Takoma Park, MD cruiserweight Darnell "The Ding-A-Ling Man" Wilson is one of 16 cruiserweights that will make up the fourth season of "The Contender" that has started taping in Singapore.
Wilson (23-7-3, 20 KO's) is one of only two participants on this year's cast that has had world title experience. Wilson lost by 12-round unanimous decision to now-former WBA Cruiserweight champ Firat Arslan on May 3 in Stuttgart, Germany.
The other world title challenger is Rico Hoye of Detroit, MI (20-2, 15 KO's) who lost a battle against Clinton Woods for the vacant IBF Light Heavyweight title in March of 2005.
Here is the rest of this year's "Contender" field:
Mike Alexander (Columbus, Ohio, 12-2, 8 KOs).
Felix Cora Jr. (Galveston, Texas, 18-2-2, 9 KOs).
Ryan Coyne (St. Louis, 9-0, 3 KOs).
Ehinomen "Hino" Ehikhamenor (Queens, N.Y., 12-3-0, 7 KOs).
Deon Elam (Van Nuys, Calif., 9-0-0, 5 KOs).
Alfredo Escalera Jr. (San Juan, Puerto Rico, 15-1-1, 11 KOs).
Tim Flamos (Brockton, Mass., 20-4-1, 8 KOs).
Richard Gingras (Claremont, N.H., 9-1-0, 5 KOs).
Joell Godfrey (East St. Louis, Ill., 9-0-1, 5 KOs).
Akinyemi "AK" Laleye (Las Vegas, 10-1, 5 KOs).
Troy Ross (Toronto, 17-1, 12 KOs).
Jon Schneider (Yonkers, N.Y., 7-2-1, 5 KOs).
Lawrence Tauasa (Sydney, Australia, 30-5-1, 17 KOs).
Erick Vega (Phoenix, 8-2-1, 6 KOs).
Felix Cora holds a victory over Wilson, defeating him by 10-round unanimous decision for the NABF Cruiserweight title on March 24, 2006 in Hollywood, FL. The only loss for Richard Gingras took place at Michael's Eighth Avenue in Glen Burnie, MD when Gingras was stopped in the third round by Harvey Jolley on April 3 of this year.
Troy Ross is a two-time Canadian Olympian while Alfredo Escalera, Jr. is the son of the former lightweight champion of the world.
There are notable changes to the show. Because of scheduling conflicts, hall of famer Sugar Ray Leonard will not appear this year. Leonard has been replaced by TV star and former pro boxer Tony Danza. There will also be new trainers as Tommy Brooks and John Bray will step in for Pepe Correa and Buddy McGirt.
The first of the 11 scheduled episodes will air in December on the Versus network. The two-hour live finale will be on February 19.
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8 comments:
HOLY COW!!! Great job Darnell!
TONY DANZA! Now that's a surprise.
Oh I can hear the Wilson whining now... "I could not get to sleep in Singapore so I took three valium and now I do not even remember what happened...Did I fight someone? Did I win?" This guy is rapidly falling into the category of local fighter who we wish would move to Singapore. Hopefully he will take Rahman with him.
Tony Danza! Egads. I know that he has been to a fight, but jeez who else will be on this show? Next we will hear that Burgess Meredith is coming out of retirement to train the fighters. Oh, sorry, actually he is dead, but they are just going to stand him up in the corner with a pull chain, that the fighter pulls everytime he goes back to the corner, kind of like that talking bear toy... "Go get 'em champ"
The Contenders has gone down hill since Jimmy Lange and company, and now this, this is the worst.
Wow, another example of a great concept that didn't know when to say when.
I am indeed happy for at least one local to root for. But really, in just four seasons they went from Vegas to Singapore, from NBC primetime to the Vs. network, and from Sugar Ray Leonard to....Tony Danza. Ladies and gentlemen, the shark has been jumped!
Any word on what's the final purse this season? While I doubt it will be the cool million from Season I, it wouldn't surprise me at all if they took the "America's Got Talent" route and offered the prize as an annuity. (The AGT "million dollar" prize is really 50K a year for 20 years. While I would gladly endorse a 50K annual check, it does not a millionaire make.)
I think the reason why they are in Singapore is because Versus debuted a Muay Thai version of the Contender this year that is shot in Singapore. It could be that many of the production staff for that show are already there and it would probably cost a lot of money to move the crew back to Los Angeles for this show.
Actually, Danza was a pro boxer for a short time in the mid-70's. He was 9-3, nine KO's, with most of the knockouts coming in the first round.
Boxing was how Danza received the role of "Tony Banta" in Taxi. He remained in boxing while perfoming in the TV show, but then retired in late 1979.
Gingras' loss to Harvey Jolly has been removed due to doping by Jolly. Gingras is undefeated, with a current record of 9-0. You will be surprised by this boxer. I guarantee it.
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