By Cliff Rold
It begins again…the tournament of opportunity. A brief opening montage reminds the viewer of as much. The images of fighters who have parlayed their presence on the show over the first three years into successes they otherwise might not have had. Images of…
Sergio Mora capturing the WBC Jr. Middleweight title from Vernon Forrest…
…of Alfonso Gomez ending the saga of Arturo Gatti…
…of Steve Forbes picking up a career high payday to face Oscar De La Hoya.
The audience is welcomed to the start of “The Contender,” Season Four.
This year’s show focuses on the Cruiserweight, or 200 lb., division, a choice which could end of being one of the wisest to date in terms of competitors. Cruiserweight is a division which in recent years has proven a reliable source of action and fans tuning in can cross their fingers about rumors of a series of very good fights.
Season four sees a new host after three years of the great Sugar Ray Leonard. Replacing Leonard is former Who’s The Boss star Tony Danza. Danza of course was also a tough journeyman fighter in the 1970s and brings a blue-collar ‘regular guy’ feel to the position Leonard never did. The trainers this year are John Bray, former professional Heavyweight, and Tommy Brooks, formerly of the corners of such notables as Mike Tyson and Pernell Whitkaer.
The contestants for Season Four provide a mix of experienced veterans, journeyman and fresh faces. The rules are simple; 16 contestants are divided into two teams. In week one, the teams each select a single member to represent them. Through the first eight five-round bouts, opponent selection will be determined by the team which won the previous week, meaning the chance to play perceived weak links versus strong. The teams are:
Blue
Mike Alexander (12-2, 8 KO)
Felix Cora Jr. (18-2-2, 9 KO)
Ryan Coyne (9-0, 3 KO)
Alfredo Escalera Jr. (15-1-1, 11 KO)
Richard Gingras (9-1, 5 KO)
Lawrence Tauasa (30-5-1, 17 KO)
Erick Vega (8-2-1, 6 KO)
Darnell Wilson (23-7-3, 20 KO)
Gold
Joell Godfrey (9-0-1, 5 KO)
Deon Elam (9-0, 5 KO)
Rico Hoye (20-2, 15 KO)
Akinyemi Laleye (10-1, 5 KO)
Ehinomen Ehikhamenor (12-3, 7 KO)
Tim Flamos (20-4-1, 8 KO)
Troy Ross (17-1, 12 KO)
Jon Schneider (7-2-1, 5 KO)
Episode One Recap
The first few minutes breeze through the usual reality series tropes of contestants entering their living quarters, hanging pictures from home…but with the special Contender twist always there. These men aren’t going to see who can crawl through slime for an extra cookie with dinner. At some point, every one of them will hit and be hit by another man equally focused on what for many of them is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a name for themselves.
The friction began immediately as this debut episode honed in on a war of words at the house pool table between Erick Vega and Joell Godfrey, each man stating a willingness to face off in the season’s debut bout. It’s not the way things turn out.
Godfrey indeed takes the mantle in week one for the Gold team but after careful debate, the Blue team decides to go with one of their most experienced members, Felix Cora Jr.
As is always the case with the Contender, fights are shown as clipped highlights rather than full three-minute rounds. Highlights are depicted in real time.
Round One
Godfrey begins with a probing jab against the tentative southpaw Cora, finally landing a stiff right hand to open the action. Godfrey catches a left hand which pushes him towards the ropes but he doesn’t stay there and spends the remainder of the round circling with the occasional jab or lead right.
Round Two
Godfrey is again aggressive with the jab and right hand before taking two straight lefts along the ropes. A lead right hand from Godfrey is followed by an extended assault to the body by Cora, again with Godfrey playing off the ropes. Both men trade shots towards the bell.
Round Three
Godfrey begins flurrying but is again forced to the ropes by the pressure and right jab of Cora. Cora remains committed to the body, mixing in the occasional uppercut, while Godfrey is comfortable covering up and then releasing spot flurries to the head.
Round Four
Cora lands a lead left and Godfrey is again pinned down. A right to the body and then head land for Cora and he appears well ahead with only one round to go. Godfrey shakes his head in disgust as he heads to his corner.
Round Five
Godfrey shots to the head repeatedly hit the gloves of Cora while Cora finds the ribs and face of Godfrey with his right and tactically placed left hands. Gold team trainer Tommy Brooks congratulates Cora for a good fight. Official scores announced at 49-46 and 50-45 twice concur with Brooks, all for the winner…Felix Cora Jr.
Cora entered the contest off of the first two losses of his career, both by knockout in 2006 and 2007. With the win over Godfrey, the 28-year old Cora of Galveston, Texas, extends his professional mark to 19-2-2, with 9 wins inside the route.
The 28-year old Godfrey of East St. Louis, Missouri exits round one tasting defeat for the first time. His record dropped to 9-1-1 with five knockouts.
Teasers for episode two indicate one of the fighters may become injured which would affect the makeup of the tournament. For now, it stands that the Blue advances Cora to the quarterfinals and will select not only their representative in the next bout but also who their man will face.
Final Thoughts
It wasn’t a bad fist week and so far Danza as camp leader is an inspired choice. He conveys both the authenticity of someone who has been in the ring along with a familiarity for the viewing audience which doesn’t overwhelm. Unlike Leonard, he doesn’t cut a figure which overwhelms the fighters. Instead, he compliments them.
The decision to switch locales from the U.S. to Singapore for the tournament had little effect on episode one and we’ll see how the geography plays out. There wasn’t much of a chance to get to know the personalities at play beyond the usual brief sound bites but with men like Wilson in the cast, it’s only a matter of time. As always, showing only highlights of bouts dilutes the drama of the show rather than enhances it, but after four years it is what it is.
As to the opening bout, the highlights aired didn’t exhibit the most memorable of bouts and ultimately it appeared experience overwhelmed. It usually does. Rumors of heavy action in the 2008-09 bouts remain rumors for the time being.
Episode One Rating: 7 out of 10
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com