By Tom Donelson

The Contender is coming back in 2006, but this past Saturday night reminded us why the program was so good the first time around.  What the Contender did was introduce the sweet science to the casual fan.  I have to admit that when the show’s concept was introduced, I chose to ignore it simply because I hate reality shows.  It was when a friend asked me if I had seen the Contender, that I changed my mind. She raved about the show and told me, “My daughter just loves the show and she wants to be a boxer.”

Then I started to watch the show. What made the original show intriguing was that you saw the emotions of the fighters and you saw the impact that boxing had upon the fighter’s family and friends. Another aspect is that young fighters found themselves matched up in competitive matches against each other. Young fighters competed against young fighters and not the usual collection of tomato cans and the barely breathing. We saw young fighters challenged.  We saw the human element of the sport. And when you add the excellent photography of each fight, drama was enhanced. 

ESPN decided to show some of these young charges, including two rematches. In the first match, Alphonsia Gomez fought Luciano Perez. During the first season of the Contender, the welterweight Gomez was fighting Middleweights and was consistently outweighed. Against Perez, Gomez was the bigger fighter and the more skilled.  During the fight, Gomez showed one aspect of maturity, he adopted a new strategy.  Gomez chose to fight outside and use his jab to control the fight. Perez kept the pressure on but Gomez accuracy proved the difference as his sharper punches proved decisive.  As for the action in the ring, these two fighters averaged nearly 160 punches a round. 

Anthony Bonsante and Jesse Brinkley teamed up for a rematch of their bout in which Brinkley hit Bonsante with the perfect uppercut and sent Bonsante packing from the original Contender program. Bonsante’s strategy was to box and in the early rounds, he did exactly that. Brinkley looked hesitant throughout the entire fight.  Both men eluded each other's best shots but Brinkley, the bigger guy, did not press his advantage.  In the fourth round, Bonsante's boxing skills showed through as he nailed Brinkley with beautiful combinations.  At the end of the round, Brinkley gasped for breath before being nailed with a five-punch combination. 

In the fifth round, Bonsante stuck to his game plan and showed the sweet science at it's best. For those who declared boxing as legalized murder, have to see this fight and understand the true artistry involved. Bonsante's consistency and foot movement destroyed Brinkley. The only flaw was that the judges did not see the same fight as the rest of us.  

The strength of boxing and its weakness showed up in this fight.  Bonsante easily won the fight and out punched Brinkley by a three to one margin.  The judges simply screwed up and gave an undeserved victory to Brinkley.  These decisions baffle the casual fan and leaves these fans asking, “What does a guy have to do to win?”  Bonsante proved to be the artist and the judges robbed him. Period. Peter Manfredo, Jr. began the main event by fighting outside and using his jab. 

A right hand opened a cut on Sergio Mora. Mora did not use a jab to move inside and found himself grabbing more than he did in his first fight. Manfredo changed his approach as his jab set up his right and held less on the inside. Manfredo let his hands go more and got the better of the inside fighting. In the fifth round, Mora went on the offensive and forced Manfredo to fight off the rope. The sixth round was even but Manfredo won the seventh as he returned what worked for the first four rounds. The judges showed in the Bonsante-Brinkley fight that what happened in the ring were not necessarily reflective on their cards. 

The Mora-Manfredo fight was no different since the Compubox numbers showed Manfredo's advantages.  This fight was closer than the Bonsante-Brinkley fight but Manfredo was more effective over the full eight rounds.  The judges disagreed. What the Contender did do was build excitement for the sport. While the judges failed on their end, the fighters did not. They provided the excitement as the evenly matched fighters threw punches and engaged each other in competitive matches.  The electricity of the fans reflected the bouts themselves. 

The Contender as a series is a plus for boxing for it emphasizes those prospects with potential in front of them like Sergio Mora and those older fringe contenders, like Anthony Bonsante, looking for one final shot at big money.