In all honesty I think that ESPN was the place where The Contender should have been all along. It was a perfect fit for that network.

I think The Contender is unusual in that it's a reality show that features actual professional athletes in actual competition with one another.

In fact, that might be why it didn't quite catch onto a massive audience on NBC. So you may well have a good point, Brent. An ESPN marketing campaign would have driven home the sports angle a lot more clearly.

great news. I'll be there. Sergio is an incredible fighter. I don't think Peter has a chance.

Very cool, nugget.

I think Peter is the underdog here by every standard. However, it's very difficult to defeat an able opponent twice in a row. Couple that with Manfredo's ability to come back from adversity, and I think you're looking at a very interesting rematch.

Eric: I wonder if that raises the bar for networks when you consider the ratings potential of mixing primetime sports and reality television.

"An ESPN marketing campaign would have driven home the sports angle a lot more clearly."

I doubt it. If I knew of a reality boxing show on ESPN I probably would have discounted its dramatical presentation because it was on ESPN. I thought what NBC did was clever. They made alot of people who knew and cared little for boxing (myself included) suddenly enthralled in the sport (as it was depicted on reality TV that is.) I like how they slow mowed the clean shots and shortened the fight length for commercial breaks. Background music made it all the more enticing. It's great for the prevalant ADD and attention deficite issues the country is dealing with. It's a boxing soap opera. I think if they keep at it the popularity will increase.

I agree with you in total EXCEPT for the fact that the ratings were actually disappointing. I do think the potential is there because the show was usually compelling and you're right in that the editing was almost always at a very high level. You have to give Burnett the credit for that -- he's the master of the reality TV form.

hi i watched the contender last time and it woz quality im really looking forward to the rematch lets just hope that peter manfredo can beat him this time and the jesse vs anthony fight should be good aswell im just wondering will it be shown on uk tv

Since ESPN is broadcasting the fights live, maybe it will be picked up by one of the UK's sports cable nets?

3 more days until the rematch:) ESPN Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sergio "The Latin Snake" Mora vs Peter "The Pride of Prividence" Manfredo Jr. - - - - - - - - - -....... Alfonso "Superman" Gomez vs Luciano "El Gallo Bravo" Perez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante vs. Jesse Lee Brinkley - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Jonathan "Reid Dawg" Reid vs. Miguel "The Salsa King" Espino - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Juan "El Gallo Negro" De La Rosa vs. Jesse Orta

Mora v. Manfredo Jr. and Bonsante v. Brinkley should both be great rematches, certainly worth the price of admission.

Manfredo was robbed. He outboxed,out punched and easily handled Mora!!! No way should Sergio have won!!!!!! No darn way!!!!!!

If Mora was have the man he thinks he is or half the champion he would have given the belt to Pete, a real champion would accept a win when he knows down deep he got his ass handed to him

The whole card was a sham! From the stopped Gomez fight, to the ridiculous Bonsante loss, to the dubious win of Sergio. What I liked about the Contender series is that it put the "real" in reality TV, but this whole event smacked of a contrived publicity stunt!

I was so excited to watch the rematch fight, now? totally disgusted with the decision of idiotic judges! Peter WON that entire fight, hands down. The only reason why sergio ended up winning was it was his home town, and thats all. He displayed a sloppy fight. People who dont even know or follow boxing could see it, its a shame, and im very disappointed. I loved the contender show, it was real and about real people and their lives, but now with a new show coming on this year i dont think i'll be watching it because why watch it, get syked up to see what happened in last nights event. Its a total disgrace in boxing and should be investigated with this foolish decision.. Sergio needs to step up to the plate now, be a man about it, and give credit where credit is due and thats to Peter!!

I didn't see the fight, but I bet Peter won because he has a hot wife.
Sergio is all greasy and weird looking too. He looks like Razor Ramon if he didn't have any muscles.

Ok I was at the fight and, while I agree that it was much closer than the first, I think saying Peter was robbed is crap! First off Sergio fought with one eye after Peter head-butted him twice in the first round and cut his eye open. All of the reviews I read gave the fight to Sergio. Peter was not dominating. I think both players had their flurries of punches. Considering Sergio was fighting with the flu and one eye, Mandredo had a clear advantage that he never capitalized on. In round 5 it looked like Sergio was going to knock Mandredo out. He was clearing taking it to Peter until the ref stopped the fight so Sergio's eye could be looked at by the Doc. To say the fight was a shame is crap. Open your eyes and watch the fight! Yes it was a close fight but Peter did not dominate. I honestly think if Sergio was not sick, or if he had the use of both eyes, he would have knocked Mandredo out!

Thanks for providing a different perspective, John. I didn't have the opportunity to see the rematch (unfortunately) but I got the sense from the original bout that Sergio's style and skill would always present Manfredo with considerable problems in the ring.

Can anyone give us a good breakdown of the Brinkley v. Bonsante bout?

I was there too. Manfredo was hosed...less than Bonsante, but he was still hosed. John, you give credit to Sergio b/c of his cut eye...you don't get extra points for that. The main reviews come from ESPN...what else are they going to say? They aren't going add flame to fire that the whole card was fixed. Ironically, I came home and watched my taped version and the Tuesday night fight annoucers said the same thing...Peter should have won. If anything, the fight should have been stopped. If Sergio had any guts, he would give the belt to Peter...that way the rubber match would be that much more intriguing. By the way, Mora's cut was said to have been caused by a punch by the referee. Nice try fan.

Chuck...I think you meant "according to the referee" not by the referee. The tell tell sign for me is that Mora, who always grandstands after a victory was completely silent and made no grand gesturs, a clear sign he knew he lost because it was so out of character for him. Peter did not dominate, but did win the fight: he was busier, more agressive and landed more power shots. By the way, I have never seen a fighter win in CompuBox numbers and lose the fight, but both Peter and Bonsante somehow did. Add the unnecessary stopped fight in the Gomez match on top of the disgrace of a decision for Brinkley and the "Contender" lost all credibility.

umm manfredo won that fight. as did bonsante. I knew peter was in trouble after seeing how the brinkley bonsante fight was judged. Im not even a fan of either. But manfredo easily deserved a unanimous decision. they did split to try to hide the fixed decision. all mora needed to win that fight was last the rounds. peter could only win with KO. because u can beat the opponent, but we obviously saw that u cant beat the judges,, and money rules all. very corrupt, contender is now a joke. Peter manfredo shouldnt of never applied for that show. cuz they did nothing but screw him around. Brinkley knew he lost aswell. enough said there. Oh and alfonso the wussy.. he denied fighting ahmed kaddour because he was scared. kaddour is on tiop of his game and spars with dan santos and winky wright. Gomez knew he would lose. so they had to get a fighter with less than a week notice. also a bum fighter.. pathetic night to say the least.

if you saw moras face after fight. as with jesse, they both knew they lost. and even though mora claims cut was caused by headbutt. the ref confirmed that it was a punch. all mora had was tieng peter up and punching. peter was outskilling sergio on the outside. the better fighter lost. sergio can make up every excuse in the book. but he will be hounded by this for a long time by media and angry fans. he is nothing. fighting wiht one eye wutever.. he punched u, u got cut, u got beat, yer nothing.

also the ref stopped the fight early with gomez.. compubox showed bonsante and manfredo were obvious winners. so its easy to know that it was fixed. not mora or brinkley fault. but jesse knows he lost. as does sergio, he just wasnt vocal about it.. he didnt celebrate, peter did.. serg knew he lost. but hey.. cant compete with $$$$$$.

The well respected show the contender has lost my interest, if ESPN the "sports network" cannot even choose proper or "fair judges" for the matches then I prefer not to watch. A show known for "the reality of boxing" now camouflaged for a publicity stunt despite the reputation of the boxers. If Sergio was a true boxer as well as Brinkley they would of accepted defeat rather then take the win. I suggest ESPN take a look at the stats.

Shouldn't your anger, Jessica and others, be directed toward the boxing profession and not ESPN?

I blame whoever screwed witht he system to steal the well earned wins from manfredo anf bonsante.. its just wrong.. and it disgusts me. contender is now a joke. along with all 3 of those judges who obviously had a price that was met to do someoens dirty work. congrats.. way to make this world even worse!!!

Professional wrestlin' meets boxing? The broadcasters were correct. The decisions stunk. I can hear the powers that be telling the judges which winners were the best for the shows pocket book. If it's close ..... Problem is most people don't know how to do wrong right and screwed up the definition of close and gave the fights to people who clearly lost. The show is discredited, Snake looks terrible with his "head but and he knows he lost". I'm a daddy and I love my kids sooo much lost because he makes every one sick and had no chance!

its true. only a KO would secure manfredo and bonsante a win. very corrupt. I hope karma makes its way too all who were involved with it. ya by the way. Stallone was disgusted by the decisions. as we all should be. He knows that contender lost much fan base there. if there going to steal win from true winner. why do we wanna watch it?

Rob -- Do you have a quote / link from Stallone on the fight?

There certainly seems to be a pretty good consensus against the results of the bouts!

the rematch just got shown in england, what a total joke. the brinkly vs bonsante fight was disgracefull, the poor little bugger couldn't stay in the ring. mora better not come over here or he might get shown how the judges should have really scored the fight.

The rematch has just been shown in the UK and please, please, please somebody tell me I am dreaming. Did Bonsante and Manfredo really lose their fights...???

they lost on paper. But they are the true winners. and we all know it. corrupt judging

I feel sorry for how some of you know nothing about boxing. 1st of all peter was better conditioned than sergio he has fought 12 round fights in the past, its sergio that hasnt. in the 5th round where the docter checked sergios eye. he punchd himself out early, he had nothing, and peter woulda KO'd him if sergio didnt put his head through the ropes. the doctor checking his eye was the rest he was hoping for. He is all excuses, said he ahd flu, said he couldnt see, etc, etc.. lies about a headbutt wen the ref confirmed that ti was a punch. Sergio was class all the way through contender until that night. If any of you know sergio, if he knows he won he celebrates big when that final bell sounds. But you saw in his eyes, and smae with jesse brinkleys eyes.. both known they were defeated.. but when there name was announced they played it up like they won.. I real man wouldnt even accept a corrup decision like that, Mora being the man I thought he was should of strapped that belt around peters waist himself. because no matter how much he lies.. he knows he lost. and will never fight peter agian because he would get KO'd easily in a 12 round fight. or lose UD decision. aslong as there legit truthfull judges who havent been obviously paid off. But on the other side of it. Peter knows he won, and thats all he needs.. a Contender belt is a joke anyways.. He made up for both of his true losses, beating the guy who beat him originally.. and it will hound sergio mora. cuz he knows he lost. Peter is the man, he looked so professional in there. and will go further than sergio ever will. oh ya by the way, rumor says is that Ahmed Kaddour wants to fight Sergio Mora. oh ya alfonso denied rematching ahmed cuz he was scared, so he fought a nobody instead.way to go loser. Anyways Ahmed has improved big time, has new trainer and constantly sparring with winky wright and daniel santos.. Its obvious why alfonso was cowardly and denied the fight. But if Sergio Fights Ahmed his chin may get tested, aslong as ahmeds stamina is good, sergio will be on the mat. he has quoted that he doesnt trust judges so he will KO sergio. ok im done. well done peter and anthony, especially Peter though. your a future champ man.

Man, I've gotta see these fights on tape.

Any serious knockdowns or standing eight counts in either fight?

sergio stuck his head through the ropes because he punched himself out. and got the rest he needed when the ref decided to stop in the middle of the round to check sergios eye.

please how can i register for next years contender fight. get back to me.