The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA
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| The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA |
|
|---|---|
| Format | Reality/Sport |
| Starring | Sugar Ray Leonard, Barry McGuigan |
| Country of origin |  United States, United Kingdom |
| Production | |
| Running time | Varies |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ESPN (USA), ITV4 (UK) |
| Original run | 10 April 2007 – 17 April 2007 |
The Contender Challenge: UK vs. USA was a series of boxing matches on March 30, 2007, held at Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle, England, featuring 6 boxers from the US reality television shows The Contender and The Contender 2. The Contenders, in a team coached by Sugar Ray Leonard, took on 6 boxers from the UK, all promoted by Frank Warren, and coached by Barry McGuigan. The winning team was awarded the "Sugar Ray Leonard Cup," not unlike the Ryder Cup in Golf[1]
The bouts was the basis of a TV show broadcast in the US by ESPN, and by ITV4 in the UK, featuring 6 episodes, beginning on April 10, 2007, with commentary by the well-known ESPN team of Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas, with British boxing commentator John Rawling joining. Sugar Ray and Barry provided some analysis through the fight as well.
Contents |
[edit] Format
Points were awarded to each team as follows:
| Win | 1 point |
| Draw | 1/2 point |
| Tiebreaker | Total KO count |
In the event of a tie, the total number of knockouts by each team would have determined the winner.
The bouts were scored in the American style, with 3 ringside judges and a non-scoring referee -- British non-title bouts are scored solely by the referee.[2]
The referees and judges were a mix of both nationalities.
[edit] Matchups
The matchups, all scheduled for 8 rounds with weights ranging from welterweight to light heavyweight, were:
| US | vs. | UK |
| Walter Wright | Anthony Small | |
| Freddy Curiel | Ross Minter | |
| Alfonso Gomez | Martin Concepcion | |
| Jerson Ravelo | Paul Buchanan | |
| Jesse Brinkley | Robin Reid | |
| Cornelius Bundrage | Colin McNeil |
[edit] Results
The matchup wound up a 4-2 US victory, with Curiel, Bundrage, Gomez, and Ravelo winning for the US, and Small and Reid winning for the UK.[3]
| EPISODE | Original US Air Date |
About the Episode | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4/10/07 | Walter Wright was introduced to the crowd, and won some home-town appeal by wearing a Newcastle United jersey. Anthony Small walked to the ring wearing a Scream mask, carrying a riding crop that he called his "Yank spanker" in the interview.
The fight was mainly consistent for the first 7 rounds; Small fought a very unorthodox style, with his hands very far down, often by his knees, and used extreme bobbing and weaving. Small would remain outside Wright's range, then jump in to score a quick, jabbing blow or two, weave to avoid counterpunches, then jump back out. Teddy Atlas, at ringside for ESPN, scored Small as having won 5 of the first 7 rounds, losing only round 2 (where Wright timed him coming in to score before Small could punch), and tying round 7. In round 8, Wright found his rhythm, and opened a cut to Small's mouth, even apparently stunning him, but Wright was unable to score the knockout, and Small won by split decision. Atlas, along with ringside commentators Joe Tessitore and John Rawling, noted the difficulty of scoring the fight, as Small's unusual style made him appear to be lacking aggression, which many judges look for. |
UK |
| 2 | 4/17/07 | Freddy Curiel entered the ring with a 16-6-2 record and period of inactivity (he retired in 2002 and returned to the ring in 2006 for the Contender boxing reality show and had only one fight since losing in the first round of the show). Curiel's opponent was the younger and more recently active Ross "The Boss" Minter (son of former middleweight champ Alan Minter) with a record of 17-1-1. Minter also had his challenges with layoffs -- although he had recently fought in 2007, he had only one fight in 2006 due to injuries.
Minter, a popular boxer in the UK with a reputation as a considerate and polite competitor, dominated the early rounds of the fight. Minter was the bigger fighter and was in excellent condition which quickly showed with his power shots and gritty in-fighting. Unfortunately for Minter he continued to be plagued by the cuts which had been seen in his previous fights. Minter was also able to open a cut on Curiel although it was disputed as being caused by a headbutt. While Minter was strong up to the seventh round of the eight round bout, Curiel's experience started to show and he began to land more authoritatively. In the eighth round Curiel's corner told him he had to score a KO to win, although Teddy Atlas had the fight 67-66 for Minter -- a close fight. Both fighters started the round with hard punches and Curiel's right eye started to swell dramatically. In the last minute of the round Curiel countered a wide right thrown by Minter with a laser straight hard right which dropped Minter to the canvas. Minter was out and Curiel pulled out a dramatic victory from what appeared to be a certain points loss. Curiel demonstrated considerable sportsmanship by walking Minter around the ring with his hand raised and encouraged the fans to applaud their local fighter. |
US |
[edit] Controversy
The tourney got off to a late start, which ITV representatives said was due to ESPN micromanaging the matchups in order to guarantee a US victory, explaining how non-Contender fighter Jerson Ravelo fought in a bout for the cup. The last three bouts were heckled by the crowd, with the last fight beginning at 2 AM, and members of Team US jeering along with the ticketholders. Additionally, one apparently drunken fan verbally threatened the cornermen for Team US just before the main event, drawing the ire of the entire Minter family, who were apparently seated nearby. When the fan threw a keychain at the US corner, security ejected him, drawing cheers from the crowd.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Dan Rafael's column about the Challenge, retrieved March 24, 2007
- ^ BBBoC Rules of Boxing, retrieved April 10, 2007
- ^ Boxrec.com record of the fight card, retrieved April 4, 2007
- ^ Fightfan.com coverage, retrieved April 10, 2007
