"The Contender" Leaving ESPN, HBO Bound!

Hot, Scalding And Boiling Over:
"The Contender" Leaving ESPN, HBO Bound!
www.boxingconfidential.com
Michael Marley
3/22/2007
(mlcmarley@aol.com)

COPENHAGEN--It is hardly a scret that "The Contender," the TV reality series about professional boxers, will switch to an all heavyweight format for its 2007 season. Casting for the show is going on now and the series, which is popular in countries all over the world (including Denmark, "tak,"), will be back on the air come September.

But Boxingconfidential.com has learned the progam, which is headed up by reality series guru Mark Burnett and boxing and entertainment man Jeff Wald, may be changing channels. ESPN, which picked up the show after it left NBC after its premiere season, has an option to carry the program.

But sources within the broadcasting world keep repeating to me hot and scalding rumors that Home Box Office is going to acquire the show and that, come autumn, you won't see Sugar Ray Leonard and his new students on ESPN.

I wouldn't be surprised to see HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg and his cohorts latch on to "The Contender," particularly with the heavyweight format for 2007. Some sources tell me it is a done deal and an announcement will be made shortly.

Greenburg and other HBO Boxing executives have had plenty of reasons to engage in protracted conversation with Wald recently what with program "champion" Sergio Mora being approved for a middleweight title shot against Jermain Taylor and show graduate Peter Manfredo slotted for a title bout against WBO super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe. Mora didn't make any friends at HBO when he pulled out for the May 19 Taylor bout, claiming he did not want to fight in Memphis because it is too close to Taylor's home state of Arkansas.

This is what ESPN honcho Mark Shapiro had to say about "The Contender" before the all sports cable network ran its shows for 2005 and 2006:

"'The Contender' has all of the elements that make it the right fit for ESPN: compelling storylines, dynamic characters and suspense over the outcome," Mark Shapiro, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production, said. "This series speaks to our viewers' love for competition and their appreciation for triumph over adversity, and it goes without saying that the track record of Mark Burnett is exemplary -- a perfect match for the critical and ratings successes EOE has delivered in both scripted and unscripted drama."

Said Burnett: "Our vision from the onset was to improve the entertainment experience of televised boxing for the fans. What better platform to achieve that vision than on the network that pioneered sports television programming."

Maybe HBO can slot "The Contender" before or after "The Entourage." Natural broadcast and dramtic fit, I would say.

I'd welcome the change. HBO would undoubtedly present it in a better format. I'd like to see the fights unadulterated and complete. Those sound effects during the match, the slo-mo, the back and forth action when there isn't necessarily back and forth action has to go. And get rid of those stupid challenges. Peter Manfredo said it made the fights unnecessarily difficult. All HBO would have to do is show the actual bout.

I'd completely remove the host and perhaps present it as 3 episodes in one week. The first two would give background on the fighters and set up the third one where they'd show the actual fight. I'm surprised Oscar DLH didn't try to revamp his old show and regift it to HBO.

I don't think changing it is a good idea. Whatever network runs it doesn't matter, but the sound effects, the edited fights, etc.... are to make it more dramatic and make the AVERAGE person watch it.

We are die hard boxing fanatics. We would watch no matter what. My wife and kids will watch contender and actually look forward to it, but they will not watch friday night fights with me, and they consider it boring. The show is for attracting new people to the sport of boxing, not us fanatics....

They gotta cater to the non boxing fans, not us.

another loss for boxing.............. regualr televsion gets fans look at ufc....... moving to hbo wont help at all contender was made for the sould purpose to gain boxing fans because it is not made for boxing fans because boxing fans want to see the whole fight but avergae people like to see slow motion high points of the round with sound effects