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Tournament Of Contenders Picks of Season 2 Fighters

posted by mightygloves.com on October 6, 2006, in The Contender

Tournament of Contenders, LLC (TOC), the boxing promotional company for ESPN’s critically acclaimed boxing series The Contender, announced today the signing of season two fighters Grady “Bad Boy” Brewer (19-11), Steve “2 Pound” Forbes (32-4), Cornelius “K9” Bundrage (24-2), Norberto (Nito) “El Gallito” Bravo (24-13-3), “Furious” Freddy Curiel (16-6-2), Walter “2 Guns” Wright (12-2), and Nick Acevedo (17-2) to the Contender Boxing Team,. They will be joining season one Contender Champion Sergio “The Latin Snake” Mora (19-0), Peter “The Pride of Providence” Manfredo Jr. (25-3), Alfonso Gomez (15-3-2) and Jerson Revalo (17-1).

Since winning the Contender Season One Championship, Mora has maintained an undefeated record that includes his rematch against Manfredo Jr. at STAPLES Center in October 2005, his seventh round knockout of hard-hitting Archak "The Shark Attack" TerMeliksetian at the Aladdin in Las Vegas in May 2006, and a convincing ten round unanimous decision over International Boxing Association (IBA) Continental Middleweight Champion Eric Regan in Regan's hometown of Sacramento, California at the Arco Arena last August. Mora is currently ranked eighth in the world at 160 pounds by the International Boxing Organization (IBO) computerized ranking system. He hopes to fight again later this year before taking on a major opponent in the first half of 2007.

After the rematch against Mora, Manfredo Jr. returned to his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island where he faced rival Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton and stopped the highly experienced fighter in just three rounds. Now rated nineteenth in the world in the Super Middleweight division by the IBO computer system, Manfredo Jr. is set to square off against undefeated Providence native Joe "KO Kid" Spina (19-0-1), the International Boxing Federation (IBF) Inter-Continental Super Middleweight and World Boxing Commission (WBC) United States Super Middleweight Champion, in their hometown on October 14. Known as a knockout artist for knocking out 70 percent of his opponents (14 of 20), Spina put out Jesse Brinkley (26-4) of season one of The Contender with a single body shot in their fight in May 2006. In his fight against Spina, Manfredo Jr. looks to avenge his former teammate’s loss and win hometown bragging rights by delivering Spina his first defeat. Plans are also underway for Manfredo Jr. to fight against former multiple world-titleholder Roy Jones Jr. (50-4) on TOC’s very first Pay-Per-View boxing event, which is in the works with HBO Pay-Per-View for January 2007.

Jerson Ravelo, the only fighter to date that TOC has signed who did not appear on the series, has staged a furious comeback from injuries, scoring three first-round knockouts in 2006 against Ricardo Kellman (5-4), Donnell Wiggins (24-8-2) and Raynard Darden (9-15). Now with TOC, Ravelo is moving back to the big stage and will be fighting at the Providence event in October against the undefeated Allan Green (22-0).

As the new Contender Champion, Brewer looks to follow in the footsteps of his predecessors and further launch his career towards a path to greatness. Despite a record that belies his talent, Brewer has been toe to toe with some of the world’s greatest fighters. He dropped a hotly-contested split decision to current International Boxing Organization (IBO) World Top 20 Junior Middleweight Sechew Powell (20-1), handed highly-regarded Anthony Thompson (22-1) his only loss and went the distance with current undisputed World Middleweight champion Jermain Taylor (25-0). People close to Taylor say that Brewer was one of his toughest fights. Regarding his record, Brewer stated before defeating Forbes for the Contender title, "No one's ever seen me at my greatest - now they will, thanks to the Contender."

Brewer is set to fight again on TOC’s Pay-Per-View event in January 2007. Discussions are under way about a possible bout between Forbes and Demetrius Hopkins (24-0), ranked seventh in the world by the IBO, on HBO’s Boxing After Dark on November 25. Bundrage, Bravo, Wright, Curiel, and Acevedo will also be featured in future bouts under The Contender brand.

Commenting on the signing of these fighters to TOC, Leonard stated: "These fighters represent the best of the sport. They didn't worry about massaging their records, avoiding tough opponents, or winning some alphabet title. These young men put themselves in the ring against fifteen other hungry fighters and said, 'Let the best man win.' That's the heart and soul of boxing, and that's what the Contender Boxing Team of fighters represents."

TOC continues its bouts with the next event on October 14 in Providence. The event will headline Manfredo Jr. against Spina and feature a co-main bout with Ravelo versus Green. Brewer, Forbes, Bundrage, Bravo, Wright, Curiel and Acevedo will also be in attendance. The fights will air on ESPN2 beginning at 10:30 pm. (EST).

Fans will be able to meet the fighters at a meet and greet hosted by TOC in conjunction with the state of Rhode Island, The Boys & Girls Club and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center on October 14 at the Rhode Island State House in Providence (82 Smith St.). The meet and greet will take place from 11:30am to 1pm. Admission is free. In addition, each child in attendance will receive two tickets to the fight.

Tickets to the Providence event are on sale now. Tickets priced at $57, $152 and $302 (ringside) can be purchased at www.Ticketmaster.com, all local Ticketmaster outlets or by calling Ticketmaster direct at (401) 331-2211 or (617) 931-2000. Tickets are also available through CES Boxing at (401) 724-2253, www.cesboxing.com and the Dunkin’ Donuts Center Box Office.

For more information visit www.tournamentofcontenders.com, www.cesboxing.com, www.cesboxing.com or www.dunkindonutscenter.com.

Mark Burnett Productions
Mark Burnett Productions (MBP) is a leading production company in the world of primetime non-fiction television. MBP revolutionized television with hits such as Eco-Challenge, Survivor, The Apprentice, The Contender, Rock Star: INXS and Rock Star: Supernova. MBP also successfully reintroduced product placement as an integral part of each of its shows and has garnered a total of 24 Emmy nominations since 2001. Mark Burnett was listed as the “#1 Most Valuable Player” by TV Guide and one of the “Top 100” most influential people in the world today by Time.

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Launched in 2001, ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) is ESPN’s award-winning original programming banner. The EOE brand spans ESPN's sports-themed original movies, scripted and unscripted dramatic series, daily talk and debate series, documentaries, game shows, groundbreaking televised events such as the X Games and The ESPYS, and is delivered across multiple media platforms. With theatrical releases such as Through the Fire about basketball phenom Sebastian Telfair and Once in a Lifetime about the 1970’s New York Cosmos, as well as The Impossible Jump where motocross champion Mike Metzger performed a motorcycle backflip over the Caesar’s Palace fountains live in Las Vegas, EOE continues to plant itself firmly on the cutting edge of sports and entertainment television, and event creation. Also, EOE's daily lifestyle and entertainment-themed series Cold Pizza and Quite Frankly are cornerstones of ESPN2’s programming lineup. With many new scripted and unscripted projects in development, EOE serves both the passionate sports fan and the more casual viewer, and strives to expand ESPN's already industry-leading offerings in live events and sports news & information programming.

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DreamWorks Television is a division of DreamWorks SKG which was founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. DreamWorks Television is currently in production on season four of the hit NBC series Las Vegas and in pre-production on season four of the critically acclaimed FX drama Rescue Me as well as the upcoming FOX reality series On The Lot. DreamWorks Television produced Into the West for TNT, which won the Broadcast Film Critics Association award for “Best Picture Made for Television”, was nominated for a Golden Globe for “Best Mini Series or Motion Picture Made for Television” and was the most Emmy-nominated program of the year. Other past DreamWorks Television projects include: Spin City, Band of Brothers, Taken, Father of the Pride, Freaks and Geeks, The Job, Boomtown and Undeclared.

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