“CONTENDER” REMATCH SCHEDULED

“CONTENDER” REMATCH SCHEDULED
By LJDB; August 18, 2005









Photo: NBC Universal
ESPN is moving full speed after saving NBC’s cancelled reality competition “The Contender” to air for a second season.

The much-rumored rematch between finalists Peter Manfredo, Jr. and Sergio Mora has been scheduled for Saturday, October 15th at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Undercard bouts are also scheduled for fellow “Contender” contestants. Alfonoso Gomez will fight Jeff Fraza while Anthony Bonsante will face Jesse Brinkley.
ESPN will air the matches LIVE on October 15th at 8PM Pacific Time/11PM Eastern Time.

ESPN picked up the critically acclaimed, but ratings starved series after NBC cancelled it in May. Executive producers Mark Burnett, Sylvester Stallone, and Sugar Rey Leonard actively pushed for another season with NBC, and for a time, the network considered airing rematches during the summer. However, NBC passed and they moved on to ESPN, which was reportedly an already interested party.

The network officially picked up the series last week, announcing casting would begin immeadiately for a possible April 2006 launch on the sports network.

Tickets for the October 15th fight will be available beginning Sunday by logging on to https://contender.tv.yahoo.com

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