The Contender, the boxing reality show that began life on NBC before being canceled and moving to ESPN for the last two seasons, has been canceled once more. Despite launching a few boxing careers -- and bringing us the fun of Sylvester Stallone air-boxing whenever he watched a fight during the first season -- the show's producers "couldn't come to terms" with ESPN for a fourth season. The producers expect the show to move to another network, which means that somehow boxing is still considered by someone as a viable form of entertainment. I mean, I know we're in a recession and all, but did the whole world get transported back to 1932, Island in the Sea of Time style when I wasn't looking?
The best part about the show's continued existence is that Greg Giraldo can continue performing his classic stand-up bit: "There's a new reality show out there now in which they get together a bunch of boxers and try to find the best one. Remember the show they used to have where they tried to do that? Yeah, it was called Boxing."
[via PopCandy]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-14-2008 @ 5:29PM
Jay Black said...
I'm actually curious as to how many people care about this. I'm a huge sports fan, but I haven't watched a boxing match since Floyd Mayweather beat the living pulp out of that British guy (no not the current bachelor, though I'd certainly tune that in).
Even when I watch boxing it's because my friends are getting together to watch it. Other sports -- football, soccer, basketball, and baseball (in that order) -- I watch for the sheer enjoyment of it. Despite about 15 hours of sports a week (more during football season), I'll generally skip over boxing.
Is boxing forever dead as a TV sport? Yes, no? I guess the number of people actually clicking through to read this comment on the Contender post would be a good indication, huh? :)
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4-14-2008 @ 5:53PM
Matty said...
I'm actually pretty bummed about the cancellation. I'm sure the sport (er, promoters) made a killing off all the PPV fights during the Tyson years, but that turned into a huge mistake because it closed off who could become a boxing fan. Once every fight went PPV, the casual fan became less and less likely to follow the fighters. You couldn't just turn on your tv and see a great fight. They lost millions of fans this way.
Regardless, I truly enjoyed the show because it gave me a reason to watch something other than old fights on ESPN Classic. My sister, who had never seen a boxing match in her life, turned into a HUGE fan of The Contender in the first season. There's little chance she'll ever watch another fight unless it involves one of the guys from the first three seasons. I won't shed any tears over the cancellation, but the sport is losing a great opportunity to win over more fans.
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4-14-2008 @ 6:01PM
Jay Black said...
You make a good point about involving people in the personalities involved. When you think about Ali and Foreman back in the 70s, there was as much interest in those fights regarding the fighters' hatred of each other than who would actually win.
I agree, too, that the promoters killed it. Every good fight that aired when I was growing up cost $50. My parents were permissive, but not _that_ permissive. The only fight I ever remember being allowed to order on PPV was the Tyson/Spinks fight that ended after four seconds (which I didn't see because I was waiting for pizza to reheat).
4-14-2008 @ 7:25PM
MCW said...
The theme song for the show was tremendous :) So, it had that going for it. I liked it when it was originally on NBC, but didn't follow it to ESPN. I guess just like boxing, it's on its way out.
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