''The Contender 2'' is a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show based on the sport of

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

, but with an element of the (

welterweight Welterweight is a weight class in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like Muay Thai, taekwondo, and mixed martial arts also use it for their own weight division system to classify the ...

) competitor's lives and relationships with each other within the show's living quarters, based in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

. Filmed in January and February 2006, the show began airing on July 18, 2006. The winner of ''The Contender Season 2'' was decided in a bout at the

Staples Center Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, broadcast live on September 26, 2006, winning a purse of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

500,000. The Contender 2 was shown on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

in the US, in the UK on

ITV4 ITV4 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel which was launched on 1 November 2005. It is owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc, and is part of the ITV (TV network), ITV network. The channel h ...

, in Canada on

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

, in Australia on FOX8, in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

TV2 Channel 2 or TV 2 may refer to: Television networks, channels and stations *Channel 2 (Iran), operated by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting *Channel 2 (Israel), a commercial television station *, entertainment and music television in Latvia * ...

, and on AXN in

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

. The show took the format of a gameshow, with the boxers divided into two teams (blue and gold) in a "playground pick" on the first episode. These teams competed for the right to choose which of their team members fights that week, and who he fights against. The second half of the hour long episodes are mostly taken up with that fight: the loser is eliminated. The program was hosted by Sugar Ray Leonard, former champion boxer.

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...

, who famously portrayed the boxer ''Rocky Balboa'' in the

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise and stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers, and Burgess M ...

series of films, is the show's executive producer. It was also produced by Mark Burnett. Unlike in season 1, Stallone does not appear on camera; at the time the series was taped, he was making ''

Rocky Balboa Robert "Rocky" Balboa (also known by his ring name The Italian Stallion), is a fictional title character and the protagonist of the ''Rocky'' film series. The character was created by Sylvester Stallone, who has also portrayed him in all eigh ...

'', the sixth installment in the ''

'' movie series. The movie premiered in December 2006.

Contestants

Episode guide

Episode numbers refer to the progression of matches in the tourney. Episodes one and two aired together at full length, while seven and eight, eleven and twelve, and thirteen and fourteen were one-hour "doubleheaders" featuring two bouts.

Tournament Tracker

While ''The Contender: Season 2'' is a reality TV show, it does contain a serious competition with a proper format - a 16-man knockout tournament.

Preliminary round

:''1. Cornelius'' (B) beat ''Michael C'' (G) by majority decision. :''2. Norberto'' (B) beat ''Rudy'' (G) by split decision. :''3. Gary'' (G) beat ''Aaron'' (B) by split decision. :''4. Walter'' (G) beat ''Andre'' (B) by unanimous decision. :''5. Grady'' (B) beat ''Vinroy'' (G) by unanimous decision. :''6. Michael S'' (B) beat ''Ebo'' (G) by KO. :''7. Nick'' (B) beat ''Jeff'' (G) by unanimous decision. :''8. Steve'' (G) beat ''Freddy'' (B) by unanimous decision.

Quarterfinals

Quarterfinal bouts are determined by the individual winner of each preliminary bout. The winner can choose which episode they will box in, and may choose their own opponent. :''9. Steve'' beat ''Nick'' by split decision. :''10. Cornelius'' beat ''Walter'' by unanimous decision. :''11. Grady'' beat ''Michael'' by unanimous decision. :''12. Norberto'' beat ''Gary'' by unanimous decision.

Semifinals

Semifinal bouts are determined by the individual winner of each quarterfinal bout. The winner can choose which episode they will box in, and may choose their own opponent. :''13. Steve'' beat ''Cornelius'' by unanimous decision. :''14. Grady'' beat ''Norberto'' by majority decision.

Finals

:''15. Grady'' beat ''Steve'' by split decision to win the contender title. Grady got ahead early with body shots. Steve then beat him inside in the 4th and 5th. There was slow fighting until the end of the bout, but Grady landed more punches in the final 5 rounds. Grady won in a split decision. The scores were: David Mendoza 93–97, Max DeLuca 96–94 and José Cobián 94–96. For third place, Cornelius beat Norberto by TKO in the 7th round of 8. Cornelius knocked Norberto down in the 2nd, and was eventually penalized a point for shoving, but overall the match was one-sided, as Cornelius simply jabbed and set up straight rights to win. As undercard bouts on the final, Walter beat Vinroy by TKO in the 4th of 6, Freddy beat Aaron by unanimous decision in 6, and Nick beat Nurhan Suleymanoglu by unanimous decision in 6.

Storm Large Storm Large (born Susan Storm Large, June 25, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and author. She attracted national attention as a contestant on the CBS reality television show '' Rock Star: Supernova''. For many years solely a rock ...

, who was a contestant on Burnett's '' Rock Star: Supernova'', sang "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the b ...

" prior to the card. ''(Numbers refer to the episode in which the fight took place.)''

Weekly results

: Cornflower blue and WIN means the boxer won the match. : Red and LOSE means the boxer lost the match.

Guest appearances

A number of professional athletes appeared on the show, offering advice to the contestants, including: *

Peter Manfredo Jr. Peter Manfredo Jr. (born November 26, 1980) is a former American professional boxer and former International Boxing Organization, IBO middleweight champion. He has challenged twice for upper-level world titles, at middleweight and super middlewei ...

Sergio Mora Sergio Mora (born December 4, 1980) is an American former professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as de ...

Alfonso Gomez Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

* "Sugar" Shane Mosley *

Willie McGinest William Lee McGinest Jr. (born December 11, 1971) is a former American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football at USC and was select ...