Jeff Wald is the executive Co-Producer of ESPN's hit show "The Contender." After mild success in its first season, when it was on NBC, it has seen it's ratings increase at a frenetic pace, in some cases over 500 percent.

Jeff Wald was also the producer of the hit movie "2 Days in the Valley," which featured Danny Aiello, Jeff Daniels, and Teri Hatcher.

You can imagine with the popularity of "The Contender" that Jeff Wald if a very busy man, so that's why we give him many thanks for being able to answer a few question for me and the fans at FightNightNews.com. So sit back and enjoy reading what the energetic, always-opinionated Jeff Wald had to say.

Robert Jones: At what age did you know you wanted to be involved in Boxing?

Jeff Wald: I watched boxing when I was a kid, but I didn't get into the business until 1997, that's nine years ago, so, I was 50. 

RJ: What are some of the differences between working with people in Hollywood, and working with people in Boxing?

JW: I guess people's diction is better in Hollywood. But, they all lie. The only time guys in boxing lie are when they move their lips. 

RJ: The hit show "The Contender" was your idea. What made you want to do a reality boxing show? Did it have anything to do with the way "another" boxing reality show bombed out only after a couple of weeks on air, or did you have this in mind even before that show came out?

JW: We were way before them, way, way, before them. I'd been peddling a boxing show for five years before that happened. So, that had nothing to do with us. Our plans were well into play.

RJ: After the first season of "The Contender" which with it brought back mixed results from critics, what was your initial reaction, and how anxious were you to get right back in to season two?

JW: Critics are usually eunuchs at a gangbang. You can quote me on that one

RJ: Since moving from NBC to ESPN the ratings have gone up considerably, in some demographics, over 100 percent, what do you attribute this success to?

JW: The ratings were good at NBC. You got to remember the context we were in. We were against "Extreme Makeover", "Desperate Housewives and "Cold Case" on CBS. We were getting some incredibly strong competition. NBC fucked up the way they put it on from the beginning. They put it on three different days in three different time slots the first week and the audience couldn't find it. We actually did pretty well with it, we averaged about seven million viewers a show and 12 million on the finale. You've got lots of shows that don't perform that well. The whole thing is, is that Jeff Zucker (Zucker is responsible for all programming that is seen on NBC) is an idiot, and you can quote me. 

RJ: "The Contender" is seen in 100 countries, we all know about the success of the show in the USA but as far as you know, how has the show been doing overseas? 

JW: Unbelievable, it's in 100 countries.

RJ: Outside of America, do you know which country watches "The Contender" most?

JW: Everywhere, England, Australia, it's in the United Arab Emirates. It's just everywhere. It's literally in 100 countries. It's huge in England. 

RJ: What are your dreams for "The Contender"? How would you like to see it grow from this point on?

JW: My dreams are that it builds a whole new series of stars. A whole bunch of new boxing stars. And that the sport isn't governed by phony sanctioning bodies and by promoters who manipulate those sanctioning bodies and that we're reduced to one champion per weight class like it was in the old days. Everybody knew who was THE Heavyweight Champion. 

It wasn't a freak show like Don King's running with the 7 foot "King Kong" he's calling him, which is disgusting. Or, buying a belt from Holyfield for a million bucks and a Range Rover for Chris Byrd. That's all destructive shit. What made the contender successful is A, getting to know the guys and their families and they are real people. And secondly they're competitive fights, even edited. We can only edit what was actually in the ring. We use a 17-foot ring and five rounds. The guys couldn't run and hide, they had to fight, and they fought. So, my dream is that it just grows the sport. 

RJ: How many tickets have been sold for "The Contender" Finale that is being held on 9/26 at the Staples Center in LA?

JW: I think we're going to sell out all 17,000. We're way, way, way ahead of where anybody was. We're over 7,000 tickets sold with four weeks to go. 

RJ: On October 14th you will be having a PPV for the fighters that have been on "The Contender" who are some of the names that you have lined up for that card?

JW: No, it will be either the 14th or 28th, and it will be a Peter Manfredo fight at the Dunkin' Donuts Center against Joey Spina and we'll be on ESPN for that date. We're thinking of doing a Pay Per View at the end of January. 

RJ: Do you see "The Contender" becoming a promoter outside of the show? Such as a Golden Boy Productions, Don King, and Bob Arum?

JW: We are a promoter outside of the show, we promoter our shows. We promote at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. We did Pete Manfredo and Pemberton. We just did Mora and Regan from Sacramento. We promote all over the country. 

RJ: Thank you very much for your time today Mr. Wald, is there anything you would like to say to the viewers that continue to tune in by the millions week after week?

JW: Let me just say, when you say I created it, the guy who gave it substance based on the original idea was Mark Burnett. Mark Burnett named it "The Contender." Mark Burnett put his signature production and his team on it and made it a far better show then I could've done on my own.

There is no question that he is the single best producer out there today. II hope they enjoy it (the fans). One of the things that I really like a lot is that ESPN is up 572 percent in the women. It's really a family show. We're getting a whole new generation, my eight-year-old daughter loves the show, loves the fighters, loves watching it, loves going to the live events. Boxing is a fabulous sport.