Sergio Mora and the Pretend- uh I mean Contender

As an eyewitness to the Contender tryouts on LaBrea Street for season 1 of the Contender. I have to say these "reality shows" must have a lot of red tape involved in selecting contestants. In season 1 of the Contender, there was this untrained (hard believe when watching him) fighter who more or less had everything. I'd go as far as saying he was the most talented "untrained" fighter I had ever seen. The only reason I believe he's untrained is because he did not know how to wrap his hands, and he didn't know not to wear a helmet so small he was fighting with blinders. He made a fuss about it after the fight saying he couldn't see or couldn't see looping punches. Between spectators and other fighters we thought he was the best fighter there. He was the only guy to get a knockdown in the 1 round tryouts and did it with a 6inch uppercut like Joe Louis used to do. He had handspeed like Roy as a middleweight, switched and fought the guy left handed for half the round (seriously), it was hard to believe he was untrained. Funny enough, the guy he fought had 10-15 pounds on him. I remember leaving thinking "I can't wait to see this guy in action". Next thing I hear, Sergio Mora is picked from L.A., I saw every fight, he did not even show up. So it's like how did he get on the Show? Maybe this untrained guy doesn't have stamina, heart, or something else I can't see in a one round, but he's faster than the Latin Snake and he has 1 punch KO power. I did not talk to him but some guys thought he was from Compton, just a rumor. So you all do not think this is bull, if this guy had the stamina to go the distance, I'd pick him to stop Sergio Mora. The main point is, are we really watching the best fighters on this show, or do we have a few good fighters mixed in with props and extras? A friend said someone may have mentioned me on the site I thought for sure it was a mistake. I never post but I visit and the posts alot, he's definitely talking about me. I remember the UPPERCUT! I'm the guy BigBoy9000 is talking about who was at the L.A tryouts for season 1 of The Contender, it's crazy someone remembers that it seems like so long ago. Uhh, thanks for making me sound good lol. I'll start a new thread. . . .

manfredo was robbed the second bout IMO. Maybe but I think it was fonso who got robbed in the rematch.

i think a fighters marketability may be a big key in choosing fighters for a show like contender. Meaning they have to have the looks just a bit and be able to do solid interviews now and then. In other words the fighters have to help sell them self and not be there just to fight. look at De La Hoya, the richest man in boxing. The man had pretty boy looks, knew how to market himself during fights and outside of the ring and now as a promoter he is lookin to do the same for other fighters. alot of it just comes down to makin $$$$ i guess.

Well, the Contender is good for boxing but if we don't see the best fighters, is it good for the fighters? People get reacclammated to the "free boxing" of the past but the public thinks, "I think I could beat a few of those guys", maybe I am asking too much.

Nice post and I agree. The contender does attract a few more people to the sport. Here in America we just don’t have enough fans. Remember back in the day when you could get 10 people to go in on a fight at someone’s house? Hell, I am lucky to find anyone who gives a shit about watching it for free a week later, anymore. Now that's real, in some places "sports bars" do not even show the fights. I guess the main attraction in boxing has been heavyweight, and now it isn't there. The best weight classes are the in between classes say, 140-160

The thing is, i think the contender is GREAT for boxing. It opens it up to the public, and i think as boxing fans we should all be thankful - because i feel that those who aren't are elitists who want to keep the sport to themselves. If you look at when boxing was popular, you'll find lots of drama. Jack Johnson - many fans remember him, not only because he was good, but especially because he was black. It was controversial and thus made good news, and people rooted for him or hated him - thats what made watching him fight more exciting. Ali - the whole Islam thing and his refusal to go to war - that was drama, and again people either rooted for him or hated him, it added another dimension to the fight - it gave the fight meaning, i guess. Joe Louis - there was some drama there too, i think it was schmeling that 'represented' germany right? I'm not a big Louis fan and so i don't know his record or anything, but i know that at one point it was almost as if he was representing america. Tyson - he has a story. Don't even need to talk about it. That's the reason why he'll always be more popular then Lewis, even though arguably Lewis was the better fighter. Tyson had background, character - fallen angel type of thing. The general public can't fully appreciate the technique until they get to know the sport - the importance of the job, good footwork, cutting the ring, slipping, blocking, etc. Before they learn that they need to be pulled in, and only drama, good stories, can do that. That's The Contender. And if they do it right, Superfighter will be that way too. Thats why i love the contender =) Anyways, yea, Sergio has bundles of talent in my opinion - his handspeed definitely can't be laughed at, and he's got good reaction speed. He needs to work on his technique, obviously. His switching is quite effective too - not many fighters can do that effectively. Nice post and I agree. The contender does attract a few more people to the sport. Here in America we just don’t have enough fans. Remember back in the day when you could get 10 people to go in on a fight at someone’s house? Hell, I am lucky to find anyone who gives a shit about watching it for free a week later, anymore.

manfredo is doing good and this guy mora beat him twice. so mora must have something, no power but he has skill. what good is the one punch guy if he can get outboxed tiered and stopped do to stamina the 2nd manfredo/mora fight was a blatant robbery for mora. even mora's hometown of LA was booing when he got the decision.

if open TV cared about boxing they would still air real fights.... they care about the stories, what is good for boxing is no where near their priorities. in other words they dont give a fuck. The thing is, i think the contender is GREAT for boxing. It opens it up to the public, and i think as boxing fans we should all be thankful - because i feel that those who aren't are elitists who want to keep the sport to themselves. If you look at when boxing was popular, you'll find lots of drama. Jack Johnson - many fans remember him, not only because he was good, but especially because he was black. It was controversial and thus made good news, and people rooted for him or hated him - thats what made watching him fight more exciting. Ali - the whole Islam thing and his refusal to go to war - that was drama, and again people either rooted for him or hated him, it added another dimension to the fight - it gave the fight meaning, i guess. Joe Louis - there was some drama there too, i think it was schmeling that 'represented' germany right? I'm not a big Louis fan and so i don't know his record or anything, but i know that at one point it was almost as if he was representing america. Tyson - he has a story. Don't even need to talk about it. That's the reason why he'll always be more popular then Lewis, even though arguably Lewis was the better fighter. Tyson had background, character - fallen angel type of thing. The general public can't fully appreciate the technique until they get to know the sport - the importance of the job, good footwork, cutting the ring, slipping, blocking, etc. Before they learn that they need to be pulled in, and only drama, good stories, can do that. That's The Contender. And if they do it right, Superfighter will be that way too. Thats why i love the contender =) Anyways, yea, Sergio has bundles of talent in my opinion - his handspeed definitely can't be laughed at, and he's got good reaction speed. He needs to work on his technique, obviously. His switching is quite effective too - not many fighters can do that effectively.

if open TV cared about boxing they would still air real fights.... they care about the stories, what is good for boxing is no where near their priorities. in other words they dont give a fuck.

Psychological testing was also done. Boxing ability was not the only factor. Stop being a hater (I would add the word jealous, but thats probably even more obvious than the word hater). This better not be toward me because I think Mora is very good. I just 1 person per city hurt the show. Worst case scenario I'd put the guy as 8th-10th best of the 16.

No, the contenders are probably not the best fighters. Well, the Contender is more TV than reality. They pick a lot based on their stories - history. Inspirational stories like Sergios (poor background, grew up on the streets and trained to keep away from gangs) are inspirational - maybe the boxing hardcores don't feel it, but the general public do. I wanna see'em throw'em! Maybe this talented guy had no story. Maybe he was a rich kid with buckets of talent, but he was snobby or arrogant or whatnot. Maybe he didn't but he definitely wasn't rich. Before seeing him fight he seemed more quiet and nice like he was out of place, they said he was religious.

No, the contenders are probably not the best fighters. They pick a lot based on their stories - history. Inspirational stories like Sergios (poor background, grew up on the streets and trained to keep away from gangs) are inspirational - maybe the boxing hardcores don't feel it, but the general public do. Maybe this talented guy had no story. Maybe he was a rich kid with buckets of talent, but he was snobby or arrogant or whatnot. mora certianly has talent, tho.

Psychological testing was also done. Boxing ability was not the only factor. Stop being a hater (I would add the word jealous, but thats probably even more obvious than the word hater).

Mora needs 2 start making moves in the middleweight divison, the guys talented very fast and skilful he got a great chance i think to be top 10 after a few more bouts would luv 2 see him face some1 like Miranda i don't think he got anythink coming up also with the reports Miranda rejectd a bout with Calzaghe are true, MORA jst sitting on his cool million i bet at the moment, it prob works out better 2 finish runner up on tht program than win it cause with a cool Mill in the bank i bet MORA dont train as hard as he did do when he was up and coming ill tellu tht Miranda is fighting Abraham in August for the IBF belt.

No, the contenders are probably not the best fighters. They pick a lot based on their stories - history. Inspirational stories like Sergios (poor background, grew up on the streets and trained to keep away from gangs) are inspirational - maybe the boxing hardcores don't feel it, but the general public do. Maybe this talented guy had no story. Maybe he was a rich kid with buckets of talent, but he was snobby or arrogant or whatnot.

Mora needs 2 start making moves in the middleweight divison, the guys talented very fast and skilful he got a great chance i think to be top 10 after a few more bouts would luv 2 see him face some1 like Miranda i don't think he got anythink coming up also with the reports Miranda rejectd a bout with Calzaghe are true, MORA jst sitting on his cool million i bet at the moment, it prob works out better 2 finish runner up on tht program than win it cause with a cool Mill in the bank i bet MORA dont train as hard as he did do when he was up and coming ill tellu tht

If you were Sergio Mora would you be afraid to fight a good unknown.

I think the Contender people were looking for a fighter who could possibly challenge for a title soon so that might be the reason the passed on "the untrained guy". You're probaly right the fact they were both from LA may have hurt him, I think they only took 1 person from each city.

manfredo is doing good and this guy mora beat him twice. so mora must have something, no power but he has skill. what good is the one punch guy if he can get outboxed tiered and stopped do to stamina I think Manfredo was robbed in the second fight. Mora is very good because we won. The untrained guy was a boxer/counterpuncher who just happened to have 1 punch KO power, he only got hit once. The stamina is unknown because he only fought 1 round.

As an eyewitness to the Contender tryouts on LaBrea Street for season 1 of the Contender. I have to say these "reality shows" must have a lot of red tape involved in selecting contestants. In season 1 of the Contender, there was this untrained (hard believe when watching him) fighter who more or less had everything. I'd go as far as saying he was the most talented "untrained" fighter I had ever seen. The only reason I believe he's untrained is because he did not know how to wrap his hands, and he didn't know not to wear a helmet so small he was fighting with blinders. He made a fuss about it after the fight saying he couldn't see or couldn't see looping punches. Between spectators and other fighters we thought he was the best fighter there. He was the only guy to get a knockdown in the 1 round tryouts and did it with a 6inch uppercut like Joe Louis used to do. He had handspeed like Roy as a middleweight, switched and fought the guy left handed for half the round (seriously), it was hard to believe he was untrained. Funny enough, the guy he fought had 10-15 pounds on him. I remember leaving thinking "I can't wait to see this guy in action". Next thing I hear, Sergio Mora is picked from L.A., I saw every fight, he did not even show up. So it's like how did he get on the Show? Maybe this untrained guy doesn't have stamina, heart, or something else I can't see in a one round, but he's faster than the Latin Snake and he has 1 punch KO power. I did not talk to him but some guys thought he was from Compton, just a rumor. So you all do not think this is bull, if this guy had the stamina to go the distance, I'd pick him to stop Sergio Mora. The main point is, are we really watching the best fighters on this show, or do we have a few good fighters mixed in with props and extras? I think the Contender people were looking for a fighter who could possibly challenge for a title soon so that might be the reason the passed on "the untrained guy".