The Contender

I feel happy but still confused about this show. It has everything I could dream of from a good show. GOOD boxers, Stallone and Sugar Ray, tactics and psyching.

But I can't stand the dramatizing music, slow motions and empty bombastic phrases. And I hate the filming of the matches - lots of audience filming on family and friends, lots of slow motion and the from below angle never gives you a possibility to understand how the fight goes. And I feel uncertain all the time if these fights are really just the boxers doing their best, or following a script to dramatize the match - the matches are swinging forth and back a bit much.

But I just can't help loving the show. I hope that I'm not tricked, but that this show is actually the real thing.

This is reality show from Mark Burnett and Sylvester Stallone. It aims to bring boxing back to prominence with a compelling TV competition show. Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard give 16 young hopefuls a shot at a million dollar paycheck.

The reality part with the personal lives isn't that great. The games they play are of little interest. It is the boxing match that makes this show. It's not simply a sports boxing match like all the rest. They've Hollywooded it up with slow motion, and selective editing to amp up the adrenaline rush. The boxing matches are a great watch worthy of any big time movie. As for the caliber of the boxing, that's very much in dispute. But that may not be the point. We're watching the beauty of 2 men in competition, but not necessarily finding the next champ.

Unlike a lot of reality shows this one is brilliantly made and edited and is very classy, Stallone and Sugar Ray combine to make a truly great piece of entertainment. The show has had to face a lot of adversaries such as the awful copy-cat attempt - the next great champ, also it has been delayed and put in a very difficult time-slot and lets be honest boxing is not what it used to be, what's more one of the contestants even committed suicide a few months after filming for an unknown reason. However the final product is worth everything they have put in and the program is a visual spectacle with the fight at the end of every episode being the highlight. Luckily it doesn't just focus on boxing, even those who don't watch boxing will love it as it is concentrated on the moving stories of the boxers and their families.

Great Stuff!

Fans of boxing will love this series. Even though this is far from the tuesday night fights that our grandfathers grew up with, it is a modern day reality like tournament with a boxing setting. With an Apprentice quality to the production style, The Contender has an devoted audience of boxing fans and fans of reality television. Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard are the hosts of this show which they also helped to create. Although I am a fan of "Sly" and I was a big fan of Sugar Ray when he was Champ, I am far from a fan when it comes to their new careers in television. Much like Donald Trump, both Sly and Sugar Ray need hours of studio time in he editing room when it comes to adding voice over tracks to their scenes. It's one thing when there's bad audio and you need to "dub" a voice track, but when the Hosts of the Show are unable to say their lines (announce the rules) in 1 take, it's time for certain actors to go back to Acting School and brush up on their talents. Otherwise, this is a great series that needs a little "touch up" here and there.

Anybody who is a fan of boxing should love this. It will also appeal to non-fans because the stories of the boxers themselves are heart-warming. It really gets into the heads of the fighters and shows what drives them, be it honor, fame, family, or God. I don't care much for the little athletic competitions they use to pick who fights next, but the fights, while only 5 rounds long, are action-packed and full of drama. Even if the fights are taped and edited, you'll be on the edge of your seat, and none of the hard hits, huge comebacks, and saddening defeats lose their impact. And since you get into the heads of these boxers and appreciate where they're coming from, when they fight, sometimes it's hard to choose who to root for. These guys are all winners*.

My only problem with the show is it is a little too over-packaged and edited. But, that's network TV for you. It doesn't matter too much in the end, because this show is still great, and one of two current shows I follow with great zeal (the other show being "Lost").

*With the possible exception of Ahmed Kahddour. Cocky bastard.