What is so good about the Contender?

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

The big one is that its boxing on free tv, as someone above said. Also I think its good for creating fans by giving you a bit of drama and letting you know the characters a little more. Watching two mediocre boxers you've never heard of go five rounds is usually only appealing if you really like boxing. If the show does its job though you're likely to have learned a little bit about each fighter's personality and background and then the casual fan can pick one to root for and maybe enjoy the fight a little more.

CC Gutbuster, good point.

I like Soliman and Bika, and the guy from last season, but I don't like that they're mixing in established pro boxers as it seems to get away from the idea of discovering new talent. I do like that they seem to be moving away from some of the cheesier parts of the first season though. Showing the full fight afterwards is cool too, but the problem there is if you watch the show the fight is spoiled.

Ive always wondred if the fights were edited to correspond with the verdict. At least this gives you a chance to see for sure :P

[donnydarkoIRL]

The one thing about the contender that i found dubious was the way they pushed Manfredo. He didn win the show, he wasn't the best boxer in the show, but for some reason he's the one that got a second chance and all the promotion.

[OumaFan]

Its really not that great, it could be better but its boxing even with all the silly editing so I usually watch it.

[Myk_Myk]

Watching two mediocre boxers you've never heard of go five rounds is usually only appealing if you really like boxing.

For the most part you're right about the mediocrity, and maybe that's partly why they feel the need to try to edit the fights into a Rockyesq look and feel.

I play upright bass and one method book I went through said that you could tell a great deal about a musicians ability just by hearing them play a C major scale; which is one of the first, easiest, and most foundational scales you learn. When I was watching the Taylor/Pavlik HBO preview and saw them both killing the speed bag, a picture of Donny McCrary's pathetic efforts as seen on the show, flashed in my mind. That seemed to really put things into prospective for me as to the average level of talent there.

I like Soliman and Bika, and the guy from last season, but I don't like that they're mixing in established pro boxers as it seems to get away from the idea of discovering new talent.

I always thought the idea of the show was both as a launching pad for new talent and as chance for a veteran to get their career back on track.

[El Kabong]

Ways to fix The Contender

#1: SHOW THE ENTIRE FIGHT DURING THE EPISODE!!!!

#2: Use young undefeated fighters that no one knows

#3: Perhaps we need some heavyweights sometime soon

[SigmaMu]

Ways to fix The Contender

#1: SHOW THE ENTIRE FIGHT DURING THE EPISODE!!!!

#2: Use young undefeated fighters that no one knows

#3: Perhaps we need some heavyweights sometime soon

1.- will never happen.

2.- would be nice but not many managers/promoters want to let their fighters go because of contract issues imposed by Contender.

3.- Season 4 will be heavies.