We certainly saw a lot on this week’s episode, including
friends becoming foes, a huge TKO, and another fight sealed for the second
round.
By winning his fight of last week, it was time for Ehinomen
“Hino” Ehikhanemor to pick his fight for round two. I don’t know if they just
showed us more this time, but it seemed as if Hino had a lot more trouble
choosing his opponent than had other fighters. The spot underneath Felix Cora,
Jr. was open, as was his teammates, Deon Elam. Or he could slide his name in the
last group, where there were no names yet. Ultimately, he chose to go with his
teammate, Elam. We now have that fight made, as well as the one between Alfredo
Escalero, Jr. going against Akinyemi “AK” Laleye. Cora still does not have an
opponent, and the last fight is open.
In a rather funny moment, trainer for Gold, Tommy Brooks,
really had a good time making fun of Hino, who was crying after his win last
week. In fact, most of the men enjoyed busting his chops about that, but Hino
let it roll off him, saying he was a sensitive guy and it didn’t matter to him.
With Gold staying in control yet again, it was decided that
Canada’s Troy Ross would be the next to fight. He picked his good friend
Lawrence Tauasa to be his opponent, because he thought this would be a good
fight and make it necessary for him to raise his game. Tauasa felt the same
way, stating that, “I have love and respect for Troy and I had to step my game
up too, with Troy being a two-time Olympian for Canada. Troy knows what he’s
doing in the ring.”
Everyone was excited with this match-up and thought that the
boxers would easily make this an interesting fight. There was the aggressive
southpaw in Troy (17-1-0, 12 KO’s), and the former rugby star in Lawrence
(30-5-1, 17 KO’s), who fought to a record of 130-13 as an amateur.
Round one was a pretty decent round. Both men got in a
little offense, even though they were also feeling out their opponents. “In the
first round I did pick up on some of his stuff,” Tauasa told me.
It was in round two that things went wrong for Lawrence. He
got hit with a powerful right hook, and got up on the eight count, slowly. “It
was the first time that happened. I have never been stopped like that in my
whole boxing career of 15 years. Everybody told me that I took my time getting
up, but I don’t know if I took my time getting up or if it was just being
dropped for the first time and not knowing what to do afterwards.”
Regardless, the fight was allowed to continue, for a short
time anyway. After taking several other hits without being able to defend
himself, the referee stopped the fight, handing Lawrence his first TKO.
“I wanted to fight the best,” he said to me. “And to me,
Troy was the best there was on the Gold Team. I mean, there was Troy and Rico
(Hoye), and I was happy that Troy called me out. He did a fantastic job, and
that’s boxing. I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”
Now that he is back in Australia, I wondered what Lawrence
really missed, besides the obvious of not being the Contender Champion. Most of
all, Tauasa misses the boys, and the camaraderie that goes along with that.
“You know, having fun, talking. I’ve made friends for life from The Contender;
all the boys in there, and the trainers, Tommy Brooks and John Bray, Tony
Danza, everything about the house, the crew.”
On the show Lawrence had said that his Contender experience
was the best one of his boxing career, and he still feels that way. “Of course.
Many of those who have been on seasons one, two, and three have become
household names. For me and the other 15 men, we have a chance for that. And
we’ve become friends for life. We’re like brothers.”
Next week is a doubleheader, with two fights to see. Now that
Ross has won for Team Gold, their power of choice is doubled. They get to make
the matches for both of the remaining fights. After next week we will know what
all of the match-ups will be for the second round of competition.
And, for anyone who might be wondering, Tauasa has been
married for a month now. I want to congratulate he and his new bride Beatrice
on their wedding, and thank him for taking time out to speak with me.
