27.05.05 – By Wray Edwards: Speaking of the show being cancelled…that would be a surprise. Many people I know have really enjoyed it, and they have never had any interest in the sport before. Suspect this is true all over the country. That’s a lot of potential fans. Even though it needs a lot of work and changes, it should be given one or two more seasons to test it in or out. The B, C and D fighters who participated got a place to shine in the public eye.. In fact, a hokey vehicle like this is the perfect way to give these club fighters something constructive to do for the sport. Instead of fighting locally in anonymity, their marginal skills can be used to lure new and innocent fans to the sport. To a novice fan with little experience watching boxing, this show is excellent as an entrée.
Then there are the really camp aspects. Hey producers!… please consider the following things:
1. Do keep Stallone and Leonard as color commentators. Their spontaneous ineptitudes are fabulous entertainment. It would be a real shame to put really professional guys like Bernstein in such an awkward position. Let Sly and Sugar have some fun. They’ve earned it.
2. Do keep the other Al (Trautwig). His announcer shtick has just the right self-importance to take the edge off of any temptation to view these matches as truly professional. He has just the right sort of lead form like the announcer for the Lone Ranger or The Shadow (Lamont Cranston) in the forties and fifties radio format; perfect for new fans who would otherwise be watching the WE or LMN channels.
3. Do try to limit the whimpering of the losers after each match. Instead of showing them taking a lonely walk down a dimly lit street after hanging up their gloves, have them drive off in the morning sun in a new truck with the wife and kids. After all, they gave it their best, and without their honorable effort the winners would have had no stepping stone to the big one.
4. Shave the bio bits a little and devote more time to the matches. Try to show at least two minutes of each round, and if you must include crowd, celebrity and family reactions, one minute of that would be a cleaver way to train fans to the three minute standard. New fans might not be patient with tactical stuff and those would be opportune moments to edit in reaction shots.
5. Next time – if there is a next time – have the courtesy to interview the loser of the finale. There was a gaping hole in the final show as most fans probably wanted to hear from Manfredo after the fight. He had a really loyal and emotional following.
6. The next time you bring a famous pro boxer to meet with the guys, try to bring on a real warrior – preferably articulate – like Tszyu, Corrales, or Gatti. Tarver was not a good choice. It might be difficult, but it will worth the effort.
7. This show has huge chick-flick appeal. The team challenges might be a great place to pump up the beefcake exposure a little.
8. “ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!” The producers have already been close to association with the suicide of one of the boxers. The heavy promise of big money is a very powerful emotional carrot to place before these guys who, for the most part, are from limited social settings. There needs to be a little better follow-up on the losers, just in case.
9. “ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!” Well, sort of…actually afterthe demons from the State and Federal IRS agencies get done with these guys, 500K is more like it. How many stories have we heard about people who have won five or six million in a lottery and two years later they are writing bad checks?
10. Boxers seldom have MBA’s, and if Mora’s Mom is really not going to have to work “ever again” (Trautwig), they better put 400K in a TIAA – CREFF balanced portfolio and blow the other 100K on victory parties, big-screen TV’s and cars. There should be a staff accountant/business manager who is available to help the boxers with financial planning.
With “Million Dollar Baby” last year and “Cinderella Man” (the inspiring story of the life and times of James J. Braddock) this year, and very much increased boxing presentations all over the cable nets lately (in case you hadn’t noticed), the sport is being primed for a resurgence of popularity.
Ron Howard’s work with Russell Crowe will feed fan interest into the sport for the rest of the year. What with Hatton/Tszyu, Tyson/McBride, and Chavez Jr. and Sr. back on the canvass, not to mention the very real possibility that Klitschko will actually defend his title this year, these are all benchmark opportunities.
Additionally, if anybody out there- Hey Barrera, Morales, Marquez, Manny, and Hernandez!…has got the stones to face Chico, we are absolutely in for some epic contests.
It’s hard to believe that a show with this potential appeal will be written off due to a tough showing against “American Idol”. NBC sucks for having thrown “The Contender” under the bus with that scheduling. Either HBO or Showtime must have some interest. What is more likely is that FX (Home of the greatest cop show of all time “The Shield”) or Spike will step up. This show would be a major plumb for either of those two channels, and right up their alley programming wise. Mora certainly
made an impression on Teddy Atlas and Bryan.
ESPN FNF’s mentioned his name about twenty times as well as having him as the studio guest. Thought there for a bit that Teddy was going to propose to Sergio. FNF’s sure gave a lot of coverage to “The contender.”
The heavyweight producers of the show will certainly not give up without a fight. They have the finances and the motivation which should bring them success. It would really be a shame if this great mixture of camp and human drama were to fade away after only one season.