The Contender Season Finale

[B00T]

The Latin Snake is gonna chew this guy up.

[B00T]

Who wants action on the fight? I have no sportsbook accounts.

[B00T]

Good fight going on between Jesse and Alfonso. Round 3 Alfonso's mouthpiece falls out, he pauses for half a second and they both swing like crazy. Ref goes to break them up so he can retrieve his mouthpiece but they keep slugging away and he lets them go.

Great stuff.

[SuitedSixes]

I put $100 on Sergio (-115).

Where are you watching the Jesse fight?

[B00T]

the fight is on NBC now. I'm on the east coast, dont know if that matters at all.

[TStoneMBD]

i just finished watching idol and tuned into contender. i dont think manfredo has much of a chance imo. what is the sportsbook line? is sergio the favorite?

[SuitedSixes]

They're even at playersonly.com

[skoal2k4]

i think both fights are gonna be good... can't wait until they get to the fights

[skoal2k4]

I really wish they would've gotten HBO or Showtime to do the "live" season finale. NBC is behind the curve here

1) commentary sucks
2) I don't care about seeing the families and the celebs... keep the damn camera on the boxers

edit: 3) some camera angles suck as well

[adamstewart]

1 minute to decision...


sergio's gotta have this.



amazing fight

[pokerraja]

NBC fcked this one up. the commentary was horrible. all sly kept saying since the first round was "we need a rematch", lol.

[mostsmooth]

[ QUOTE ]
i think both fights are gonna be good... can't wait until they get to the fights

[/ QUOTE ]
both fights? theres another one after the one that just finished at 9:45, or did i miss the first one?

[skoal2k4]

jesse vs. alphonso (undercard)
peter vs. sergio (main event)

[B00T]

Seriously all Sly talked about was a rematch...How about you enjoy the fight you are watchin.

I thought the fight was incredible. I thought this was entire series was one of the best shows on TV I can remember. A true reality show, where at least they decided their own fates. No voting, no audience vote etc.

The concept was great but I agree with NBC dropping the ball on their coverage.

Congrats Suited on your bet, and making the threads each week to talk about.

[BellyBuster7]

[ QUOTE ]

I thought the fight was incredible. I thought this was entire series was one of the best shows on TV I can remember. A true reality show, where at least they decided their own fates. No voting, no audience vote etc.

Congrats Suited on your bet, and making the threads each week to talk about.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, ditto on all of that. This blew away just about every show I can think of in recent memory, and I enjoyed the post-game here in OOT every week too.

Did you guys see the quick recaps of the other Contender fights? Ishe beat Bonsante, and put on a hat on that said, "I'M the #1 Daddy"- I just about fell off the couch. I hope we haven't seen the last of these guys, there were some good fighters in there. And hey, Sergio just beat the #3 ranked middleweight, maybe he'll get a shot at the real title sometime?

[B00T]

About that I'M the #1 daddy hat...I saw that too and was actually going to make another post about it, but I was posting too much on here...That was hilarious though..good catch...

It was so funny how it was just written on a plain white hat with a sharpie.

[DoubleDown]

Anyone think that the Final Four (Sergio, Peter, Jesse, Alfonso) agreed to a chop prior to the semi-final round?

(This point was brought up in a prior thread. Wondering what people think now after seeing the results of the championship bout)

I think there are arguments for both a chop & a non-chop. It could be argued that Sergio is too smart of a fighter to get caught up in trash-talk with Peter's corner if the whole $1 million really was at stake here. He would have been as dead-on focused as he was in prior fights. Sergio's seemingly non-chalant attitude could be construed as if the fight perhaps really didn't mean THAT much (monetarily).

However, following the decision, Peter Manfredo looked EXTREMELY distraught. Had they chopped, he probably would'nt have been hanging his head so low after the decision and would have instead viewed the fight as just another loss. This fight was clearly more than just a blemish on his record ... it was about something more important: 1 million greenbacks.

So what do you think- Chop or No Chop?

[skoal2k4]

I felt sergio won the fight, but the margin that he won was a bit extreme. I felt it was much closer than the judges... anyone else agree with that?

also, nbc's job of doing this show really really sucked

[skoal2k4]

i'm not a fighter, nor do I know any... but don't they seem a bit too prideful to chop? I see some of them viewing a win just as equal as the money

[Dudd]

Correct me if I'm wrong, since I only saw the first episode and the last, but I'm pretty sure Peter lost his first fight. How was he still in this thing?

[skoal2k4]

someone quit and they voted him back into the thing

[SuitedSixes]

[ QUOTE ]
Congrats Suited on your bet, and making the threads each week to talk about.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks to everyone who echoed this sentiment. This show was called, "The Best Show That Nobody Is Watching," and I appreciate being able to come here and discuss this show with everyone.

I thought that tonight's fight was amazing and was the perfect ending to the series. Sergio was a warrior and fought like a man seizing an opportunity. I feel very sorry for Manfredo, he fought hard and was beaten by a better fighter. (It looks like his wife is pregnant, so his life can't be all that bad.)

Gomez' fight was amazing as well. I hate to see what this guy is going to do when he fights in his own weight class. I think that Jesse is the most talented of the bunch and needs to decide to take things seriously. One of the things about Jesse that was on Yahoo, but not NBC: After he beat Jonathan Reid in the first round, he gave Reid and his family his winner's share from the fight because they had a baby on the way.

I am going to guess that they didn't chop. I think that all of the fighters who fought today were probably paid more than they had ever made in their life. I know that the winner of the People's Choice bout received $200,000 so I imagine that the losers were paid pretty well also.

I am disappointed in NBC's decision to ignore Najai Turpin. They did exactly the minimum for him. Five seconds at the end of his episode and then setting up a trust for his daughter that they haven't pushed since. There was no mention of him by anyone other than Sergio (the first words out of mouth after victory, "Rest In Peace, Najai Turpin.") I felt like he was the elephant in the room that no one was willing to acknowledge.

The show was amazing and I hope that there is a 2nd Season. I was touched so much by the show because all of them were struggling and fighting to give their families a better life, and I am going through a similar thing. The decision to show this side of the fighters, to allow us to get to know their familes, and their struggles was what drew me in to this show.

Again, thanks to all of you for allowing me to discuss this with you on a weekly basis.

-Sixes

[SackUp]

Ya awesome final fights and awesome freaking show. Definitely show of the season. Nothing has compared. Maybe they will do a different weight class for contender 2.
And you think we are oing to have a rematch? Sly. Sheesh. I'll echo the horrible commentary, but the fight was great. And I still say that all fights should be Rocky style with the slow motion. It would revolutionize boxing.

[Blarg]

I think Sergio was in much better condition that Peter, and that he rope-a-doped Peter a good bit. Peter had a great round in round 4 I guess it was?, punching like crazy, mostly to the body, and wearing himself out. After that round, Peter was much weakened, and Sergio hadn't really absorbed much punishment. From that point on, Peter never really recovered, and after a while Sergio seemed to be landing punches like crazy, while even when Peter did land a punch, it was mostly to the body again. My guess is he not only had tunnel vision, but frankly was having trouble lifting his arms to shoot higher. When his punches did land, they didn't sink in or push back -- they bounced.

The last couple of rounds especially, Sergio seemed far fresher. He had much more variety in his punches, threw more combos instead of just isolated punches, and was able to do more than just sprint for a clinch and punch low. And he took very little punisment in comparison to Peter, who seemed to be just inhaling those punches.

It seemed a very clear win for Sergio, to me, and it looked almost predictable from the 5th onward.

[BWebb]

As for another season, it will have to be on another channel. As for the fight, that was awesome. I can't believe the judges had it so lopsided, though. One had it 7-0 and another had it 6-1 for Sergio. He was landing some punches early, but I thought the first three or four rounds could have went either way. Amazing fight and show, watched from the first episode and loved every one. Wish they would do it again.

P.S. Sly needed to be about 1000 miles away from a mic during the fight. That was horrible.

[shant]

Damn I lost $8 on Manfredo. What was I thinking going against the hometown fighter? Oh well, great fights. I'm sure there will be a Contender 2.

[utmt40]

Peter dominated the fight and all Sergio did was steal rounds at the end. Sergio is terrible thats all he has done the entire show. The ending was a discrace. Peter you won, no doubt about it!

[Popinjay]

The 2nd fight was okay but way too much holding on the ropes for me. The 1st fight between Alfonso and Jesse was great and much better than the final I thought.

[TimTimSalabim]

The ratings have sucked. I doubt we'll see a Contender 2, at least not on NBC.

[utmt40]

Yeah really, there is more to a fight than sitting back on the ropes. Also, how can you fight for 20-25 seconds each round and win a fight? There are 3 minutes in each round and Peter by far was the one taking the action to Sergio EXCEPT for the last 15 seconds of rounds and maybe a short period in the middle of the round. I felt it was a close fight but the judges were way off on the scores. Also, did you see how banged up Sergio was after the fight and how clean Perter looked? I mean come on...how do you say Sergio dominated the fight. Sure it was close somewhat but by far Peter should have won. Sergio also showed how much class he has which is next to none by mouthing off at some mans family thats just cheering him on. Give me a break Sergio, I hope you get knocked out the next time you fight also I hope you actually fight the next fight the whole way through!