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The Pride of Providence, Peter Manfredo Jr., is headlining another major televised event on ESPN's Friday Night Fights series, slated for May 23rd. It seems that every time I turn around Manfredo is getting another shot at showcasing his abilities to the main stream television audience, starting with The Contender Series and ending with his two losses on Showtime/PPV. Manfredo is a good (but not great) fighter and I know that he is a major draw in ticket sales and television ratings, but how many chances is he going to get as he hogs the top bill on major televised cards. we all know for a fact that there are much better and more exciting boxers in not only his division, but all divisions, that deserve a shot at mainstream recognition.
We watched the smaller Alfonzo Gomez step up and beat him when he was the favorite, two decision losses to Sergio Mora, a demolition by Joe Calzaghe, and a loss at the hands of Jeff Lacy. I haven't seen anything from him that justifies the amount of attention he receives. The obvious explanation is the continued attention (deserved or not) that the long line of Contender participants have received since participating the highly rated television series.
This year we have seen an explosion of ex-Contender's land major bouts on high visibility platforms including Showtime, HBO, and ESPN. Besides Manfredo, we have seen Cornelius K9 Bundridge defeat ex-champ Kassim Ouma, Brian Vera pull a shocking upset over the highly touted Andy Lee, David Banks get his jaw blown off the hinges by Edison Miranda (see KO of the year candidate here), Alfonzo Gomez put Arturo Gatti into ealry retirement (only to be obliterated by Cotto), Steve Forbes take his best shot at The Golden Boy and Sergio Mora, even after a few dismal fights (one of which I was sitting ringside to watch Elvin Ayala beat Mora only to receive a draw when it went to the cards) receive a shot at the middle weight title against Vernon Forest. Of all these Contender fighters who have seen their stock soar from the show, there is one fighter that has fallen back into mediocrity for the American public and he is one of the only fighters from that series without a blemish on his record.
Paul Smith from Liverpool, England came over to fight in the Contender series to prove to the American public that British boxing is better than we perceive (it's going to take more than that). To me he looked liked he had the skills and mental toughness to be a good fighter from the onset. However, his exit was quick, not because of a loss but because of the new scoring system that was set in place for the 3rd Contender season. Since the fights before him ended in KO's, to stay in the competition he needed to do as well or better. He defeated the aforementioned David Banks in a close decision, was booted because he had the lowest score and promptly took his undefeated record back to England.
Since his short stint on the show, he has won two more fights and claimed the vacant English middleweight title (not the most astounding feat) on the non-televised under-card of the Haye-Maccarinelli fight, bringing his record to 23-0. Now the knock on him (like most british fighters) is the poor competition that most of those wins have come from on the way to the top in Britain. But a boxer can only fight what is there in front of him and that hasn't been much.
With that said, I would still rather see him on the next bill of ESPN Friday Night Fights instead of Manfredo. If the reason that all of these fighters mentioned above are getting big fights is because they were on the Contender (which it is), then why not give a guy a shot from the same show who has an undefeated record. I would much more willingly watch someone who has never lost fight, even all his wins came in Britain (Smith), than watch someone who has been beaten five times right before my eyes on national TV (Manfredo). Who knows, Smith will probably get knocked cold in his first major televised fight, but wouldn't that be a little better than watching the same ole' thing again?
From The Final Bell
We watched the smaller Alfonzo Gomez step up and beat him when he was the favorite, two decision losses to Sergio Mora, a demolition by Joe Calzaghe, and a loss at the hands of Jeff Lacy. I haven't seen anything from him that justifies the amount of attention he receives. The obvious explanation is the continued attention (deserved or not) that the long line of Contender participants have received since participating the highly rated television series.
This year we have seen an explosion of ex-Contender's land major bouts on high visibility platforms including Showtime, HBO, and ESPN. Besides Manfredo, we have seen Cornelius K9 Bundridge defeat ex-champ Kassim Ouma, Brian Vera pull a shocking upset over the highly touted Andy Lee, David Banks get his jaw blown off the hinges by Edison Miranda (see KO of the year candidate here), Alfonzo Gomez put Arturo Gatti into ealry retirement (only to be obliterated by Cotto), Steve Forbes take his best shot at The Golden Boy and Sergio Mora, even after a few dismal fights (one of which I was sitting ringside to watch Elvin Ayala beat Mora only to receive a draw when it went to the cards) receive a shot at the middle weight title against Vernon Forest. Of all these Contender fighters who have seen their stock soar from the show, there is one fighter that has fallen back into mediocrity for the American public and he is one of the only fighters from that series without a blemish on his record.
Paul Smith from Liverpool, England came over to fight in the Contender series to prove to the American public that British boxing is better than we perceive (it's going to take more than that). To me he looked liked he had the skills and mental toughness to be a good fighter from the onset. However, his exit was quick, not because of a loss but because of the new scoring system that was set in place for the 3rd Contender season. Since the fights before him ended in KO's, to stay in the competition he needed to do as well or better. He defeated the aforementioned David Banks in a close decision, was booted because he had the lowest score and promptly took his undefeated record back to England.
Since his short stint on the show, he has won two more fights and claimed the vacant English middleweight title (not the most astounding feat) on the non-televised under-card of the Haye-Maccarinelli fight, bringing his record to 23-0. Now the knock on him (like most british fighters) is the poor competition that most of those wins have come from on the way to the top in Britain. But a boxer can only fight what is there in front of him and that hasn't been much.
With that said, I would still rather see him on the next bill of ESPN Friday Night Fights instead of Manfredo. If the reason that all of these fighters mentioned above are getting big fights is because they were on the Contender (which it is), then why not give a guy a shot from the same show who has an undefeated record. I would much more willingly watch someone who has never lost fight, even all his wins came in Britain (Smith), than watch someone who has been beaten five times right before my eyes on national TV (Manfredo). Who knows, Smith will probably get knocked cold in his first major televised fight, but wouldn't that be a little better than watching the same ole' thing again?
From The Final Bell
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