RSSThe Contender 2: Episode 11
The episode begins with a quick recap of what happened last week: Brewer and Bravo were victorious over Stewart and Balletto respectively. Steve Forbes makes a comment to Jeremy Williams about how much quieter the house is now that all of the other boxers are gone except for the remaining four. Sugar Ray then calls the other fighters into the living room.
He congratulates them on getting to this point in the competition. He then shows them video compilation of their victories over other fighters on the show and what they have had to do to make it to the final four. They then discuss what the experience has been like, how it has affected them, and how is has changed them as fighters.
Sugar Ray then tells the four that they will all be receiving plasma TV’s for their efforts so far. The fighters train in The Contender Gym for the final time. Jeremy and Tommy both work with the boxers and help them develop strategies against their opponents. The show then shifts to the arena where the semifinals are about to take place. All of the fighters who have been eliminated were given seats at ringside. There is also a bigger amount of celebrities in attendance than usual.
The first fight is Steve Forbes vs Corneilus Bundrage. The first rounds starts out slow, both fighters spend most of the team measuring each other and trying to find their range with both fighters picking their shots in a pretty uneventful round for the most part. The second rounds begins and it is immediately noticable that the pace has started to pick up.
Bundrage tries to back Forbes into the corner with quick flurries and then triest to tie him up and wear him down. Forbes is able to escape Bundrage’s tie-up attempts and lands quick counter shots, giving him the second round. The third round then goes to Bundrage as he is able to control the fight and dictate the pace with a mix of flurries and power shots that keep Forbes from getting inside and doing any damage.
Forbes turns things around in the fourth round however. Late in the round, he gets Bundrage up against the ropes and unleashes a flurry of numerous unanswered punches, dazing Bundrage and buckling his knees, causing him to fall into the ropes. Bundrage gets up and the fight is allowed to continue until the end of the round.
The final round has the fighters leaving it all in the ring. Both fighters are swinging for the fences, trying to keep the fight from going into the judges’ hands. Steve finishes the round strong, outlanding Bundrage by picking careful with his punches and not swining wildly and missing. They go to the scorecards and Forbes is announced as the winner by unanimous decsion.
The second fight of the night is Norberto Bravo and Grady Brewer. In the first round, Bravo comes out with guns blazing, swinging bolos as Brewer tries to move away from the punches. Bravo catches Brewer with a right hook and knocks him down. Brewer is able to get back up to his feet and tries not to get hit for the rest of the round.
Brewer changes things up in the second round, out-moving Bravo and throwing quicker combinations. Brewer ends the round on a strong note and almost pulls even on the scorecards. The third round is very similar, Brewer is able to outland Bravo and end the round on a high note despite Bravo putting in a great round as well.
The fourth and fifth rounds are extremely close - Both fighters land their fair share of good shots. However, Brewer looks to be the slightly better fighter as the fight progresses. Bravo just looks for the counterpunch and refuses to change up that strategy, allowing Brewer to land his jab and a few hooks from the side at will as Bravo is unable to cut the corner fast enough to block or move away from the punch. They add up the scorecards and Grady Brewer is the winner by majority decision.
The finals are set: Grady Brewer vs Steve Forbes…
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