Body Blows: The Contender, Sam Cassell, and Hulk Hugan as Thunderlips.

Columns, News, Results

Reality TV dipped its ugly finger into the world of professional boxing last year. FOX was first with Oscar de la Hoya’s The Next Great Champ. The people at FOX stole the idea from NBC and rushed through their production to make it on air first. The show sucked. Then came The Contender. Despite low ratings on NBC, the show gained enough popularity for ESPN to pick up the second season, which will begin airing in July 2006. Let’s hope that Stephen A. Smith doesn’t get involved in this project.

Last night, The Contender runner-up Peter Manfredo Jr., defeated Scott Pemberton in a Super Middleweight bout. Manfredo dominated Pemberton, who is 15 years older than Manfredo, and closed the show with two vicious third round knockdowns, prompting referee Dick Flaherty to stop the fight. Pemberton looked all of his 39 years old last night as he admittedly never found his rhythm in the ring. Not that Pemberton tanked the fight, but I don’t think The Sandman was too upset to see his former sparring partner pick up the win last night. Manfredo was coming off of two consecutive losses to The Contender champion Sergio Mora, so getting a win over a known opponent helped his confidence. That’s probably the last we will see of Scott Pemberton, and I don’t think he minded giving his buddy the rub on the way out.

Sergio Mora was in attendance last night and they hinted at a third fight between he and Manfredo, this time in Peter’s hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. The Contender alum need to start fighting other boxers, and last night was a good step in that direction. The bottom line is that these boxers are not World Class fighters. Manfredo is the cream of the crop and has the best shot at becoming a World champion, especially with the addition of trainer Freddie Roach. Mora has an undefeated record and has no reason to fight Manfredo a third time. Most of the The Contender alum are decent fighters, but no better than hundreds of other boxers out there that didn’t get the benefit of a reality TV show. They may have intriguing stories, but they are not on the level of Jermain Taylor, Winky Wright, Jeff Lacy, or even the Immortal Hulk Hogan. He’s immortal you know. That means age isn’t an issue. You can’t stop Thunderlips, you can only hope to contain him.

Weekend Results You Don’t Care About

– Paul Malignaggi earned a unanimous decision over Donald Camarena in the main event of ESPN’s Friday Night Fights.

– Emmanuel Augustus defeated Jamie Rangel with a thrilling 10th round TKO. Augustus is one of the most unorthodox fighters you will ever see, but he toned his antics down for this fight and still delivered an entertaining fight.

– Miguel Angel Espino of Contender defeated Dorian Beaupierre by unanimous decision.

– Jonathan Reid, also from Contender, lost a majority decision to Mohammad Said.

Jockscraps – The stories they won’t tell

Sam Cassell Demands Apology From Parents

Following last night’s victory over the Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Clippers point guard Sam Cassell told reporters that while the win was great for the team, he still feels a painful emptiness within his heart.

When asked why, Cassell hesitantly replied, “Something’s been eatin’ at me for a long time now. Stuff ain’t right, man.”

Upon further prodding, Cassell came clean with the source of his frustration.
“It ain’t easy lookin’ like this. You know what I mean? Everywhere I go people laugh and stare at me. Little kids point their fingers at me and ask their parents ‘What is that?’ Like I’m some kind of monster or something. And it ain’t just kids. Why the hell you think I get so many open jump shots? ‘Cuz nobody wants to get near me, that’s why. It’s not contagious.”

Cassell then opened up the room for discussion.

“What made me like this? Huh? Who’s to blame for this?”

After one reporter suggested that a genetic influence is most likely to blame for his appearance, Cassell snapped his fingers and said, “Now you’re talking. That’s what I’m gettin’ at. I’m thirty-six years old, so I’m used to lookin’ like this. But in those thirty-six years, do you think I’ve gotten any apology from my parents? Do you think they’ve called me once and said, ‘Sammy I’m sorry. We had no idea?’ Hell no. I mean, I got two championship rings, and I can’t even a get an apology for this face? Other players tell me they’re sorry about my situation, so why can’t my own folks send me some love? I wanna know why they haven’t apologized. I wanna know why they let me work this out on my own. I want a damn apology, and I want it now.”

Cassell stormed off to his locker and refused to answer any more questions. However, an interview with Clippers star Elton Brand followed and shed some light on the situation.
When asked what he thought of Cassell’s parents, Brand replied, “Those are some evil people, man. Just look at him, if you can stand to for long enough. Yeah, he’s ugly, but he’s hurting inside. The only thing that’ll stop that hurt is an apology from his parents.”

Spit Bucket

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