The Contender: Episode 11 Review

The final pre-taped episode of The Contender aired this past Wednesday night, with the four remaining boxers battling it out in the semi-finals.

Troy Ross 19-1 vs Akinyemi Laleye 12-1

Rico Hoye (pictured right) 22-2 vs Hino Ehikhamenor 14-3

Let's get to the action...

Photo © Chris Thompson LoFlame

Although a little one sided, the first fight of the night between Troy Ross and AK Laleye, was an entertaining battle.

While the weights for the fights on the show aren’t listed – at least I can’t find them listed anywhere – I have to assume that Troy had a decent size advantage. In his most recent fights before coming on the show, he’s been weighing around 192-195, while AK’s been between 175 and 182 (thank you boxrec.com).

Given the size disparity, it was no surprise that John Bray’s instructions to AK were to box and move, and in the early going he could be heard yelling “Make him come get it! Make him come to you!” That was probably the only way AK was going to have a chance, but I don’t think it’s in his make-up to fight that way. He likes to mix it up too much, and he did just that, pressing forward each time Troy refused to lead.

While Troy was consistently getting the best of the action, Tommy Brooks felt he could be doing better. Before the second round, he urged Troy to throw the jab more, and put his punches together in combination, rather than loading up with big counter hooks.

Troy did seem to ease up on going for the one punch knock-out in the second and third rounds, but he certainly didn’t use his jab too much.

“You’re not using your jab!” Tommy told him before the fourth round. “All you got to do is throw your punches straight, baby. He can’t get out the way, he’s squared up. You’re rushing it. Take your time. Pick your spots.”

In the other corner, John told AK to just keep doing what he was doing. Considering AK hadn’t been following the plan, I have to assume John was just trying to keep his fighter motivated. AK kept battling, and while he was on the receiving end of most of the punishment being dished out, he did catch Troy with a really nice right hand during a good exchange along the ropes late in the round.

In the final round, Troy laid a real pounding on AK, but could never dent the man from Lagos’ spirit. AK took flush bomb after flush bomb, but kept willing his way forward, and was game until the end.

The scores were 50-45 across the board for Troy.

The second semi-final looked like an even contest heading in, with Hino holding a size advantage, but Rico being the more experienced fighter.

I thought Hino had a slight edge in what was an action packed first round. He found the mark a few times with his right hand, including one occasion where he followed it up with a nice left hook.

Before the second round, John told Rico he needed to keep space by using his jab and stepping to his right, to keep him away from Hino’s right. Rico just couldn’t do it though, and kept getting tagged. Even when he wasn’t using the jab, he was too much in Hino’s range and found himself getting whacked with right hands.

Hino looked like he had the better of things in the third as well. He appeared to constantly beat Rico to the punch, prompting host Tony Danza to comment that, “It’s almost like he (Rico) can’t pull the trigger.”

Before the fourth round, John reiterated to Rico that he needed to move to his right, and that he needed to get busier. In the other corner, Tommy didn’t have any complaints with Hino, and just reminded him that he was having success when he threw more than one shot at a time.

It did look like Rico was a little busier in the fourth, but Hino was still the one fighting with more initiative. He used his strength a little to push Rico back into the ropes, and as was the case with the previous rounds, getting that right hand in was key.

I think Rico realized he needed a knock out to win, because he came out with some real urgency in the final round. But despite his aggressiveness, he still seemed a little slow to get off and Hino was able to allude most of Rico's attack. Based on activity, it probably was Rico's round, although the best punch was probably a right hand from Hino moments before the bell.

The scores were unanimous in Hino’s favor; 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46.

The final show is all set.

Hino and Troy will be going ten rounds to decide this season's winner, while Rico and AK will be fighting an eight rounder to determine third place.

Catch all the action live on Versus at 8 PM this Wedneday.

I assume we’ll get some highlights of the other three bouts on the card, which are:

Alfredo Escalera Jr. vs Erick Vegas – 6 rounds
Felix Cora Jr. vs Tim Flamos – 6 rounds
Ryan Coyne vs Richard Gingras – 6 rounds


- Andrew Fruman e-mail
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The Contender: Episode 10 Review

Hino Ehikomenor 13-3 vs Deon Elam (photo © Zack Jennings) 10-0

Rico Hoye 21-2 vs Joell Godfrey 9-1-1

Episode 10 featured the second double header of the season, as the remaining two semi-final places were settled.

Deon and Hino were first up.

While Deon came into the bout with a perfect record, he’d only fought a grand total of 40 rounds against extremely limited opposition. I think Deon's as talented as Hino, possibly more so, but his lack of experience was too much of a hurdle to overcome. He was just a little too tight out there, especially in the early going.

John Bray kept screaming for Deon to get busy and let his hands go, but it wasn’t until late in the third round, that he started to open up. He carried that momentum into the fourth round, where he showed some real purpose and managed to stagger Hino with a hard right hand. Hino looked a little hurt, but he weathered the storm, and was soon firing back, and was the better of the two fighters in the final round.

The scores were 49-46 across the board for Hino.

Hino did what he was supposed to in getting the win, but Tommy Brooks sounded progressively less thrilled with him as the fight went on. Hino relies on head movement, rather than keeping his hands high, and he’s not quite slick enough to keep getting away with it. At least not in Tommy view, as after the fight he said, “Listen to me, you’re not going to be able to do that against Troy, or you’ll be looking up at the lights.”

With a bit more seasoning, Deon might find the self belief to let his hands go more when he’s in against quality opponents. He sounded upbeat afterwards, although I imagine he’ll be replaying the bout over and over in his head, wishing he’d have kicked things into gear earlier.

The second bout between Rico and Joell followed a similar pattern to the first, with the less experienced fighter taking some time to find his footing.

If you’ve been following along with the show, you know that Joell can thank Rico for his place in the second round. It looked like Joell’s tournament was over after his decisive loss to Felix Cora Jr., in the show’s opening episode. But an injury to Ryan Coyne, left Rico needing a replacement opponent. The decision of who to bring back was left up to the remaining fighters, who in turn let Rico make the call.

Against Felix, Joell constantly found himself with his back to the ropes, which was never a good place for him. He just doesn’t have the skills to counter from that position, and each time he was driven back, he got the worst of the exchanges.

He gave a better account of himself tonight, although he still found himself getting backed up too much, and it cost him. On occasion, you could hear host Tony Danza yelling from his seat, “You don’t want to be there, get off those ropes!”

Suddenly, late in the third round, Joell started flashing some of his skills. No idea what took him so long, but when he started letting his hands go, and using some movement, he took the play away from Rico.

“That’s what I’m talking about! I need two rounds of what you just did!” John told him when he got back to the corner.

Joell came out for the fourth looking poised and confident. He stayed on the move, kept the fight as his range, and landed some nice jabs and right hands. It was by far his best round of the tournament.

Unfortunately for Joell, he just couldn’t sustain that energy, and when Rico turned up the intensity in the final round, he found himself struggling to keep up. Time and again, Rico drove an increasingly ragged looking Joell backwards. Finally, with around ten seconds left to go, with Rico moving in on him, an exhausted Joell voluntarily sunk to one knee.

Joell had enough left to get to his feet, but if there were another twenty seconds or so, Rico may have stopped him.

The final scores were unanimous in Rico’s favor; 50-44, 48-46 and 49-45.

Next week, we have another double-header, with both semi-finals going. Troy Ross will battle Akinyemi Laleye, and Hino will face off against Rico.

The winners meet at Foxwoods, in Detroit, on February 25th.

- Andrew Fruman e-mail
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The Contender: Episode 9 Review

Alfredo Escalera Jr. 16-1-1 vs Akinyemi Laleye 11-1

The lasting impression from this week’s episode should have been the toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder, grueling struggle that took place in the ring between Alfredo Escalara Jr. and AK Laleye (pictured). Unfortunately, some infighting of a different kind stole some of the spotlight away from the ring action.

Photo © Ray Kasprowicz

The trouble started after Ryan Coyne was declared medically unfit to fight due to the cut he suffered in his first round win. This meant bringing back one of the already eliminated fighters to take Ryan’s spot against Rico Hoye.

The fairest solution to the dilemma would have been for trainers Tommy Brooks and John Bray, along with host Tony Danza to talk it over and decide which fighter was most deserving of getting a second chance.

Instead, Tony informed the fighters that it would be up to them to decide who would return. Leaving it up to the competitors, who would obviously have ulterior motives beyond selecting the most deserving fighter, was a lousy decision. This became clear enough once they started debating who to go with. Alfredo didn’t like the direction the selection process was going in, and spoke his mind, suggesting that Rico was angling for an easier second round match-up.

Perhaps if Alfredo had been a little calmer, things wouldn’t have gone the way they did, but his words were said in a huff, as he was leaving the room. Before Alfredo was out the door, Rico lashed out by saying, “You’re going to get stretched tomorrow night.”

Not surprisingly, Alfredo didn’t take kindly to the remark, and stormed back towards Rico. They were quickly separated before hostilities could further escalate, although a few more unpleasant words were exchanged.

The other fighters decided to leave the decision up to Rico, and he chose Joell Godfrey. Rico made no bones about the fact his selection was based on who gave him the best chance to make the semi-finals. Good for him, I guess, but the whole process was kind of lame and not really in the interests of having the best possible tournament.

But enough about all that - let’s get to the fight.

With a fairly big size edge (Alfredo typically weighs in around 200, while AK is usually at 175) John’s pre-fight instructions were intended to make use of that advantage. He told Alfredo to put pressure with the jab, cut off the ring, and work the body. “Just go in there and steadily, methodically, break this guy down.”

Tommy told AK that he was too quick for Alfredo, and his plan was based on using movement and speed. “It’s your show, get out there and be first. Keep him turning in circles, trying to find you. Stay off the ropes.”

Based on the size difference and trainer instructions, one might have expected Alfredo to assume the roll of stalker, with AK boxing and moving, but the action quickly developed into an inside battle, with AK refusing to back off. Even with Alfredo landing his jabs, and ripping uppercuts in close, AK was undaunted in his determination to stand his ground and if anything, he was slowly becoming the aggressor.

As the second round began, John could be heard yelling for his fighter to, “Close the gap, don’t let him breathe, Fredo!”

In the other corner, Tommy could also be heard giving instructions, but his voice paled in intensity from that of Rico, who kept yelling loud instructions at AK. One telling shot showed Tommy sitting and watching, with Rico shouting in the background, “Work him AK!”

Even after Alfredo landed something big, AK refused to stop throwing. There was one sequence near the end of the round where Alfredo landed a nice left hook, and a few moments later a hard right hand, but AK shrugged them off went right back to work.

Seeing his opponent take his best shots and refuse to back up had to be somewhat of a psychological blow to Alfredo. John tried his best to keep him going though and urged him to keep letting his hands go and working the body.

Unfortunately for Alfredo, his gas tank was starting to dry up. The fight had been fought with tremendous intensity, and he was the one starting to feel it.

AK was the fresher fighter, with a bounce in his step. Almost all the effective work was coming from his hands, as Alfredo was starting to struggle. He kept trying, but his punches were becoming sloppier, and increasingly wider, and seem to totally lack the snap they had earlier.

As Alfredo flailed away, Rico yelled, “He’s ready to quit! He’s ready to quit!”

When Alfredo came back to the corner before the final round, John told his exhausted fighter to, “Dig deep, dig deep! Find it, find it!”

Tommy told AK to give him one more round. “Look over there,” Tommy said, pointing to the other corner. “He can’t even stand up, son!”

Alfredo could barely get to his feet, but he came out for the final round and gamely attempted to land something big. It just wasn’t going to happen though. He didn’t have the steam on his punches, while AK was still strong.

With Alfredo breathing heavily, AK turned it up a little more. He hurt Alfredo with a right cross, and a little later, a big left hook sent Alfredo collapsing into the ropes and falling sideways to the canvas. There was no count. The fight was over.

In the locker room after the fight, John told his fighter, “Let me tell you something. I’m proud of you. You know why? You went out like a soldier. You went out like a viking. You went out swinging. You weren’t looking for a place to run. You weren’t looking for a place to hide and lay down. You went out swinging, and there’s never any shame in that.”

It was indeed a gusty effort.

AK looked good. He's certainly not fighting like the smallest fighter on the show, and now moves on face Troy Ross in the semi-finals.

It should be a good scrap.

- Andrew Fruman e-mail
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The Contender: Episode 8 Review

Felix Cora Jr. 19-2-2 vs Troy Ross 18-1

The second round of The Contender cruiserweight tournament began this past Wednesday night, with two of the most impressive fighters from the first round pitted against each other.

Both Felix Cora Jr. (pictured) and Troy Ross won their opening bouts in style – Felix with a convincing decision win over the previously unbeaten Joell Godfrey and Troy with a stunning 2nd round TKO victory over the tough skilled veteran Lawrence Tauasa.

On paper, it looked like we had the potential for a great fight.

These were two polished fighters. Both had good jabs. Both kept their hands up. Both respected the other’s power, but weren’t afraid to stand in and let their hands go.

The only regret going in was that these two had to fight this early in the tournament.

Blame Troy for that.

Having taken part in the season’s first fight, Felix didn’t have a say in his second round opponent. He had slotted his name into the first bout of the empty second round bracket and waited to see who would choose to fight him. Eventually, after the next four winners chose to take alternative routes forward, Troy decided he was up for the challenge.

Tony Danza asked him to explain his choice.

“I figure I might as well go with the best of the best right now and just keep the ball rolling.” Fair enough. Little injuries can happen at any time, and if Troy felt healthy and ready, taking on the man considered his biggest threat as soon as possible made sense.

Tommy Brooks was certainly looking forward to it. “This fight between Troy and Felix… put your hard hat on, put your safety belt on, and don’t go get a coke, because you might miss something. These two guys come to fight and the first one to make a mistake - good night sweet prince.”

After a cautious few moments to start the fight, Troy was the first to test the waters with a little aggression, following up his jab by mixing in some power shots. He had some success, but didn’t fully commit to attacking, and settled back to probing with his jab.

Tommy had told him in the dressing room to score points and not force anything. “If you’re looking for the knock-out, it ain’t going to happen. Just box, he’ll run into it.”

In the other corner, John Bray could be heard saying, “Jab, jab, you got to work. You got to work Felix.”

In a short fight, there’s really no alternative to staying busy. There’s just no time for much of a feeling out process, even when up against a strong opponent that might take a little figuring out.

Perhaps feeling the pressure to get something done, Felix got a little careless and leaned in to throw a lead left to the body, and as he started to follow up with a right, Troy countered with a chopping left hand.

The punch landed right behind the ear, and sent Felix toppling backwards.

It was clear right away he was hurt. He lay on his back and lifted his head, while the rest of his body lay flat. He used his elbows to slowly push himself up to a sitting position before struggling to his feet an instant before the ref’s count reached 7.

As the ref said 8, he motioned for Felix to step towards him and said, “Come here.”

It’s customary for fighters to raise their gloves to let the ref know they are fine, but with his gloves down Felix took an unsteady step forward. That was enough for the man in charge. He quickly grabbed a hold of Felix and waived it off.

That was it. At 2:38 of Round 1, it was over.

In his pre-fight interview, Felix had said “I just have to take what’s given to me and adjust to what’s in front of me. If I’m not careful how I go about doing things, it could be a short night for me. So I have to be perfect this fight.”

Perfect is always a tall order, but on this occasion, one mistake did indeed mean the end. Felix tried to come inside without jabbing his way in. It’s the type of thing that can often go unpunished, but against a good counter puncher, it’s a very risky move.

In every previous fight on the show, the climactic moments have been met with boisterous cheers from the fighters watching. Not this time. With the quarter-finals underway, and the team format that governed the match-making of the first round over, none of the other fighters had much of a rooting interest in the outcome.

They had all liked Felix. He was quiet, humble and respected. Everyone also knew about the situation going on back in his hometown of Galveston, Texas which had been devastated during the show’s taping by Hurricane Ike.

To add to his troubles, his participation on the show had meant his employer back home would be letting him go.

Troy Ross was fairly subdued as he came back to the corner. “You did what you were supposed to do.” Tommy Brooks told him. “Don’t worry about it.”

Easier said than done.

The fighters on the show, train in the same gym, live in the same house and eat at the same table. They are all there to knock each other off, but living in such close proximity, they can’t help but develop empathy for each other’s struggles.

They know only one man can win, but they wish each other the best. They understand the sacrifice involved to try and get ahead in a sport where only the elite of the elite earn extravagant wages. For the rest, even very good fighters like themselves; it’s a grind just to make a living.

For Troy Ross, a spot in the semi-finals is next.

For Felix Cora Jr., some bigger challenges await.

Good luck to both of them.

- Andrew Fruman e-mail

More on Felix Cora...

Cora Looks Back on Contender Experience: Galveston Daily News
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