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The Contender Finale |
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Underdog Grady Brewer: $500,000
Richer
"K9" Takes Third Place in Impressive
Fashion
By ROBERT JONES
Staff Writer FightNightNews
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Against
all odds, Grady "Bad Boy" Brewer
(22-11, 12 KO's) became the champion
for "The Contender" season two.
Steve "2 Pound" Forbes, one of the
odds on favorites since the
beginning of the season, couldn't
pull it together tonight against the
bigger Brewer.
Before the fight started it was
announced that Brewer originally
entered the tournament just a short
time after shoulder surgery. It was
also revealed that from the time of
his last fight on "The Contender,"
some three months ago, and the fight
tonight he had yet another surgery
on the same shoulder. On top of all
that, he was also a 2 to 1 underdog
in the eyes of Vegas bookmakers
going into the fight. However, 2 to
1 meant nothing to Brewer tonight.
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Instead, $500,000 was the number on
which he was focused.
Brewer took an early lead in the fight
by scoring with a solid jab throughout
the first round. Forbes, who started his
career at 130 pounds, was expected to
use his speed to score, but early on he
didn't have much success. On top of
landing his jab, the 35 year-old Brewer
also landed a few straight right hands
to punctuate the round.
Unlike the first Contender championship
fight between Sergio Mora and Peter
Manfredo Jr., which was a barnburner,
this was a more tactical fight. Brewer
landed good solid shots to the body on
the smaller Forbes, who landed a lunging
left hook, and a right hand near the end
of the round. However, more of the round
was controlled by Brewer, so it appeared
he had a 2-0 lead early in the fight.
Forbes connected with enough looping
hooks in the third round to get back
into the fight. At this point it was
apparent that Brewer's strategy would be
to tie up Forbes whenever he got inside.
This would prove to be a good strategy,
as it appeared to frustrate Forbes
enough to not allow him to do any real
inside damage in the course of the
fight.
Brewer began working the jab again in
the fourth round. Midway through the
round, the fighters got involved to the
most exciting exchange of the fight up
until this point. Both fighters threw
wildly with Forbes seemingly getting the
better of it because of a left hook that
landed flush on Brewer's jaw. After the
30-second exchange it was back to
tactical stuff for the remainder of a
close round.
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The action was also
fast at the start of
the fifth round.
First, Brewer landed
a left, right,
uppercut
combination. Then
Forbes landed a
right hook that
echoed through the
arena. Both fighters
got tangled and
referee Jack Reiss
yelled break, but
the fighters didn't
appear to hear, as
they both landed
right hands on each
other
simultaneously.
Overall, this round
had the most action
of the night.
A jab in the center
of the ring at the
beginning of round
six snapped Brewer's
head back. This was
pretty much the
extent of this round
because the fighters
spent the majority
of it in a clinch,
much to the
disapproval of the
crowd. |
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Round seven
belonged to
Brewer because
of solid
bodywork to the
midsection of
Forbes,
particularly a
five-punch
combination that
wowed the
capacity crowd
at the Staples
Center. Forbes
took round eight
because he was
successful at
jumping in and
out of range,
landing his own
solid body
shots, and
getting out of
the way before
being hit
himself.
With two rounds
to go it
appeared, at
least on the
FightNightNews
scorecard, that
Brewer had a
fairly large
lead. However,
at the beginning
of round nine,
Joe Tessitore
reminded us of a
unique situation
that would
happen if the
fight ended in a
draw. The
fighters would
fight an 11th
round, a "sudden
death" round if
you will,
because the
fight had to
have a winner in
order crown a
champion of "The
Contender."
Brewer extended
his lead in
round nine due
to his decent
inside body
work, leaving
the possibility
of an 11th round
farther and
farther out of
reach for
Forbes.
The 10th and
final round was
controlled by
Forbes, who
landed a few
good left and
right hooks.
Brewer landed a
solid uppercut,
but nothing much
more.
Predictably, at
the sound of the
10-second
warning, the
fighters let
their hands go,
bringing the
crowd to its
feet. At the
final bell both
fighters held up
their hands,
thinking they
were the winner.
The final
scorecards were
a little bit
closer than
expected. Judge
David Mendoza
scored it 97-93
in favor of
Brewer, the same
at
FightNightNews.
Max DeLuca
scored it 96-94
for Forbes.
Before he
announced the
final score,
announcer Jeff
Connor, paused
for dramatic
effect, then
read, "Judge
Jose Cobian
scores the fight
96-94 for the
winner from
Lawton,
Oklahoma, and
new Contender
champion, Grady
‘Bad Boy'
Brewer."
While presenting
Brewer with the
Contender title
belt, Sugar Ray
Leonard said,
"He (Brewer)
beat the odds
when no one gave
him a chance."
Brewer said he
won the
tournament by
"the grace of
God." He
continued
saying, "I went
out there and
executed. This
is what I do
when I get an
opportunity."
Forbes, dejected
after the bout,
said, "He fought
a perfect fight,
he had a perfect
game plan."
Despite the
loss, he called
his time on The
Contender, "The
greatest
experience in my
career."
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Cornelius "K9"
Bundrage (24-2,
14 KO's) looked
more like a
slick boxer than
the brawler we
got to know him
as on the show,
as he defeated
game Norberto
Bravo (22-12-3,
12 KO's)
Bundrage showed
a beautiful jab
followed by a
powerful right
hand right out
of the gate. By
the end of the
first round
Bundrage was
beginning to
land his right
hand at will. |
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Bravo didn't let
the pressure
from Bundrage
get him down,
though, as he
began to go
after Bundrage
in the second.
Bundrage
continued to
land the right
hand but Bravo
was beginning to
land a little
bit of his own
now. In this
round, referee
Pat Russell had
to warn Bundrage
for holding and
hitting. It was
a pretty even
round until
about 30 seconds
to go. Bundrage
landed another
right hand that
sent Bravo
stumbling
against the
ropes. Bravo, in
true fighter's
passion,
responded by
firing back only
to be hit by
another right
hand that
brought him to a
knee. Bravo was
up at the count
of five and the
bell signifying
the end of the
round rang soon
after.
Bundrage didn't
take advantage
of the hurt
Bravo as much as
he could have in
round three. The
fighters butted
heads with about
1:30 to go in
the round,
leaving a cut
under Bundrage's
right eye.
Bundrage was
back to
controlling the
action in rounds
four and five.
He constantly
landed solid
one-two's off
the head of
Bravo and you
could tell Bravo
was beginning to
fade.
Slight hope
appeared for
Bravo in the
sixth round when
Bundrage was
deducted a point
for throwing
Bravo to the
canvas. However,
Bravo could not
capitalize and
make this a 10-8
round because
Bundrage
continued to
land the right
hand and, at one
point, landed
four hard jabs
in a row.
The end of the
line would come
for Bravo at
2:22 of the
seventh round.
After
continually
getting hit with
the straight
right hand and
now body shots
from Bundrage,
it was clear
Bravo didn't
have too much
more to offer.
Russell
rightfully
stepped in, and
with that the
third-place
winner of "The
Contender" is
Cornelius "K9"
Bundrage.
After the fight,
Bundrage
remembered
something Teddy
Atlas had said
to him on an
ESPN card he
fought on a
while back.
"Teddy, you once
said that I'm a
good fighter but
I don't have an
identity. I
think I have an
identity now."
The open part of
tonight's "The
Contender"
finale began
online at
ESPN.com at 8:15
PM EST. In case
you missed it,
here's what
happened:
In the first
fight of the
internet portion
of the
broadcast,
Walter "2 Guns"
Wright (12-2, 6
KO's) defeated
Vinroy "Slick"
Barrett (21-6,
11 KO's) by TKO.
The fight
started off with
fast action over
the first two
rounds. Barrett,
who was defeated
by Brewer in
week four of
"The Contender,"
was the more
active boxer but
Wright was the
more accurate.
Halfway through
the third round,
Wright, who lost
a unanimous
decision in week
eight to
Bundrage, landed
a jab to the
shoulder of
Barrett, who
immediately
winced and
turned to
southpaw in an
effort to avoid
more damage. The
instant replay
showed that the
punch landed
right where the
arm meets the
shoulder.
Barrett fought
the fourth round
as a southpaw,
but only landed
three shots,
while Brewer
went to work,
taking advantage
of the
situation. A
brave effort by
Vinroy was ended
in the fourth
when, on the
advice of the
ringside
physician, the
referee stopped
the fight at the
end of the
round.
"Bloodbath"
would be a good
word to describe
the second fight
on the internet
portion of the
fight card.
Freddy Curiel
(16-6-2 6 KO's)
got off to a
quick start over
his opponent,
Aaron Torres
(14-4 6 KO's),
who took the
fight just five
days ago. Curiel,
who was
eliminated by
Bundrage in week
two, took the
first two
rounds, but a
clash of heads
opened a wide
gash over the
eye of Torres
that seemed to
be just the
wake-up call
Torres needed.
Torres, who lost
a close split
decision to
Forbes, showed
good body work
in the next
couple of
rounds. Torres
also took
advantage of
wide shots
thrown by Curiel
by placing well
timed straight
rights to his
chin. After four
of the scheduled
six rounds it
appeared to be
even on the
scorecards.
In round five
another clash of
heads caused
more blood. This
time, however,
it opened a gash
under the right
eye of Curiel.
Shortly after
the head butt,
Curiel went on a
short rally that
caused Torres to
hold Curiel in
order to regain
his composure.
The referee
deducted a
point, which
would be the
deciding factor
in the fight.
Torres would win
the final round,
but because of
the point
deduction,
Curiel would
lose by the
narrowest
decision on the
scorecards,
57-56, three
times. The
FightNightNews
scorecard scored
it the same.
In off TV
action, Nick
Acevedo (17-2 9
KO's) defeated
non-Contender
participant
Nurhan Suleyman
(16-5 8 KO's),
dropping him
twice in the
process. The
final scorecards
were 60-52,
59-54, and
59-53.
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