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03/08/2005 Archived Entry: "New England Chatta"
New England Chatta
Manfredo Ousted From the Contender
By J.D. Vena
Okay, so I’m eating a little crow. Dont' get me wrong I'm sick of it and it’s not that I’ve never been wrong or more wrong in my previous forecasts. Who knows, maybe I’m a jinx. But if you read between the lines, what I said wasn’t entirely wrong. Here’s what I wrote about Peter Manfredo, Jr.'s chances in NBC's The Contender in my previous New England Chatta published on February 24th.
“You have to like (Peter) Manfredo’s chances to win it all. Of all the participants, there is no one with more talent, nor a boxer with more experience. If it comes down to the two very best on the show, expect Manfredo to face Ishe Smith in the finals and to win it all. You heard it here first!”
Well, as it turns out, it’s not going to come down to the two very best. I know, say it. I’m a stubborn homer, blah, blah, blah. But I still have every reason to believe that Manfredo is the best, if not one of the best boxers who participated in The Contender. In the first bout of the series televised last night, Manfredo got his butt handed to him by a very good boxer named, Alfonso Gomez of Guadalajara, Mexico. Gomez, a gutsy and confident fighter of the Mexican mold jumped out to a quick lead landing flush right hands and cute combinations. His style was clearly a problem for Manfredo, Jr. who may not have ever faced a fighter as skilled in the professional ranks. But there’s more than meets the eye here.
First off, I’d like to say that though I’m no reality TV fan or guru, The Contender has to be the best reality program I’ve ever seen. It has everything you’d expect from a conceived reality boxing series – good talent, boxers with typical dreams and stories and the pure drama of it is something you can only see in boxing or the movies. But here’s my major qualm. Whoever, comes out of this gut-wrenching tournament better have more left in him than five rounds if he’s going to be considered a contender.
I know, say it. Manfredo certainly didn’t look like he was going to look any better if there were a few rounds added on to the distance. But that’s not a reasoned way of looking at it.
Let’s do the math. Peter is a 10-12 round fighter and ranked 3rd in the world by one of the four major sanctioning bodies (WBO). Whether the latter part has any credibility or not, the previous part is very much true. Case and point, in Peter’s last bout, he won a 12-round unanimous decision over fellow Contender participant, Anthony Bonsante in May of last year. Peter won all 12 rounds by two of the judges’ scorecards. Bonsante, who is obviously another 12-round fighter, owns a solid 11 round TKO over Tony Ayala, Jr. and drew with Prince Badi Ajamu, a ranked light heavyweight contender. Manfredo also scored a sensational knockout over previously unbeaten (17-0) Sherwin Davis on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights.
Peter has his credentials. He had an unbeaten 21-0 record and though he hadn't faced too many killers, you can’t fight too many top guys on your way to the top, especially after only so few fights. Speaking of few fights, Gomez entered his 5-round bout with Manfredo at 10-2-1 with 4 KO’s and had never fought a fight scheduled for more than 6 rounds. Instead of being throw to the wolves as had been the case with Gomez, he threw himself into the wolf den. Though you could say he was at a disadvantage, he was accustomed to fighting in the underdog role and at a faster pace because of this and since the two weren’t vastly experienced, Gomez used this distance to his advantage. Manfredo, a boxer/counterpuncher has always been a fighter who wears his opponents down. He’s never a quick starter and sometimes it takes a longer time than naught but generally, he gets the job done, wearing his opponent down with body shots and chopping counterpunches.
He almost got the job done in the second round when he staggered Gomez with a left hook but Gomez did a good job of surviving. Some would feel that a fighter like Gomez would be discouraged going into the next round but knowing that there are only a few rounds left can more than often inspire a boxer to keep himself in the fight. It’s only natural.
So what happens if the fight was scheduled for 8 or 10 rounds? Who knows, but I’m sure it would have changed the pace which more than likely would have benefited the more experienced boxer. I wasn’t expecting each show to end with 10 round fights but 5 rounds just ain’t enough. Besides, if they’re not going to show the entire fight anyway, why not schedule these elimination contests for 8 rounds and show the highlights? I have to be honest with you. I felt that 5-round limits could benefit a lot of the fighters, and hurt the chances of many of them. I certainly didn’t feel Manfredo would be the first to be victimized by this distance but it makes a lot more sense in hindsight.
So what are we to make of the winner of this tournament? I’ve never heard of a contender who hadn’t fought less than six let alone five rounds. Tommy Morrison was one of the fighters who looked sensational early on in fights only to fade as early as the fifth round.
If we’ve learned anything about the crazy history of boxing is that a fighter’s mettle is tested in the later rounds. “The championship rounds” which are now narrowed down to the 11th and 12 rounds, are the rounds which ultimately determine who the better fighter is on that given night. Contender exec and all-time great, Sugar Ray Leonard could tell you that. His winning effort against Marvin Hagler in ’87 was all about the last round. He had won the first six rounds in their epic match-up and then, according to many, lost the next five until out-hustling Hagler in the 12th.
In theory, Anthony Bonsante would have a better chance of beating Peter over a 5-round distance. After all, one of the three judges who scored their first fight awarded Bonsante 2 of the first 5 rounds. Manfredo and Gomez had to fight at a certain pace that wasn't comfortable for Peter or obviously, appeared to favor Gomez more. Secondly, Manfredo couldn't have known a thing about Gomez and sometimes, regardless of how inexperienced a novice pro may be, it takes a few rounds to figure a guy out.
Which brings me to my next point. One other thing that may inhibit a fighter’s chances in this tournament is the fact that most of them know nothing about each other. Maybe boxers like Smith, Haverhill’s Jeff Fraza, Bonsante and Jonathan Reid are at a disadvantage because these are fighters that have appeared on TV before. I know if I were going into a tournament such as this, I’d want to see a couple of tapes beforehand. Watching tape or films has been key to not only studying boxers but other sports, most notably, football. Imagine if the Patriots found out that they had to play a team like the Houston Texans on a day’s notice and they would only play one half of football. Losing would be much more possible.
Anyway, as it turns out, though the series is fun to watch and will be more realistic and exciting than My Favorite Mistress or whatever the networks are throwing at us these days, don’t expect the best all-around remaining boxer to win this tournament. Don’t look now, but I think I just jinxed Ishe Smith.
