PRESS RELEASE: Today, ESPN and Tournament of Contenders, LLC have officially announced the addition of The Contender fan favorite, Alfonso Gomez, as the co-Main Event in their upcoming live boxing event The Contender Special – East Coast Pride. Gomez will face Chicago’s Gilbert Venegas (9-1-2 (6)) in the live telecast to be aired February 12 on ESPN (immediately following the NFL Pro Bowl) at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET from the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.

 

According to representatives of Tournament of Contenders, LLC, the combination of an overwhelming demand for Gomez from fans plus an injury to Jeff Fraza landed Gomez in the co-Main Event for this second of three planned boxing specials on ESPN. The night’s other Main Event fight will feature Providence’s Peter Manfredo, Jr. in a 10-round super middleweight showdown versus Scott Pemberton of New Bedford, Mass.

 

In season one of The Contender, Gomez a heavy underdog, gained notoriety for handing Manfredo, Jr. his first loss as a professional, and in turn, set the tone for the hard-fought battles that would ensue for the remainder of the series.  Gomez continued to beat the odds by scoring wins over fellow contenders Ahmed Kaddour and Jesse Brinkley before heading back to the welterweight division.

 

Following The Contender series, in his first fight back at welterweight, Gomez stopped Luciano Perez in the fourth round and improved his record to 14-3-1 (5).

 

“I haven’t seen a Mexican warrior like this since Julio Cesar Chavez,” said Sugar Ray Leonard.  “Gomez exudes the strength, power, and above all, the pride that Chavez possessed.  Like Chavez, Gomez will capture fans across both the Mexican and American cultures.”

 

Tickets for The Contender Special – East Coast Pride are now available for purchase through www.Ticketmaster.com, all local Ticketmaster outlets or by calling Ticketmaster direct at (401) 331-2211 or (617) 931-2000.  Tickets are also available through CES Boxing at (401) 724-2253, www.cesboxing.com and the Dunkin Donuts Center Box Office.

 

THE CONTENDER

The Contender is an unscripted drama about the lives, fears and hopes of 16 professional boxers as they compete for the chance to change their lives and the lives of the people they love forever.  The Contender will air July 2006 under the ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) banner and be executive produced by Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice, Rock Star: INXS), Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sylvester Stallone. For more information visit www.espn.com.

 

 

 

 

ESPN Original Entertainment
Launched in 2001, ESPN Original Entertainment is ESPN’s award-winning original programming banner.  The EOE brand spans ESPN's sports-themed original movies, scripted and unscripted dramatic series, daily talk and debate series, documentaries, game shows, and such groundbreaking televised events as the X Games, Winter X Games, and The ESPY Awards. EOE's daily lifestyle and entertainment-themed series are also the cornerstone of ESPN2’s new programming lineup, featuring the flagship shows ESPN Hollywood, Quite Frankly, and Cold Pizza. With more than100 new scripted and unscripted projects in development, EOE continues to plant itself firmly on the cutting edge of sports and entertainment television and event creation.  Serving both the passionate sports fan and the more casual viewer, EOE strives to expand ESPN's already industry-leading offerings in live events and sports news & information programming.

 

Mark Burnett Productions
Mark Burnett Productions (MBP) is a leading production company in the world of primetime non-fiction television.  MBP revolutionized television with hits such as Eco-Challenge, Survivor, The Apprentice, The Contender, and Rockstar:INXS.  MBP also successfully reintroduced product placement as an integral part of each of its shows and has garnered a total of 24 Emmy nominations since 2001.  Mark Burnett was listed
as the #1 Most Valuable Player by TV Guide and in Time Magazine's Top 100 most influential people in the world today.

 

DreamWorks

DreamWorks Television is a division of DreamWorks SKG which was founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. DreamWorks Television is currently in production on season three of the hit NBC series “Las Vegas” as well as season two of the critically acclaimed FX drama “Rescue Me,” and the upcoming ABC reality series “The Miracle Workers.” DreamWorks Television recently produced “Into The West” for TNT, which was the highest rated mini-series for the season with 81 million unique viewers. Other DreamWorks Television projects include: “Spin City,” “Band of Brothers,” “Taken.” “Father of the Pride,” “Freaks and Geeks,” “The Job,” “Boomtown,” and “Undeclared.”