''The Contender Australia'' 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 added element of insight into the competitor's lives and relationships with each other within the show's living quarters. The series was filmed in Sydney, Australia and was first aired on Australian Pay-Television channel Fox8 on 3 November 2009. The winner will win the Contender Australia title and a A$250,000 prize-"fight" with

Anthony Mundine Anthony Mundine Jr. (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the WBA super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008. He also held the I ...

Contestants

The following 14 fighters, hailing from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

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 ...

, were selected to take part in the Contender Tournament which took place at the

Super Middleweight Super middleweight, or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing In professional boxing, super middleweight is contested between the middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, in which boxers can weigh between 160 pounds ( ...

division. ''Records entering tournament in parentheses (W-L-D)'' * Ben "The Juicer" McCulloch(3(2 by KO)-0-0)'

*

Adrian Taihia Adrian Taihia (born 3 September 1983) is a retired New Zealand professional boxer. Taihia is in Craig Thomson's Boxing Stable. Australian Contender Taihia took part in '' The Contender Australia'', a reality television show based on the sport of ...

(5(3 by KO)-0-1)'

*Israel "Cobra" Kani (9(4 by KO)-2-2''

*Josh "Cast Iron" Clenshaw (26(13 by KO)-16-0)'

* Daniel MacKinnon (boxer), Daniel MacKinnon (13(7 by KO)-4-1)'

* Garth Wood, Garth "From the Hood" Wood (4(2 by KO)-1-0)'

*Junior "The One" Talipeau (14(5 by KO)-0-0)'

*Kariz "Peter" Kariuki (18(17 by KO)-7-2)'

*Les "Diamond" Piper (10(2 by KO)-2-3)'

*Luke "Kool Hand" Moloney (13-4-0)'

*Sonni "Jungle Boy" Michael Angelo (15(5 by KO)-8-2)'

* Victor Oganov, Victor "The Crushin Russian" Oganov (28(28 by KO)-2-0)'

* Pradeep Singh Sihag, Pradeep "The Indian Warrior" Singh(15(8 by KO)-1-1)'

*Nader "Lionheart" Hamdan (41(18 by KO)-6-0)'

Trainers

* Billy Hussien (Blue Team) * Paul Briggs (Gold Team)

Hosts

Charlotte Dawson Charlotte Dawson (8 April 1966 – 22 February 2014) was a New Zealand–Australian television personality. She was known in New Zealand for her roles as host of '' Getaway'', and in Australia as a host on ''The Contender Australia'' and as a ju ...

Daniel Amalm Daniel Amalm (born 16 February 1979) is an Australian actor and musician. Early life Amalm's mother is Maltese and his father is Swedish. Amalm's father introduced him to guitar from an early age. Amalm's first performances were as a busker ...

Guest appearances

Sakio Bika Sakio Bika (born 18 April 1979) is a Cameroonian-born Australian professional boxer. He held the WBC super-middleweight title from 2013 to 2014, and previously the IBO super-middleweight title from 2008 to 2010. In 2015 he challenged once for ...

Joe Bugner József Kreul Bugner (born 13 March 1950) is a Hungarian-born British-Australian former heavyweight boxer and actor. He holds triple nationality, being a citizen of Hungary and a naturalised citizen of both Australia and the United Kingdom. ...

Sugar Ray Leonard Ray Charles Leonard (born May 17, 1956), best known as "Sugar" Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer, motivational speaker, and occasional actor. Often regarded as one of the greatest boxers of all time, he competed professiona ...

Fight results

Episode 1 *Josh Clenshaw defeated Israel Kani by split decision. **Garth Wood and Ben McCulloch qualified for Round 2 through winning the challenge. **Blue Team 0, Gold Team 1 Episode 2 * Daniel MacKinnon (boxer), Daniel MacKinnon defeated Luke Moloney by 3rd round KO. **Blue Team 0, Gold Team 2 Episode 3 *Nader Hamden defeated Les Piper by a Unanimous decision. **Blue Team 1, Gold Team 2 Episode 4 * Victor Oganov defeats Junior Talipeau by Majority decision. **48-48 , 48-47 , 48-47 **Blue Team 2, Gold Team 2 Episode 5 *Kariz Kariuki defeated

by 2nd round KO. *Sonni Michael Angelo defeated Pradeep Singh by Unanimous decision **48-47 , 49-48 , 49-46 **Blue Team 2, Gold Team 4 Episode 6 *Ben McCulloch leaves the house due to neck injury from the advice of his physio *Israel Kani replaces Ben McCulloch and is now fighting Garth Wood *The fighters meet up with

*Garth Wood defeated Israel Kani by 2nd round KO. Episode 7 * Victor Oganov defeats Sonni Michael Angelo by Unanimous Decision **49-45 , 49-46 , 48-46 Episode 8 *Josh Clenshaw defeats Daniel MacKinnon (boxer), Daniel MacKinnon by Majority Decision **48-48 , 48-47 , 50-45 Episode 9 *Kariz Kariuki defeats Nader Hamden by Unanimous Decision. **49-46 , 48-46 , 49-45 Episode 10 *Garth Woods defeats Victor Oganov by Majority Points Decision. *Kariz Kariuki defeats Josh Clenshaw by Unanimous Decision.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Contender Australia, The 2009 Australian television seasons 2010 Australian television seasons

2009 Australian television series debuts 2010 Australian television series endings 2000s Australian reality television series Boxing in Australia Fox8 original programming Sport in Sydney Television series by ITV Studios Television shows set in Sydney Australian television series based on American television series 2010s Australian reality television series