Bad Left Hook: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Sports blogs for fans, by fans.
New Blog: The Boxing Bulletin for Boxing Fans!

'The Contender' moving to Versus, featuring Cruiserweights

Rafael with the word:

After airing for one season on NBC followed by two seasons on ESPN, "The Contender" will make its fourth-season debut on Versus in December with the first of 11 one-hour episodes followed by a two-hour season finale to crown the tournament winner.

...the new season will feature a 16-man tournament of cruiserweights (200 pounds), in which American fighters will face a team of international boxers.

Trainer Buddy McGirt will return to the series to coach the American fighters. The international trainer has not been determined, although series producers are interested in including Wales' Enzo Calzaghe, the father and trainer of light heavyweight champion Joe Calzaghe. Boxing icon Sugar Ray Leonard, host of the series for the first three seasons, also is expected to return.

Although the field of fighters has not been signed, show executives are talking to promoters of several notable cruiserweights, with former undisputed champion O'Neil Bell the most prominent name among them. Others in the mix include Vadim Tokarev, B.J. Flores, Darnell "Ding-A-Ling Man" Wilson, Matt Godfrey, Johnathon Banks, Aaron Williams, Shawn Hawk, Emmanuel Nwodo, Ola Afolabi, Ehinomen Ehikhamenor and Mike Alexander.

Tournament of Contenders will have at least three live boxing events on Versus under the deal.

I realize this makes me a rube, but while I don't really like the way the fights are presented, I like that show exists. Hopefully they'll air uncut versions of the fights like ESPN did for some of last season.

It looks like at least relative to the division, this group is the most qualified contender class yet.

 

FanPosts do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of Bad Left Hook or SB Nation. They might, though.

0 recs  |  Comment 1 comment

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Display:

That’s a fucking awesome lineup. I’m happy that the show exists, too. I’m also hoping that since Versus isn’t a network or ESPN with a lot of natural viewing audience, the fights will just be presented as fights. I don’t bank on it.

"Yesterday I was lying, today I am telling the truth." -- Bob Arum

Camden Chat
Bad Left Hook

by SC on Jul 11, 2008 4:52 AM EDT reply actions   0 recs

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

Welcome to SB Nation's Bad Left Hook, covering boxing 365 days a year.
Start posting on Bad Left Hook »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recommended FanPosts

Small
Nazim Richardson on Margarito loading his gloves
Metux_sm_small
There's something about Manny

Recent FanPosts

Small
The Super Six So Far
Small
Ten Year Anniversary of Grant-Golota
080702_nickdiaz_small
Manny Pacquiao Weight Timeline
Picture_010_small
Boxing double knock down
Beanie_small
Live at the Kessler-Ward Press Conference
Small
Don't discredit Golota
Small
The Sad Truth
Small
Scoring a Fight
Small
History in the making: The grand science experiment...

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >


Managers

9018_185776360922_747385922_4256197_5272137_n_small SC

Editors

Box_marquez_vazquez_275-707948_small Brickhaus

Boxing_icon_small Matt Miller