The Contender: Episode 2 Recap!

September 12, 2007

By Matt Richardson

Super middleweight Jaidon Codrington made quick work of Brian Vera, knocking him out in two rounds in the first fight of the third season of "The Contender" on Tuesday night on ESPN. The two fighters had already fought once before in the amateurs with Codrington coming out the victor. The pattern didn't change much as professionals. After an apparently competitive opening frame (the fights are still edited for TV) Codrington regrouped to knock down Vera in the second. Codrington moved in for the kill and the overmatched Vera went down again shortly afterwards, getting caught in the bottom rope. The fight was called off without another count at 1:32 of the second.

With the win, the first of the season, Codrington moves on in the tournament while Vera is forced to go home. Since Codrington scored a knockout he will be ranked first based on his first round fight performance. The show has taken on a new approach of "ranking" fighters based on their performance in the inaugural round of fights, rewarding dominance (knockouts and lopsided decisions). Winners of split decisions will be ranked lower than their more dominating counterparts. The top 4-ranked fighters will then move on to the semi-finals. It should be interesting to see how this new ranking system affects the way the remaining boxers fight as well as the competitiveness of the bouts.

Since Codrington won the first fight, his gold team (headed by Buddy McGirt) now has the right to pick the combatants for the next fight in the series.

In other "Contender" news, Henry Buchanan was axed from the show without even having a chance to step into the ring. Buchanan, who left due to "personal matters" was replaced on the gold team by Miguel Hernandez.