There was a bit of animosity between David Banks and Paul Smith almost from the beginning, and it was no surprise that these two wanted to face off against each other. “Just a little bit of tension,” Banks later laughed. Smith didn’t appreciate the ego of Banks, and David wanted to prove that he was a “pretty boy” who could fight. They had to wait until the last fight of round one to put on the gloves, but when the time came, did they wow us. The punches they landed, and there were many, were hard, with each fighter being hurt a bit in the process.

In the end Smith was given the nod in the split decision. Paul had scores of 48-47 twice, while Banks was given the edge once, 49-46. “I think I came out on top, but the judges saw it a little bit differently,” David later told me. “I didn’t have a mark on my face, I came out pretty clean. I didn’t understand it myself, but the judges voted for him, I guess.”

I was curious whether Banks was hurt during the fight. “I think in the fourth round he got me with a nice left hook that kind of wobbled me for a second, I had to grab onto him. But other than that – I’ll give him the fourth round, but I think the one judge was right. Everybody I talked to had it 49-46, me four rounds and him one, but I don’t know. I was quicker, I landed more effective punches – I don’t know.”

With the new format of choosing who will advance to the semi-finals, it was a tall order for one of these fighters to move on. As evenly matched as they were, it would have taken a knockout to put one of them on the board.

I wondered if the fact that the two of them did not like each other very much entered into the way they fought their fight. “Well, I think it had a little bit to do with that. But we are both so aggressive and we both knew that we had to get a knockout to go on to the next level.   Those other fighters had won by such large margins. By the third round I think we both knew that it was going to be that close of a fight that one of us had to knock the other one out, or we were both going home anyway.

“I might have been holding back,” he continued, “waiting for that perfect shot, not throwing shots like I usually do. I think I would have thrown a lot more punches and not hesitated so long.” Had it not been for the fact that a knockout was almost a necessity, both fighters might have used a bit of a different game plan.

I was curious about the new format and what David thought about it. Since a win without a knockout would not have helped them, and both fighters went home, I wanted to know what he thought about how things went this year.

“I can’t say that I’d like it to go back to the old way. It definitely pushes you to give everything, because every round does count. Sugar Ray kept stressing that the entire time we were there – every round  counts. So every fighter knew that going in that you had to put everything out there. I think it makes sure that the fighters are coming in and giving it their all.”    

I wanted to give David a chance to say some final words about his time spent with The Contender. “I want to thank The Contender so much,” he said. “I didn’t walk away with the $750,000 but it was an incredible experience. It taught me a lot about boxing. Going in I was really green, I didn’t know much; I was just a fighter. I walked away with a lot of friendships and a great experience. I put on a good show for the people. I hope they enjoyed it.  Watching the fight again, wow, it was nerve-wracking. It was like I was there all over again. It was incredible.”

Interestingly, had Smith gotten his knockout for his victory, he still would not have been able to fight. The rules state that not only will the four highest scoring men go on to the semi-final rounds, but they must be medically cleared to compete. With two cuts to his face, one of which a gash on the bridge of his nose that needed to be glued, he was told that he would not have been cleared.

The way the semi-finals shape up is as follows; Jaidon Codrington will have the first fight, going against Wayne Johnson. In the second fight we will see Sam Soliman facing off opposite Sakio Bika. Soliman has fought Bika before in 2002 and beaten him, and wanted this rematch.

Next week there will not be an episode of Contender. Instead, we will see Alfonso Gomez take on Ben Tackie in a live fight from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Also fighting is season one Champion Sergio Mora against Elvin Ayala, and Freddie Curiel will face Fontaine Caball. I will be there also, and can’t wait to see these fights. It should be great watching!

Be safe and God Bless,

Viva La Raza,

Barb.