by David P. Greisman
Primetime television, May 24, 2005: On a night when Sylvester Stallone performed as well at color commentary as he once did with enunciating “Yo, Adrian,” middleweight prospect Sergio Mora won a seven-round decision and was named champion of boxing television series “The Contender.”
Two years later, Mora was still neither a champion nor a contender, having long ago exited Mark Burnett’s reality show, only to land smack dab in the middle of reality.
Mora’s questionable rankings with the International Boxing Federation, World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council, combined with the marketability gained through his brief period of celebrity, had made the Los Angeles native the frontrunner for Jermain Taylor’s voluntary defense of the middleweight championship. For an undefeated prospect whose best and only showings since coming off of “The Contender” were victories over Archak Ter-Meliksetian and Eric Regan, facing Taylor meant a perhaps undeserved opportunity to appear on the grandest stage and under the brightest lights, to receive a major paycheck and, if he could pull off the upset, to become the top name at 160 pounds.
Mora wanted more.
Taylor’s people hoped to stage the match in Memphis, Tenn. Mora, who perhaps didn’t realize that the most his 15 minutes of fame had done was land him within three sanctioning bodies’ top 15, didn’t want to appear in a city that borders Taylor’s native Arkansas.
“We’re not going to fight Jermain in May. We don’t want to fight in Memphis,” Contender promotional chief Jeff Wald told ESPN.com scribe Dan Rafael in March. “For a big championship fight like Taylor-Mora, we didn’t want to be in a place like Memphis, no offense to Memphis. We would rather do something more interesting.”
In response, Lou DiBella, Taylor’s promoter, absolutely nailed it.
“Too bad for Mora,” DiBella said to Rafael. “Sergio Mora thinks he has this kind of leverage to dictate where the fight is? Let him go pound sand.”
Instead of defending against a somewhat untested prospect, Taylor fought May 19 against Cory Spinks, a veteran who had been champion at welterweight and a titlist at junior middleweight. Mora, meanwhile, had gone from a sizeable payday to a fractional fee for a July 20 main event against Raymond Joval on ESPN2’s “Friday Night Fights.” That bout got canceled, however, in favor of Mora fighting Kassim Ouma on the undercard of this month’s Juan Manuel Marquez-Rocky Juarez pay-per-view.
Mora, when he finally steps into the ring against Ouma, will be coming off of a nearly 13-month layoff, inactivity indicative of the various issues facing “The Contender” as the reality series enters its third season.
Of the 16 season-one contestants, only Alfonso Gomez, Peter Manfredo Jr. and Mora remain in the spotlight. Manfredo’s career peaked in April, when he challenged Joe Calzaghe for the super middleweight championship and lost via a controversial early stoppage. Gomez had his own crowning achievement in July, when he ended Arturo Gatti’s long and glorious career.
Season two’s favored personalities were Norberto Bravo and Cornelius Bundrage, finalist Steve Forbes and champion Grady Brewer. Bravo has since shown his limits, getting drubbed by welterweight prospect Andre Berto and outpointed by a long-past-his-prime “Yori Boy” Campas. Bundrage was starched in July by Joel Julio. Forbes dropped a controversial decision in March to Demetrius Hopkins and will face Francisco “Panchito” Bojado under Marquez-Juarez. And Brewer, who hasn’t appeared since last year’s season finale, is sidelined by injuries.
When the premise of a reality series is to sequester 16 boxers for an extended period of time, controlling their movements and limiting their manner of making money, it’s of little surprise that “The Contender” has tended to attract and focus on the lesser-known prospects and the lifetime sparring partners, the designated opponents and the aging veterans seeking one last shot. It can make for compelling television – but then what?
Beginning with Forrest Griffin and Diego Sanchez and continuing through Michael Bisping and Kendall Grove, “The Ultimate Fighter” has done for mixed martial arts what “The Contender” has failed to do for boxing, providing prospects that are both marketable commodities and potential (if eventual) contenders. Perhaps “The Ultimate Fighter” had an advantage in that Ultimate Fighting Championship has virtually cornered the mixed martial arts business while the Sweet Science is controlled by many. But “The Ultimate Fighter” can also chalk up much of its success to finding a formula in which the show is dramatic, interesting and pertinent, while also, by airing the two-round matches in their entirety, satisfying the desire of its demographic to see some action.
Not that “The Contender” isn’t trying.
Starting with last year’s second season, “The Contender” no longer had the standard Mark Burnett reality series challenges, and it wisely kept executive producer Sylvester Stallone off-screen. In addition, the switch from NBC to the ESPN family of networks allowed the opportunity for repeat showings. There were still shameless product placements and edited boxing matches, but the overall product was an improvement.
This year’s season, which begins Sept. 4 on ESPN, could be even better.
The 16 contestants, who will compete in the super middleweight division, include former title challengers in Sakio Bika and Sam Soliman, and prospects such as Henry “Sugar Poo” Buchanan and Jaidon Codrington. Gone are trainers Tommy Gallagher and Jeremy Williams, who have been replaced by Pepe Correa and Buddy McGirt. And though the fights will still be edited, full versions will be shown each week on ESPN2. The season finale is scheduled a mere two months after the first episode, a condensed format that just might give the winner some momentum.
And perhaps he can use it.
Of season one’s Gomez, Manfredo and Mora, only Mora stuck around at middleweight, while Gomez returned to his natural welterweight and Manfredo jumped up to 168. Season two’s finalists, Brewer and Forbes, were both coming to welterweight from other weight classes. Forbes has since returned to 140, a smart move for a smaller man.
Super middleweight, however, is a division that can benefit from the arrival of new faces or the resurgence of old challengers, especially as Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler are tied up with their November unification bout. Those coming out of this new season of “The Contender” will find themselves in an exciting weight class that is home to, among many, Librado Andrade, Alejandro Berrio, Allan Green, Jeff Lacy, Yusef Mack, Peter Manfredo Jr. and Edison Miranda.
Two years ago, “The Contender” played in primetime despite its not-yet-ready-for-primetime players. This time, perhaps, there will be some reality behind the reality series’ title.
The 10 Count will return next week.
David P. Greisman’s weekly column, “Fighting Words,” appears every Monday on BoxingScene.com. He may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com