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“The Contender” Attracts New Group of Boxing Fans

posted by Kathleen Holland on September 28, 2006, in The Contender

Over the last eleven weeks boxing fans witnessed 16 welterweight fighters competing against each other for a shot at a half million dollars. The guys lived together, trained together and fought each other. After covering the entire season two series, I found one very interesting “reality” about this reality series. Since I was covering the show and the finale, I was especially inquisitive with people I would come into contact with if they followed the series. A substantial amount of people I talked to actually did follow the show and I would then ask if they were boxing fans. The response was the same most of the time. That answer would be “not really”. Then what was their attraction to the show. The response was that they liked to know about the fighters and their families. Most of “The Contender” fans that I talked to had developed a “relationship” with their favorite fighter or fighters and are looking forward to seeing where their careers take them.

What does this mean to the sport of boxing? It seems that if a whole group of people that are not “boxing fans” start following boxing because they want to see how their fighters are doing, suddenly the number of spectators that would watch that fight dramatically increase. This can only be good for boxing.

Jermain Taylor is from Little Rock, Arkansas and when Jermain fights, the whole state rallies behind him. All of these people are not boxing fans, they are Jermain Taylor fans. They will follow Jermain throughout his career, and the same holds true for “The Contenders”. No matter what your personal opinion is of the series, one thing you can say is “The Contender is good for boxing”. Yes, it had a lot of drama, and that drama drew in a whole new group of boxing fans. Will they continue to watch boxing after “The Contender” is over? Some will. Some won’t. Will some be converted to real boxing fans? Absolutely.

“The Contender” showed the sport in a different light, actually going into these athletes lives. They showed interaction with their families and each other. They touched on their training regimen and the fights were action-packed. The most important thing was seeing the human side of the fighter.

Living the life of a professional boxer is not an easy occupation. Not only is there a real danger each time they step into the ring, but it requires them to be away from their families for extended periods of time and it requires grueling training. Then there is the mental side. The fighter has to stay focused on his task at hand. Outside distractions can be devastating to a fighter’s career, and anytime humans judge the outcome of a competition, there can be controversy. I have attended quite a few boxing matches and some fights are very hard to score. What is sad, though, is when a fight is lopsided and the decision goes to the wrong fighter. That is all part of the boxing game, if they don’t stay focused it can destroy a fighter’s career.

The finale of “The Contender” was the highest rated boxing telecast on ESPN in nine years and had a viewing audience of 2.3 million. There were also twelve thousand spectators on hand to see the championship live, not to mention the number of fans that will watch the replays, and remember many of these fans are “new” boxing fans.

For the “boxing fans” that didn’t give “The Contender” a chance, you really missed out on some great boxing. The fights were extremely competitive and the shows were very enjoyable. No matter what any “boxing fan” says, if they are a “true boxing fan”, they should thank “The Contender” for the great things it has done for the sport and the many new spectators it has drawn in as a result of this entertaining series.

Story by Kathleen Holland
Mightygloves.com

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