In this photo of the cast of "The Contender -- Season 3" taken by Tommy Baynard, Sugar Ray Leonard is in front, Jose "Pepe" Correa stands to the left, Buddy McGirt is to the right and Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan is in the second row, third from the left.
For the second time in three seasons, the boxing reality TV series "The Contender" will have a Beltway flavor.
The newest season of the ESPN show will feature super middleweights and one of them will be Capitol Heights, MD's Henry "Sugar Poo" Buchanan. This will be the second straight time that the 28-year-old Buchanan (14-1, 11 KO's) has been involved with an event on a national level. His last appearance was in Showtime's Super Middleweight tournament last year. Buchanan lost in the semi-finals.
ESPN released the names of this year's contender field and, in my opinion, this is the most notable field in the short history of the show. There are many names that should be familiar to hardcore boxing fans. This is Buchanan's opposition:
Max Alexander (26, Camden, N.J., 14-1, 2 KOs).
David Banks (24, Portland, Ore., 14-2-1, 2 KOs).
Sakio Bika (28, Sydney, Australia, via Cameroon, 22-3-2, 14 KOs).
LaFarrell Bunting (27, Las Vegas, 16-3-1, 16 KOs).
Jaidon Codrington (23, New York, 16-1, 12 KOs).
Miguel Hernandez (32, Chicago, 20-5, 10 KOs).
Wayne Johnson (29, Lyndhurst, N.J., 16-1, 9 KOs).
Donny McCrary (24, St. Joseph, Mo., 23-5-2, 13 KOs).
Les Ralston (25, Buffalo, N.Y., 16-2, 9 KOs).
Danny Santiago (34, Ocala, Fla., 29-3-1, 19 KOs).
Paul Smith (24, Liverpool, England, 20-0, 12 KOs).
Sam Soliman (33, Melbourne, Australia, 33-9, 13 KOs).
Brian Vera (26, Austin, Texas, 14-0, 9 KOs).
Rhoshii Wells (30, Las Vegas, 18-2-2, 10 KOs).
Rubin Williams (31, Detroit, 29-2-1, 16 KOs).
This is indeed an accomplished field. Bika, Soliman, Santiago, Williams and Wells have all fought for world titles. Bika was also a 2000 Olympian for Cameroon and Wells a 1996 U.S. Olympian. Codrington and Smith are notable prospects.
There are some notable changes in the training staff as well and those changes have a Beltway flavor as well. Hall of Famer and Beltway Boxing legend Sugar Ray Leonard remains as host, however Tommy Gallagher and Jeremy Williams are out as trainers. They have been replaced by the Beltway's own Jose "Pepe" Correa. Correa worked with Leonard early in his career and also worked with former world champion Simon Brown and many, many other Beltway Boxers as well as former world champion Lennox Lewis during his 40-year career. Also joining the staff will be James "Buddy" McGirt, who has worked with many world champions.
Ironically, Correa and McGirt share at least one boxer in common: both men have worked with Jimmy Lange throughout his career. Lange, of course, was on the first season of "The Contender" when the show was on NBC. McGirt is Lange's current trainer, Correa's was Lange's first trainer.
According to Dan Rafael's column on ESPN.com, more of the bouts will be shown this year during the actual telecast and every bout will be shown in its entirety, probably on ESPN2.
Production began on the show last week with interviews, physicals and background checks. The taping for the bouts begin next week. The new season begins airing on ESPN on Sept. 4 at 10 PM ET and will air every Tuesday night. The live finale will be on November 6 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, MA. The winner of the tourney receives $750,000.
Wow, Pepe Correa.
ReplyDeleteAnd those of us who thought that Correa had finally disappeared, have to just shrug our shoulders and hope that his role in this series is as shortlived as all his other boxing relationships. Correa can't train a dog to piss.
ReplyDeletePepe is the man! Good Luck!
ReplyDeleteTeach a few tricks but not all of them!
Pepe can train! He trained your mother!
ReplyDeleteShe is the #1 CS in all of DC.
"Corea can't train a dog to piss." I love the warm vibrations that emanate from this Web site. He can't train a dog to piss because, um, HELLO, he is a boxing trainer, not a dog trainer! Anyone who has been around long enough remembers when down in the old Latin Connection gym in Adams Morgan Correa turned a couple kids named Simon Brown and Maurice Blocker into magnificent fighting machines. Not only did they become world champions, but they fought with two completely different styles, proving that Correa didn't need to make fighters Correa fighters, but, rather, helped them maximize whatever they had inside them. Haven't heard from Correa in awhile, but back in the day he was a force.
ReplyDeleteTo add to that, not only did Brown and Blocker become world champions, they became so good that the only competition left was..each other!
ReplyDeleteSo they had to fight each other with both belts on the line. Brown stopped Blocker in that contest.
and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Correa worked with Lennox Lewis as well.
ReplyDeleteHe has kept a very low profile recently, but I ran into him at the last Patriot Center show and he looked, as usual, supremely fit and well.
Another thing I can tell you about Correa, he never used to allow loafing during gym sparring! He would chew you out but good if you didn't answer the bell by heading forward throwing punches. None of this dance around crap for him. That's why you rarely saw Simon Brown messing around. He was a walking lethal weapon who understood that the less breathing room an opponent has, the more likely they are to crack. Ask Tyrone Trice -- one of the best welters of his time -- who had the misfortune to find Simon in his path . . .-- J.S.
Congrats to Sugar Poo and Pepi Correa both of whom who deserve a chance at stardom.
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ReplyDeleteOn behalf of my cousin Maurice Blocker who not only achieved what every fighter dream, but he did it and got out in good health.I must add with so much more to show three houses all paid for nice cars you would honestly think he's still fighting. he's living a good life but the key to his success is that he put God first.
ReplyDeleteI had the good fortune to be able to train with simon and thin man a few times when they were with Pepe
ReplyDeleteand all three of them were a class act.
Pepe ,best of wishes and may this
be a launching pad for you to bigger and better things.
S.F. from olympia boxing at
Falls Church.
Joe Saunders aka Jose "Pepe" Correa, has been a fraud since he first started pretending to be a Hispanic instead of an African American . Or maybe before then. He has acted as cheerleader for a few fighters, and to give him some respect, for some fighters that worked. Did it work for Lennox Lewis? of course not, and that is why Lennox fired him. What you have here is a total fraud, a man who has no friends because he has no loyalty. But in boxing even the biggest low lifes sometimes get their day in the sun.
ReplyDeletei thought this is suposed to be the contender people that is rank 10th in the world (sakio bika) and someone that went the distance with winky wright (sam soliman) should not be on the show
ReplyDeletep.s good luck sugar poo
First of all whoever made the comment about Pepe and Lennox Lewis are pretty freaking stupid. They obviously don't understand that boxing is as much a business as it is a sport...a simple concept that some people that come to this website can't comprehend.
ReplyDeleteThe real reason Lennox decided to go with another trainer after he got knocked out was because he wasn't man enough to own up to the fact that he got caught with a lucky punch. Most fighters...who are men...would admit that they got caught with a lucky punch which put their lights out. Rather, Lennox whimped out and pointed the figure at his trainer who had nothing to do with that punch. Some fighters get hit with a big punch and get up...Lennox didn't have enough heart to do that...trainers can teach their fighters skills but they can't give their fighters heart.
This same thing often happens in other business venues...the man at the top always gets the finger pointed at him when something doesn't go right... whether it was his fault or not. Pepe was simply the scapegoat and anyone who doesn't understand that shouldn't spend time leaving comments...your comments have no value to true fans of the sport.
Be original...Pepe deserves more respect !!! The truth is that Pepe is one of the greatest boxing trainers in the game who has a wealth of knowledge to pass on to whoever is lucky enough to be around him. Pepe can take an average boxer and make them great...he has proven his ability to train boxers to the top of the game, simply because he can equip them with the skills of the game better than anyone else. Any boxer who is lucky enough to have Pepe in their gym, and is smart enough to listen to what he has to teach them, will find themselves as a top contender. Pepe has trained the best from Sugar Ray Leonard, Lennox Lewis, Simon Brown, Maurice Blocker, and others...just to name a few. He didn't train them once they were already on the top either...he helped bring them up...not what most "big time trainers" can say in today's game. Whoever truly knows boxing knows that Pepe knows how to train boxers that are good and he is able to make them great....people who just repeat what they read on websites, like the poor guy above who commented about the Lennox situation, can't understand that. Pepe's invitation to be on the contender was a brilliant decision by the Contender group.
I am excited about seeing what is knowledge and expertise, along with his unique personality, will bring to this Contender series. I am happy to see that there are some people who have commented on this site that remember what Pepe is worth and the excitement he brings to the game.
For example...Pepe recently worked with Alfonso and he worked magic with the kid. Alfonso fought against Gatti like he never had never fought before and that is 100% as a result of Pepe being in his corner as his trainer...although behind the scenes out of respect for Alfonso's father...Alfonso's sharpness and tenacity were a reflection of Pepe Correa's training skills...Alfonso never fought like that before it was clearly the benefit of having a world class trainer in his corner.
Pepe is an awesome addition to the Contender series and I hope he comes back to the sport full force! Some people may have forgotten what Pepe Correa can bring to the table because he has been retired for the last 5 years or so.
Oh yeah, and the dumbass who made the Latino comment must have been an ignorant kid. I feel embarrassed for that person. You can't tell someone's nationality by their color...what a simple minded comment...I would love to hear how that person would describe what an American person looks like. Pepe Correa is as Latino as can be !!!!
All in all, I can't wait for the Contender series to begin...it is going to be the best series yet...all of the fighters look competitive and the trainers are both world class!
The article is entitled "Sugar Poo'....." not Pepe Correa. What is this all about?
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