RSSThe Contender 2: Episode 7
This episode is different from all of the others in that there will be two fights instead of one. Because of Michael Stewart’s victory over Ebo Elder, the Blue Team gets to decide who will fight who. Freddy Curiel decides to take on Steve Forbes, leaving Nick Acevedo no choice but to fight Jeff Fraza who is the only fighter lefts that hasn’t already been eliminated or made it to the semi-finals.
Acevedo-Fraza is the first fight of the night. They begin the fight going back and forth with punches in the center of the ring: Acevedo wins the exchange, landing harder and more often. Acevedo continues to out land Fraza and take the first round. Acevedo continues his assault in the second round, seemingly landing combinations at will. Fraza’s corner lets him know that he is down big in the fight and needs to step it up if he wants a shot at winning.
Fraza comes out in the third round with guns blazing, using his jab to set up a couple of flurries. Towards the end of the round, Acevdeo starts coming back, countering just about every combination that Fraza throws. Fraza walks back to his corner after the bell with a cut over his eye. The fourth round consists of both fighters connecting with their fair share of shots. They enter the fifth round looking dead even on the score cards.
Acevedo seems to dominate the fifth round, his aggressiveness allows him to land punches at just about every angle. Fraza lands a quick right cross in Acevedo’s eye, causing him to slow down and squint. However Acevedo continues to out land Fraza and eventually takes home the unanimous decision victory.
Curiel-Forbes is the second fight of the night. Before the fight, Forbes states that the reason that the other fighters didn’t select him to fight was because of fear and that he will prove that tonight. However the first round doesn’t go as planned for Forbes as Curiel lands multiple overhand rights that Forbes just doesn’t seem to be able to figure out how to stop. Forbes takes the second round, landing a few left-right hook combinations that send Curiel back towards the ropes.
The third round is pretty even - Curiel decides to establish his jab, which allows him to land a number of unanswered body shots on Forbes. Forbes however ends the round with a big flurry of punches that rock Curiel. The fourth round shows Forbes in control of the fight. Forbes decides that defense doesn’t matter and takes a number of punches while trying to land some of his own, including a uppercut that stuns Curiel. Forbes puts on a clinic in the final round, landing punches at will, and moving quickly - making just about all of Curiel’s shots miss the target. Forbes is announced as the winner by unanimous decision.
I’ll try to have the videos from ESPN Motion up sometime tonight/tomorrow…
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