Ahmed 0-2 in the Contender. I think that he should stand by his word and quit.

Alphonso definitely has a ton of boxing talent. His combinations are pretty nice. He dominated rounds 1-3, took round 4 off, and came back to win round 5.

He got hurt by Ahmed pretty badly in that fight (you could see all the cuts on his face after the fight). NBC edited it so it looked like Alphonso was gonna go down in the fifth round.

Gotta give props to Alphonso, he definitely has a good chance to win it all.

Wow, another tough fight, both fighters giving it their best, trading shots and just leaving it inside the ring.

Can anyone with Tivo concur Joey vs. Peter? That gives Jesse the draw of the century if #1 Daddy's hammy doesn't heal.

I can't confirm it but they showed both Joey & Peter in the clip so it would make sense.

My guess is that Jesse wins the challenge next week and puts Peter against Joey so that he could fight an injured Bonsante.

Has to be. Only other one is Peter winning the challenge and picking Joey (easier than Jessie). He would not pick Anthony for he honor aspect of picking an injured fighter. But, most likely it will be your prediction. Either way, great f'ing show!
Just wish the ratings were better so heavyweights could be Season 2.

I agree. I really hope that there's a season 2 as this is now my favorite reality show, even above Survivor.

Well, it has hovered around a 4 point rating throughout the season but last I checked, it is gaining viewership. I am not enough of a tv buff to know if a 4 is good on a Sunday. Also, it is hard to tell about the actual numbers. The show has quite a lot of product placement and I am not sure if those endorsements add a lot to the bottomline. If I had to put odds on it, I would guess there is a 25% chance of a second season. Who knows though, the dvd could sell well and that could push it into another run.

ok, i spent the entire 2nd fight waiting for alfonso to get knocked out because I SWEAR - wasn't that in the preview? of Ahmed standing over a knocked down alfonso? Maybe i'm seeing things.

I'm glad Alfonso won - easily my favorite fighter. Non - combative personality, overall nice guy who will help anybody out who needs help.

I liked Ishe and Sergio too, too bad Ishe went home - if the fight went 10 rounds, Sergio would have been messed up. Sergio is smart though, veeeeery tricksy.

Why wouldn't he just call Anthony out and not give him more time to heal if that's the case?

I guess maybe he wouldn't want to look like the asshole....

Anyway, great fights tonight. Glad to see Ishe gone, and super glad to see Ahmed gone again.

I'm rooting for Alphonso to win it all. If not him then Jesse. They seem to be the two best guys there.

I didn't know there were two episodes, so I turned it off after the first one, and I'm disappointed I missed Ahmed losing again. This was the first time it didn't conflict with another show I wanted to watch at it's regular time, so it was good to see.

Jesse was smart to pair up two of the best guys outside the "alliance", but after all the crap he gave Ishe when he first fought about backing up his talk, living up to his word etc., Jesse did the same damn thing this round.

I'm sad to see Ishe go, because I think he's the one that made the show work. He's abrasive and cocky too, but he's a lot more sympathetic then Ahmed, and he brought a lot of interesting drama without being over the top. Sergio is (at least he's portrayed as) a good guy though, so I'm not disappointed he won. That pummeling he took from Ishe in the second or third round though, that looked painful. I'm sure most of it was editing, but it still looked harsh.

Edit: Oh the "challenges" they go through are really stupid. They need to find a better way of picking the matchmaker, because these are barely relevant and aren't even good TV. Whether they can shoot a medicine ball through a hoop shouldn't determine their fate in a boxing competition. It's a lame Survivor holdover.

I think that's exactly what happened.

Certainly was an odd choice. He was probably thinking like Mr. Pink from Reservoir dogs when they handed him his outfit.

Glad ta see Ishe gone. He was an early fav of mine, but after his tirade over Anthony going his own way, when Ishe himself had been 'working HIS plan' and not backing his team, was a bit too punkish to forgive. Then Jesse, one of the guys who was SO upset over Anthony picking the guy he wanted to fight, goes and talks smack to Ishe, then doesn't fight him.

I agree with Jesse making Ishe and Sergio fight. I agree with Anthony taking the match he wanted. This is a game. It's not let's pick who fights who as a team. One guy will win a mil..not a team or an alliance.

Fav reality show on TV! Looking forward to the conclusion. Pulling for Joey or Sergio.

I know the matches took place a while ago...will the finale be live? Can the public get tix?

Yes and yes.

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/news.php?p=3343&more=1
"...Tickets for "The Contender" finale, priced at $300, $200 and $100, are available by calling Ticketmaster (1-702-474-4000) or visiting www.ticketmaster.com. Doors open at 3:30pm for the main event. Tickets can be purchased in person at the Caesars Palace Box Office. "The Contender" finale is a live television event, featuring the final match of "The Contender," as well as "Fan Favorite" bouts, and a special town hall session with all 16 boxers and the hosts of the program, Sylvester Stallone and "Sugar" Ray Leonard..."

Watched the preview a few times on my ReplayTV in slo-mo, and I concur. Joey v. Peter.

As much as I dislike Ahmed, I was sad to see his girlfriend go (for the 2nd time). They should keep her around as eye candy, or better yet, pair them up for a future season of the Amazing Race (yeah, different network-I know).

THANKS! Trying ta get the days off now. Short drive from here in Phoenix. My kids might get a kick out of it.

Newbie question here. I've only caught the first 2 episodes (before they moved it to Sunday night) and the 9pm episode last Sunday. I thought that this was supposed to be a 1-loss elimination format, i.e. 16 boxers -> 8 -> 4 -> 2 -> 1. But how come Peter Manfredo is back and Ahmed has fought twice? Also, did they ever feature the boxer who committed suicide fight? It seemed to be they were going out of their way not to feature him in the first 2 episodes.

One fighter left for Chicken Pox, so they voted one back. That was Manfredo. Another broke his hand during a fight, and they voted Ahmed back.

No tix left already at ticketmaster.com.

Oh..and yes, they showed the fighter who later committed suicide. Had a lil "memorial" for him at the end of the episode. He lost his fight and went home. Forgot whom he fought. Sad...had a wife and kid...

Actually, Juan didn't break anything. He just had a cut above his eye, a sprained wrist and his knuckles were bruised up.

He probably could have went on if he'd wanted too. The Dr. didn't remove him, he removed his self. Sugar Ray more or less called him a *******.

Naji lost to Sergio. It was a fight that he picked and it was stupid since Sergio is so much taller than him and thus has a huge reach advantage.

No kidding. I would fight women, children, and mental defectives if I could before someone who could actually beat me if a million bucks is on the line.

I am strongly rooting for Jesse to go down now. I'm not happy Bonsante will be fighting him next because I hate the both of them. I really like Peter, Sergio, and Alphonso and I'm pretty sure all 3 can whoop Brinkley.

I thought Sugar Ray hit it on the head when he said Ahmed just loses focus inside the ring. He looks like a deer caught in the headlights during his fights although it looks like he hits like a hammer. Someone oughtta give the kid some vitamin B complex.

Ahmed is the guy in a bar who'll knock you out one shot. Alphonso is the one that'll keep coming at you 'til you don't want it anymore.

Sergio really impressed me. He is definitely a force in this competition.

Same here. With Ishe gone, Alphonso, Sergio & Peter are the 3 that I'm rooting for now.

I never liked Bonsante. He's the one that I want to least see win.