Rick Reeno

In a string of recent Boxing related tragedies, Najai Turpin, 23, a middleweight boxer from Philadelphia who was going to be a contestant in the upcoming NBC reality boxing series "The Contender", committed suicide yesterday in Philadelphia.

Turpin leaves behind a two year old daughter and girlfriend. Turpin and his family will be featured on the reality show which focuses on boxers and their personal lives without any edits.

"Nothing changes. I'm not even going to make any edits because it's real." said the show executive produce Mark Burnett

There is no word as to the outcome of any of the bouts, should Turpin win and keep winning, the suspense could generate heavy ratings for the show. The winner of the Contender tournament gets $1 million dollars.

NBC issued a statement that they show would go on as planned and they said that the suicide had nothing to do with the Contender television show. NBC will be setting up a fund to help Mr. Turpin's family.