With so many of The Contender alumni scheduled for fights in the next few months, I thought this would be a good time for me to give them some extra attention. From now on I will also try to bring some results to you as well.
I will list these fights by date, the first one being this Friday. Season one runner-up Peter Manfredo, Jr. (28-5-0) will face Shane Benfield (17-1-0) in Lincoln, Rhode Island in the Super Middleweight division. Both men lost their last fight. Manfredo, Jr.’s came at the hands of Jeff Lacy back in December, while Benfield lost to DeAndrey Abron last September. By the way, don’t be confused by the record of Benfield. He has actually had 19 fights, but the first one, while it counts in numbers, was considered a no-contest with no decision.
March 21st has a fighter from season three, Brian Vera (15-1-0) going against the undefeated Andy Lee (15-0-0) in a Middleweight contest. This fight will take place in Uncasville, Connecticut, and will be televised on ESPN2.
If you are a close follower of The Contender and can attend the fight live, then you will enjoy the match-up that will occur on March 22nd. Two men from season two, Aaron Torres (16-6-0) and Micheal Stewart (42-7-2 with one no contest) will face off. While both on the same show, they have not faced each other before, and will fight as Light Middleweights. Neither man has fought since last year, Torres in December and Stewart in October. Unfortunately, this one is not televised, for I would like to watch it. For those of you who would like to attend, the fight will be in Hockessin, Delaware.
A fight that should be good watching and will be on ESPN2 is the match up between Kassim Ouma (25-4-1) and Cornelius Bundrage (27-3-0) on the 28th of March. This fight will take place in Salamanca, New York. You might recall that Ouma was scheduled to fight Sergio Mora on the under card in Las Vegas, but that event was cancelled due to the injury of Jorge Rodrigo Barrios. Barrios was slated to be in the main event against Juan Manuel Marquez for the WBC Super Featherweight Title.
Ouma has had one fight since that scheduled bout, one that he lost against Saul Roman. “K9” is coming off a victory back in October over Nelson Manchego. I really enjoyed watching “K9” during season two. I am looking forward to this battle, and expect a good fight.
Jeremy Williams, (42-5-1) who was a trainer both on seasons one and two, decided to return to the ring back in August of 2007, and has a Cruiserweight fight scheduled on April 11th against Zack Page (14-18-1). Their fight will be held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Page has already had two fights this year, with a win and a loss. Williams was scheduled for a fight on March 9th, but I can’t find a record of it happening. On numbers alone, this one seems to be one-sided for Jeremy. On a side note, Williams has fought both as a Cruiserweight and a Heavyweight, although the latter was a while ago. With my boxing greenness, I find that quite interesting.
We have a super match scheduled for the WBA Welterweight Title on April 12th
in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Everyone’s Contender favorite from season one, Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2), will take on Miguel Angel Cotto (31-0-0) for that belt. The undefeated Cotto is coming off a victory over Shane Moseley in November. Cotto has another fight scheduled in July against Ricardo Mayorga, so it appears that he is thinking of Gomez as a sparring partner of sorts. Win, lose, or draw, anyone who has seen Gomez fight knows that he will leave it all in the ring, and if he is beaten it will not be for lack of try. This fight will be shown on HBO.
Right here in my backyard, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, another huge fight will take place. On May 3rd Oscar de la Hoya (38-5-0) will match wits against season two runner-up Steve Forbes (33-5-0). While not for a title, this Welterweight contest is undeniably the biggest fight of Forbes’ career. As with Cotto, de la Hoya has a re-match with Floyd Mayweather, Jr. on the calendar in September, so this is more than likely looked at as a good workout for The Golden Boy. That might well be the case, but with everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose, one never knows just what Steve will come out with. I hope it is a good fight that goes the scheduled 12 rounds. This fight will also be on HBO.
May 10th finds season one Champion Sergio Mora (20-0-1) facing off against Vernon Forrest (40-2-0) for the WBC Light Middleweight Title. Neither fighter should be terribly rusty, as Mora beat Rito Ruvalcaba in January and Forrest was successful against Michele Piccirillo back in December. Still, between then and May another fight might be a bit of an edge. At this time the location of the fight has not been announced, but as soon as I find out I will let you know. What is known is that this fight will be shown on Showtime.
Finally, on May 17th, Donny McCrary will face an opponent who is unknown at this time. This fight will take place in Saint Joseph, Missouri. I met McCrary a few months ago when he was out here to spar with Manfredo, Jr. and found him to be a super guy. I hope he gets a good adversary, and that he is victorious. As with the previous fight, as soon as I get that information I will give an update.
If I have left anyone out, I apologize. That is all the information I could find at this time. Also, with those fights that are to be televised, I don’t know if some are live and others to be shown at a later date or not. That’s your homework, I guess.
Be safe and God Bless,
Viva La Raza,
Barb.
