The Contender.

AudioSavior

Ya, they started the whole boxing tv thing. I don't get HBO. However. We do get shown the series that run on HBO.

Joe Cool

Administrator

LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Despite fantastic boxing action, ratings for NBC's "The Contender" couldn't get off the mat this spring. While NBC declined to schedule a second "Contender" season, cable sports giant ESPN is reportedly circling the franchise.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, ESPN is close to acquiring the rights to "The Contender," though its unclear what form the second season would take or which of the show's high profile on-camera talents -- including Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard -- would make the jump to cable.

Will Staeger of ESPN Original Entertainment tells the trade paper that a second season of "The Contender" could be paired with a possible new drama. John Eisendrath of ESPN's "Playmakers," is working on one such potentially compatible pilot.
Repeatedly delayed and rescheduled by NBC, "The Contender" failed to develop a sizeable overall following, though the Mark Burnett/Jeffrey Katzenberg-produced series had a respectable attraction for young male viewers.

One of the first tests of the first season's cast will come on July 22 when Ahmed "Hollywood" Kaddour, loser of two "Contender" bouts, steps into the ring with Maxell Taylor, becoming the first of the show's alums to return to the world of officially sanctioned boxing. The series' big winners, Sergio Mora and Peter Manfredo, have mostly been on the promotional circuit since their live bout from Las Vegas.