it look suicidal

there are many options to explore