The Contender 2 (update)

[inspector_ronan]

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ESPN has unveiled the trailer and 16 contestants of 'The Contender 2', a reality series where nation's top boxers will go for glory.



http://sports.espn.go.com/espntv/esp...te?showID=cntd <-------Link Official Websites <-------

Watch the trailer at the official website and check out the 16 contenders and their profiles below.

GOLD TEAM

GARY BALLETTO – Age 30 - Johnston, RI – Pro Record (29-2-2), 25 KO’sA former International Boxing Union (IBU) Champion, Balletto witnessed the death of his friend Bobby Tomasello in the ring more than five years ago. This caused him to help unionize the sport so fighters gain benefits, health insurance, and future jobs outside of boxing.

VINROY BARRETT – Age 30 - Negril, Jamaica/Nashville, TN – Pro Record (21-4), 11 KO’sVinroy “Slick” Barrett was born and raised in Jamaica. Since turning professional, Barrett has made a name for himself, garnering the World Boxing Federation (WBF) Americas Welterweight title.

RUDY CISNEROS (LOST REMOVED)– Age 24 - Chicago, IL – Pro Record (8-1), 7 KO’sChicago native Rudy “El Cachorro” Cisneros has traveled the world, garnering an extensive record with more than 100 amateur fights. He was the two-time Chicago Golden Gloves Champion, winner of the silver medal at the United States Championship and bronze medal recipient at the 2004 Olympic Trials.

MICHAEL CLARK (LOST REMOVED)– Age 32 - Columbus, OH – Pro Record (35-3), 16 KO’s Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Michael “Cold Blood” Clark is a former International Boxing Council (IBC) World Champion. Clark credits his self-described versatility to his distinctive upbringing.

EBO ELDER – Age 27 - Atlanta, GA – Pro Record (22-2), 14 KO’sBorn in Atlanta, Georgia, Ebo “The X-treme Machine” Elder followed in his father’s footsteps and started boxing at the age of eight. He enjoyed a long, illustrious amateur career with 139 wins before turning professional in 2000. Elder is currently ranked as a top 10 contender by all major boxing organizations.

JEFF FRAZA – Age 28 - Boston, MA – Pro Record (17-2), 10 KO’sMassachusetts native Jeff “HellRaza” Fraza is back for season two of The Contender. Having become ill with the chicken pox in season one, Fraza was forced to drop out of the competition. This time around, Fraza is ready for his shot and eager to use this second chance to prove his worth.

STEVE FORBES – Age 28 - Las Vegas, NV – Pro Record (29-3), 9 KO’sCurrently ranked 11th in the world, Forbes holds an International Boxing Federation (IBF) title and sports a record of 29 wins with three knockouts and three losses. With his ranking making him a target in the tournament, Forbes welcomes the chance to show what makes him a true Contender.

WALTER WRIGHT – Age 24 - Seattle, WA – Pro Record (10-1), 5 KO’sA native of Seattle, Walter “2 Guns” Wright possesses the heart of a champion and a positive outlook on life. An alternate for the United States boxing team at the 2000 Olympics, Wright boasted a successful amateur career, winning ninety of his 102 fights.



BLUE TEAM

NORBERTO BRAVO (WIN-1)– Age 34 - Tucson, AZ – Pro Record (20-10-3), 12 KO’sNorberto Bravo was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona. Also known as “El Gallito” (“The Fighting Rooster”), Bravo describes himself in the ring as unrelenting and willing to fight till death, if necessary.

GRADY BREWER – Age 34 - Lawton, OK – Pro Record (18-11), 12 KO’sBorn and raised in Lawton, Oklahoma, Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer started boxing at age 11 and went on to become a state Golden Gloves Champion and win 40 of his 45 amateur fights.

CORNELIUS BUDRAGE (WIN 1)– Age 32 - Detroit, MI – Pro Record (21-1), 13 KO’sCornelius “K-9” Bundrage was born and raised in Detroit. As his alias suggests, Bundrage has a reputation of being a dog inside the ring, mauling his opponents with ferocious combinations and vicious uppercuts. In 2005, Bundrage won the United Boxing Association (UBA) Intercontinental Light Middleweight title.

FREDDY CURIEL – Age 30 - Vernon, NJ – Pro Record (15-5-2), 6 KO’sBorn in Vernon, New Jersey, Freddy Curiel, a.k.a. “Furious Freddy,” started boxing at age 14. After a lucrative amateur career, Curiel entered the professional level at age 17. In 2002, Curiel decided to temporarily leave boxing but after a four-year absence, The Contender marks his comeback to the ring.

ANDRE EASON – Age 30 - Brooklyn, NY – Pro Record (15-4), 6 KO’sGrowing up on the tough streets of Brooklyn, Andre “Daredevil” Eason found himself in fights at school and on the street. During his brief time as an amateur, Eason earned the New York Golden Gloves title.

MICHEAL STEWART – Age 28 - New Castle, DE – Pro Record (38-4-2), 22 KO’sOriginally from Columbia, Tennessee, Micheal “No Joke” Stewart distinguishes himself from the pack with his thick, raspy voice and blue-collar appeal. He is a building aficionado who works as a union construction laborer by day and has aspirations of becoming a general contractor.

AARON TORRES – Age 26 - Philadelphia, PA – Pro Record (14-2), 6 KO’sAaron Torres grew up on the rough streets of Philadelphia. As an amateur, Torres maintained an impressive career, having fought in more than 100 fights and winning all but 10. Turning professional in 2000, he describes his boxing style as “moving poetry”: graceful with his footwork and intense with his jabs.

NICK ACEVEDO - Age - New York, NY - Pro Record (15-1), 9 KO's Nick Grew in manhattan with 5 children.


The Contender Season 2 Trainers include Tommy Gallagher, a lifelong New Yorker who won a Golden Gloves title in 1959. He has worked as a trainer in boxing for over 40 years and has four children and nine grandchildren. Jeremy Williams is a professional cruiserweight boxer with a record of (45-5-1) with 38 KO’s. Williams is a member of the Golden Gloves Hall of Fame and resides in Northridge, Calif.[br]Posted on: July 28, 2006, 03:17:59 AM_________________________________________________T he Contender 2 - Episodes 1 & 2 Summary
'Confidence Will Only Get You So Far' By ARnutz
Original Airdate: July 18, 2006
http://www.realitytvworld.com/index/...mary.php?i=932

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The Contender 2 - Episodes 1 & 2 summary

More summaries by ARnutz

Welcome to Season 2 of The Contender! Are you excited? I know I am! I really think The Contender theme song is one of the best reality show theme songs ever! It really gets me pumped to see what’s going to happen next. Plus, it’s so inspirational.

Anyway, in the premiere episode, we begin with an introduction of the 16 welterweights who will be competing for the big prize of $500,000 and the title of The Contender! These guys are just trying to have the chance to make a better life for their families. To have the shot at getting all the way to the end and make a difference. They are unlike other reality show contestants, because I cannot make myself bash them! No matter how hard I try! For a full description of each boxer, including their current records and a cast photo, see this article.

We begin with Sugar Ray introducing the trainers and last year’s winning Contender, Sergio Mora, who tells the guys, “take this serious”. Which Sugar Ray reiterates to them. The guys get to their training right away. Some of them are sizing up the competition, trying to figure out who they want to fight first. Michael Clark, a very confident guy and somewhat of a trash-talker (normal for boxers, of course), points out Cornelius “K9” Bundrage’s lanky, head-up style and compares him to Curly from the Three Stooges.

Sugar Ray calls the guys outside and tells them he needs two volunteers. Michael Clark and Nick Acevedo step out of the line. Sugar Ray tells them, after everybody wondering what they volunteered for, that these two will be the team captains and they must now pick their teams. Michael is the captain for the gold team and Nick for the blue. Oh man! What happened to East vs. Westsiiide

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Michael picks first and chooses Steve Forbes, then Nick chooses Freddy Curiel. They take turns picking teammates, going back and forth. Some of the gold team members say Michael is calling all the shots. The gold team now has Walter, Vinroy, Ebo, Rudy and Gary, while the blue team consists of Michael Stewart, Andre, Norberto, Grady and (Aaron) Torres. The two boxers left to pick from are K9 and Jeff Fraza, who has returned to the Contender free of those darn chicken pox. Sugar Ray asks them how they feel about being picked last. Jeff says it’s like when he was a kid playing dodgeball. Sugar Ray tells them he was always picked last too. (I wonder if he made that up.) The gold team picks Jeff, so the blue team is left with no choice but K9. K9 tells us the bible says, “first will be last and last will be first”. Apparently, he is a very spiritual man, as are many of the boxers, which is something we see throughout the episode. Once the teams are chosen, Sugar Ray sends them up to the loft so they can see where they’ll be living. The guys settle in by picking beds and hanging pictures of their families nearby.

The next morning, at 5 am, they are all woken up to go running. As the trainers said, take this serious. I’m sure there will be plenty of 5 am wake-up calls! You guys are in training and this is serious competition!

When they return to the loft, Sugar Ray tells them the teams need to split up into their respective rooms to decide who will be fighting first. On the gold team, Michael Clark tells everyone he’s going first! As a matter of fact, the gold team wants to make a list of all pairs for the entire first round. Over in the blue team room, they know Michael will be going first and discuss who is the best match-up for him. K9 wants at him, of course! He disrespected him, after all. Nick Acevedo wants to fight too!

They go and line up on the apron of the ring to find out who will be fighting. Sugar Ray announces that Michael Clark will be representing the gold team and from the blue team… it’s K9! The two boxers are preparing for the match. They show Michael’s adoptive father and his girlfriend. K9 has a visit with his fiancée and his 4 year old son, who say a prayer with him.

And we’re ready for the match! We see quite a few stars coming in the Contender arena and there a familiar faces from last season’s show. Sergio is there, of course, as is Peter Manfredo and Alfonso Gomez. On to the real action… In round 1, it seems like K9 has a big advantage. He lands a lot of punches. …but remember, we aren’t seeing the entire fight, just the highlights. Round 2 is much of the same, with one huge blow from K9. Michael staggers a bit. At this point, it’s not looking too good for Michael. Until Round 3… Michael comes out hard, hitting K9 like we may have expected in the earlier rounds from all that trash talk. Michael has the advantage and gets K9 up against the ropes! Michael dominates Round 4 too! …and it’s all evened up. Now, going into Round 5, it’s anybody’s fight! In the fifth and final round, Michael gets a little overconfident and starts dancing around. K9 lands a huge right and knocks Michael to his knees! Michael gets back up, but we can tell he’s pretty banged up. There is blood on his face from a deep gash over his eye. The fight ends and we await the results… by majority decision… (we are not told the scores) the winner is K9!!!

Michael Clark tells us he has nothing to be ashamed of. He gave it his all and if this is how he ends his career, that’s OK. K9 is understandably excited about winning first! Michael hangs up his gloves on the wall and leaves the gym.

We begin the second hour back in the loft with the blue team celebrating K9’s win. All of the guys are playing pool and discussing how the first round has already been planned out and how they will just follow the plan and relax. They all know when and who they will be fighting.

Then, Sugar Ray comes into the loft and gathers the guys to talk. Alfonso Gomez of Contender 1 is there and they are dressed in suits. He tells them that the blue team will be rewarded with dinner on his dime! …and that Alfonso will be joining them, so they should pick his brain about how things work because he’s been there. He also tells them that with their win, the blue team now has the power to choose the next pair of fighters. The gold team almost craps themselves! Jeff Fraza, who has returned from last season (without any chicken pox), tells us they have no idea what the blue team will do with this power.

The blue team gets dressed for dinner and off they go in the Toyota Sequoia to a fancy place called Patina. The guys have no idea what they’re eating, but they say it is good! Norberto wonders where the taquitos are. Aaron picks up something off his plate that looks like squid to me. Later on, K9 joins them and the team celebrates some more! K9 is congratulated for being the first winner and he compares himself to Alfonso, who was the first winner last year and also thought of as an underdog.

Next, we’re back in the gym and more training. Aaron pretends he’s going to be the one chosen from the blue team by taking the day off. That’s what a fighter will do the day before a fight. Steve, of the gold team, figures that the blue team is going to mess with the order of the pairings, so they can catch someone sleeping. Freddy from the blue team tells us about Rudy from the gold team. Saying he’s off his game.

We are again shown the loft and Rudy eating… and eating… and eating! Norberto is at the table eating a salad, chatting with the young trainer, Jeremy. Jeremy tells him that people should want to fight sooner because as the matches go by, there are less people to choose to fight against. Rudy eats some more… and some more… and some more. The next morning, the guys go weigh in at the Jeremy’s office. Most of the guys are within the proper range for their target of 151 pounds, but Rudy weighs 160 pounds. Rudy has some work to do!

Sugar Ray has all the guys come to view the bracket wall! K9 is awarded his golden glove necklace and Ray tells the guys with a win also comes some more power! When you win a fight, not only do you move on to the next round of the tournament, but you also get to choose which match will be your next one. The second winning fighter can choose to either fight K9 or put his name in another spot. In round two, it will be matches numbered from 9 to 12. They will occur after the first round of 8 is complete. K9 puts his name next to match 10 on the bracket wall.

Now we find out who will be fighting. The guys come to the ring and line up on the apron. Sugar Ray asks who will be fighting for the blue team. Norberto “Nito El Gallito” Bravo toes the line and he calls out Rudy Cisneros. Ray asks Nito why he chose Rudy and he says, “’cause I can beat him.” The fight will be the next day and weigh ins will occur at 10 am.

Rudy works out long into the night. Nito tells us about the “heart” of a Mexican fighter. At 10 am, they get weighed and Nito comes in at 148 pounds, while Rudy has done his job and is in at 148 ¾ pounds! They stare each other down and then get back to their training.

On to the match! In the first round, it looked pretty even until close to the end when Nito turned into a madman! He started throwing a right upper-cut that was brutal! The second round was fairly evenly matched as well, but it looked like Rudy got in several more hits. Now remember, we are not show the entire fight, only the highlights, so I can only tell you what I see. As a matter of fact, rounds 3 to 5 were shown in about 3 to 4 minutes when I know these are supposed to be 3 minute rounds! Anyway, in round 3, Nito got that upper-cut going many times in repetition! He was putting quite a hurting on Rudy there. Round 4 was pretty even, but Nito got in several hits toward the end. …and from what I saw of round 5, I’d say that round was pretty even as well. …but I’m no expert!

The judges can’t seem to agree who won either as the first one scores the match at 49 – 46 for Nito, the second one scores it at 48 – 47 for Rudy and the third scores it at 49 – 46 for Nito… so Nito wins it by split decision and keeps the power of control for the blue team! Rudy tells us he knows he’s still a winner and some other stuff about his time on the show. Nito is really happy he won, with his family there and all. Rudy hangs up his gloves on the wall next to Michael’s and leaves the gym.

Next week: the blue team has the power again, what will they do with it? …and how will it effect the gold team?

[obemon]

Whoever wins should get to fight Rocky.

[inspector_ronan]

yes rocky 5 hehehehe

[kula]

libog pako kinsay lig-on nila ky puros baba gamit nila saba au..

[inspector_ronan]

The Contender 2 - Episode 3 Summary
'Stand Up and Take it Like a Man!' By ARnutz
Original Airdate: July 25, 2006

More summaries by ARnutz

We begin this episode where we left off last time, with Nito winning his fight against Rudy. They show us some scenes in the locker room where Rudy and Nito each tell us about their experiences. Rudy hangs his gloves up next to Michael’s and leaves the gym.

Up at the loft, Nito enters to cheering from the rest of the guys! The guys are discussing the next pairing for the next fight. Gary Balletto wants to fight Aaron Torres and the gold team wants to have some say in the pairings, even though the blue team has the power to choose again. They also talk about pairing Grady up with Vinroy. Someone says Grady is afraid of Vinroy. Vinroy calls Grady a coward, then Grady tells us he thinks he’ll have to step up… and off we go to a commercial already!

And we’re back! The guys are working out in the gym. Alfonso comes and spars with some of them and tells us that the guys all have different flavors, different styles, it’s like a tootie fruitie! Jeff is taking it easy this day, he never knows if he will be the one called out to fight. Some of the other guys are taking it easy too, just in case!

We head to the bracket wall and Sugar Ray talks about Nito’s fight and subsequent win. Nito gets his necklace and is asked to place his name on the bracket wall. He doesn’t hesitate and puts his name in fight #12. Aaron says this will give him the most rest between round 1 and round 2, but did Nito think about how much rest he’ll need before round 3?

Wait a minute!!! What happened to Nito’s reward? What? He doesn’t get one

Steve tells us that he thinks the blue team is cracking a bit. Cut to the blue team, who are having a heated discussion about who will fight next! Both Aaron and Grady want to go. Then the teams line up on the apron. Sugar Ray asks who will fight for the blue team and Aaron steps out into the ring. He calls out Gary, who toes the line. Sugar Ray asks Aaron why he chose Gary. Aaron says it’s because Gary wants to fight him and he doesn’t step down from a challenge. He was trying to be an example for Grady. The gold team tells us about how Gary is the knockout king! His record is 29 – 2 with 25 KOs!

Aaron talks about his hometown of Philadelphia and his failed marriage. Gary brings a cake to the family housing to celebrate his son’s 11th birthday. He has 3 kids and is married to his high school sweetheart. They’ve been together for 14 years.

…with the way this was edited, one would think that Aaron is going to win because they only showed him for about 1 minute, while Gary got several minutes of footage.

Aaron, who’s record is 14 – 2 with 6 KOs, is in the locker room getting ready. He tells us the winner will be the one with the most heart. He also tells us he’s here for himself. Gary has a rich life to go back to, if he loses, he goes back to the ghetto. Aaron’s father and girlfriend show up to encourage him before the fight. In Gary’s locker room, he tells us, for him, boxing is a hobby. He’s been out of it for 2 years and 3 months. His wife and kids stop in to wish him luck. His kids are very nervous about him fighting.

On to the fight!!! Again I remind you, we aren’t shown the whole fight, plus I am no boxing expert, just a fan of the show! In round 1, Gary’s long arms swing fairly wildly, which makes him use up a lot of energy. Aaron gets some really good shots in, but is distracted by the crowd and is like a deer in headlights! It’s almost as if he never fought in front of a crowd before. I’d count this round for Aaron though. Round 2 has Aaron against the ropes. The two of them actually fall down to the mat, but Gary controls this round. Round 3 has Aaron totally distracted and Gary gives him quite a whooping! In round 4, Aaron finally starts fighting like he should! He sits down for a moment, but then comes back swinging! I’d give round 4 to Aaron. So it’s seems all evened up going into the 5th and final round! The 5th round is anybody’s call because, from what we see of it, it looks fairly even. They basically just traded punches.

On to the judges scores: The first judge scores the bout at 48 – 47 for Gary, the second scores it 48 – 47 for Aaron and the third scores it at 48 – 47 for Gary! By split decision, Gary wins! Wow! It was so close too! Poor Aaron, you’ve just won yourself a trip straight back to the ghetto. If you weren’t so distracted, you could’ve won this thing!

Some of the guys say that Aaron fought hard, he stood with Gary the whole way, fought well and didn’t get KOed. Aaron says he had so much more to gain and he was looking for that reward. He hangs his glove on the wall next to Rudy’s and leaves the gym.

Next week: The gold team revels in their win! Will Vinroy and Grady fight? …and there is a callout surprise!

Ummm… if there is a callout surprise, do we really think it will be Vinroy and Grady? That wouldn’t be very much of a surprise now, would it?


The Contender 2 - Episode 4 Summary
'The Ole Switcheroo!!!' By ARnutz
Original Airdate: August 1, 2006

More summaries by ARnutz

They recap the fights we’ve seen in the past 2 weeks (3 episodes), but I won’t bore you with that. We begin this episode with the blue team up in the loft discussing Aaron’s loss and quickly switch over to the gold team, who are happy they finally have control of the match ups. Gary returns to the loft to applause. Tommy and Jeremy want to give the guys their next reward. He gives them Polaroid digital cameras, plus he tells Gary he has a special reward on his bed. Gary goes into the gold team bedroom and finds a framed photo of the fight with Aaron.

The blue team is wondering who the gold team will pick to fight next. Grady tells us that he is prepared for Vinroy to call him out and that he wants to get the ball back in their corner. The producers have been hyping this pairing and the tension between the two fighters for three episodes now. Can we get on with it? Will Vinroy call out Grady? Vinroy has told us he thinks Grady is a coward. Maybe he should step up now that he has the chance!

When we return from the commercials, Sugar Ray gives Gary his gold necklace and his name plate to put on the bracket wall. He adds his name in fight number 12, the last pairing of the second round, next to Norberto Bravo. Bravo now knows who his next opponent will be and tells us Gary’s in for quite a fight.

The next morning, the guys get back to their training. Tommy has them throwing tires in the back of the Toyota truck, stack them, then run alongside the truck while he times them. He calls it some good, old fashioned training. Grady spars with the other trainer, Jeremy. Vinroy tells us that Grady is scared and he’s going to win. Walter is also sparring today and tells us he wants to get his fight out of the way. The guys have realized that the longer they wait to fight, means there are less choices they have for their opponent and less spaces available on the bracket wall for the next round. Plus, they need to factor in the issue of resting between fights, especially if they get past the 2nd round. Andre is sparring too and Walter tells us that Andre is not ready. At 12:30 am, all of the guys are sleeping except Andre, who is still in the gym working out with his Everlast sauna suit on. Gee, can we get any more product placement on this show

After the next bunch of commercials, we see Grady visiting with his family. We meet his wife and get a glimpse of his two kids. He’s crying. I don’t recall why. Maybe he was overwhelmed with the experience or maybe he missed his family. Cut to Steve Forbes, who questions Vinroy’s ability to take on Grady. So will Vinroy call out Grady? It's only been being hyped up for 3 episodes now! Let’s see!

The teams line up on the apron. I'm sure Grady is waiting to be called out. Sugar Ray asks the gold team who will fight and… it’s not Vinroy! Instead Walter steps out and toes the line! He chooses to fight Andre. Back in the loft, Grady says the gold team is playing mind games! …and he asks Andre to get him this win, so he can call out Vinroy himself. He’s frustrated, of course, because he was prepared to fight and now he has to wait again.

Now we get the fighters stories. Andre tells us about his hometown of Brooklyn, his favorite teacher and his family. All Walter can talk about is winning, how good he is and how he’s a champ. Blah, blah…

The next segment shows K9 and Andre in the blue team bedroom. K9 reads Andre a bible passage for inspiration. Then the guys have to get ready for the fight. Over in Walter’s locker room, he tells us he lost his first fight and now he wants to focus, so he doesn’t want his family there to distract him. Tommy will be in his corner and tells him some stuff to get him pumped and ready. Andre is seen as the underdog. His mom and brother visit his locker room and we are told that his older brother is a two-time Golden Gloves champ. Jeremy tells Andre to “execute him”.

Now on with the fight! In round 1, Andre gets Walter against the ropes for a moment, but then Walter gets in several good shots and actually knocks Andre down! After the bell rings, they stare each other down in slo-mo and we’re off to more commercials. In round 2, Walter gets in a few good jabs, then it looks like Andre is punishing him! …and the crowd starts chanting for Andre. Of course, we only get about 30 seconds of the round on TV. Jeremy tells Andre to stay inside. Round 3 has Walter very much in control of the fight, but Andre gets a few good hits in there. Round 4 has Walter putting a serious hurtin’ on Andre! Andre gets a bit of a second wind, but is it too late? The bell rings. In round 5 Andre gets a few good shots in the beginning, then Walter continues to put a hurtin’ on him! The fight is over and we’re on to the scores! All 3 judges score the bout at 50 – 44 for Walter.

Afterwards, Andre says a few words about the loss and having heart. He hangs his gloves on the wall next to Aaron’s and leaves the gym. If you’re keeping track at home, this now means each team has 2 wins.

Next week: Walter’s arrogance bothers the blue team and Sugar Shay Mosely steps into the ring!

...and will we finally see Grady and Vinroy fight? ...or will one of them wimp out and call out somebody else?


The Contender 2 - Episode 5 Summary
'Put Up or Shut Up!' By ARnutz
Original Airdate: August 8, 2006

More summaries by ARnutz

We begin this episode where we left off last time. In the ring, with Walter winning over Andre. Walter is shown in the locker room telling us about his victory. Cut to the blue team, in their room at the loft, discussing how proud they are of Andre and how he was able to go the distance, despite being knocked down in the first round. Then, Walter returns to the loft and talks about the fight and his win with the gold team. Nito is sweeping the floor and hears the discussion. He tells us he doesn’t like cocky guys and Walter is being very cocky.

Sugar Ray comes up to the loft to give Walter and the gold team their reward. He tells them that a very special guest wants to give them the reward this time. In walks Sugar Shane Mosely, who gives them all leather jackets and expensive sunglasses. Sugar Ray reminds them that the gold team has the power to choose the next pair of fighters. Nick, from the blue team, thinks Vinroy will finally call out Grady because their rivalry has been brewing since the guys showed up on the first day! Will we finally see these two shut up and fight? This pair really needs to put up or shut up at this point! …but we’ll have to wait to see what happens because we’re off to some commercials.

When we return to the show, Sugar Shane Mosely comes to the gym with a small entourage. He is going to spar today and we see Walter in the ring with him. Obviously, Sugar Shane outboxes Walter easily. The guys continue their training outside running behind the truck with Tommy in the back trying to pump them up and get them moving. Also during the day of training, Grady spars with Alfonso Gomez. On the sidelines, K9 is telling Grady what to do, giving him tips and whatnot. Walter tells K9 to shut up because he’s acting like he’s a coach or something now. They bicker and Walter says to K9, wait until the next round!

Sugar Ray gathers the guys in front of the bracket wall and gives Walter his golden glove necklace. …but not without pumping up Walter’s ego a notch or two by telling him how great he was in his fight! Pffft! Like Walter needs his ego pumped up any more. *rolls eyes* Walter has to choose where to put his name plate in the bracket wall. He tells us he wants to fight K9, but really wants to fight the first fight of the next round. He slides his name into the empty fight #9… then takes it out and puts in fight #10 next to K9! Sugar Ray asks him about his choice and Walter says he wants to fight K9 because he doesn’t think K9 respects him. Hello Walter? I don’t think you respect K9 either. You’ve got to give respect to get it, right? K9 tells us he thinks Walter has made a big mistake by choosing him. We will see in round 2!

After the next bunch of commercials, the teams line up on the apron. Who’s it going to be? Will Vinroy finally put his money where his mouth is? …and he does! Vinroy steps out when Sugar Ray asks the gold team who will fight. He calls out Grady. He had to, really. I mean if he didn’t call out Grady, who he had already called a coward, he would then be dubbed a coward himself! Sugar Ray asks Vinroy why he chose Grady and he tells him, “He has so much talking!” with his thick Jamaican accent. I love the way he talks! It’s cool, even if there are a lot of sentences in very broken English.

Next we take a peek at the two fighters’ lives outside the ring. Grady visits his family at the Contender housing. He tells them he’s going to fight the next day. Vinroy tells us about Jamaica and how he moved to Tennessee to follow his dream and train. He sacrificed a lot for this by leaving his family behind. He doesn’t get a visit, instead he talks to them on the phone.

We come back from commercials to find Grady getting ready for the fight in his locker room. Tommy is giving him a pep talk to get him ready. Over in Vinroy’s locker room, Jeremy is pumping him up. Then… it’s a surprise visit from Vinroy’s family! His wife and his 2 adorable girls come in and he’s very happy to see them. They are his reason for doing this and making his sacrifices.

Now we’re on to the fight!

In round 1, after the two of them are dancing around a bit and not getting off any shots, Grady goes crazy with punches and lands a lot of combinations! Grady has control of this round, hands down.

In round 2, Grady is still in clear control as he lands several more combinations, gets in a few uppercuts and gets Vinroy in a corner up against the ropes.

In round 3, Vinroy wakes up a bit and get some good shots in, but Grady keeps coming back and seems in control, until… Vinroy “accidentally” (*rolls eyes*) headbutts Grady and Grady is cut and bleeding. The fight is stopped momentarily so Grady can get clearance form the ringside doctor to continue. He is cleared and they continue round 3, but Grady is bleeding and hurting.

In round 4, from what we are shown, Vinroy gets in a lot of jabs and Grady continues to be a bit disoriented and not clearly in control as before.

In round 5, Grady takes control, gets Vinroy running around the ring and finally gets him on the ropes into a corner again where he finishes him off with several combinations and uppercuts.

Now for the judges scores: One judge score the match 48 – 47, the other two score the match 49 – 46, for Grady by a unanimous decision!

Vinroy goes back to his locker room and tells us he fought hard, gave it his all, has waited for this chance, but feels like he let down his family. He hangs his gloves and leaves the gym.

Next week: There is concern about Grady’s cut from the headbutt, the blue team can’t decide who’s fighting, and something happens during the fight that shocks everyone! Hmmm… will we be seeing a knockout?