The Contender (TV series)

Premise

The show takes the format of a gameshow, with the boxers divided into two teams based on their place of residence in the United States: East Coast or West Coast (or simply “East” and “West”). These teams live together in group living quarters, in Pasadena, California in the historic Royal Laundry Building on Raymond Avenue and compete for the right to choose which of their team members fights that week, and who he fights against. Most of the second half of the hour-long episodes are devoted to that fight: the loser is eliminated.

Production

The series’ tagline is “The Next Great Human Drama”, and its soundtrack was scored by Hans Zimmer. Before the show premiered, rival American television Fox network rushed to air a competing show The Next Great Champ, hosted by Oscar De La Hoya. The show performed very poorly, with the final episodes being relegated to cable FSN. In an effort to distance itself from the Fox disaster, NBC opted to hold airing its show until spring 2005.

On May 16, 2005, the series was cancelled. The first season cost NBC $2,000,000 per episode. Reruns were seen on CNBC. On August 11, 2005, ESPN announced that it was picking up the rights to a second season of the show, which began airing on the network in July 2006, although special editions under the Contender title are currently airing as of March, 2006. ESPN also announced that it has options to renew the series for two additional seasons. However, on April 10, 2008, ESPN announced that it was canceling the series. Executive producer Jeff Wald maintained that the show would continue on another network. It was later announced the show would move to Versus.

Najai Turpin suicide

On February 14, 2005, one of the 16 contenders, Najai Turpin, despondent over personal matters, committed suicide, shooting himself while sitting with his girlfriend in a parked car outside the West Philadelphia gym where he trained. In his memory, the producers set up a trust fund for his daughter Anyae. The show still aired in its entirety, with a special tribute to Turpin.

Seasons

Broadcast

The show ran for fifteen weeks through 2005 on NBC in the United States of America. The show ran in the UK on ITV2 and was repeated later in the week on ITV and now airs on ITV4. It also aired on AXN in India, and on the Spanish language network Telemundo. The second season, featuring welterweight contenders, premiered in the United States on Tuesday, July 18, 2006, at 10pm ET/PT, on ESPN. The third season, featuring super middleweight contenders, premiered in the United States on Tuesday, September 4, 2007, at 10pm ET/PT, on ESPN. The fourth season, featuring cruiserweight contenders, premiered in the United States on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, at 10pm ET/PT, on Versus. A fifth season produced by Mark Burnett and hosted by Andre Ward aired on Epix in 2018.

International versions

References

References

1. (January 22, 2018). "Epix Plans New Version Of Mark Burnett's Boxing Competition 'The Contender'".
2. (June 27, 2018). "'The Contender': Mark Burnett's Boxing Competition Revival Gets Premiere Date On Epix".
3. . (August 12, 2005). ["'The Contender' to begin second season on ESPN"](https://www.espn.com/sports/boxing/news/story?id=2131600).
4. "The Contender: Boxing Series Cancelled for a Second Time – Will It Return for Round Three? {{!".
5. (February 15, 2005). "Reality TV Boxer Commits Suicide".
6. (April 10, 2018). "'The Contender': Mark Burnett's Boxing Reality Series Revival for Epix Sets Host & Trainers".