PRESS RELEASE: The countdown has started for "The Contender Special - Put Up or Shut Up" on October 14, headlined by The Contender I star Peter "The Pride of Providence" Manfredo, Jr. against Providence cross-town rival Joey "KO Kid" Spina, on ESPN2 from the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island.
 
The Tournament of Contenders is promoting "The Contender Special - Put Up or Shut Up" in association with Classic Entertainment & Sports. The promoters hope to parlay the success of the recent finale of The Contender 2 series at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which drew more than 12,000 fans and earned a 1.9 rating on ESPN, representing more than 1.7 million house holds and 2.3 million viewers. It was the highest rated boxing telecast on ESPN in nine years dating back to January 1, 1997.
 
There's definitely no love lost between Manfredo and Spina. Manfredo (25-3, 11 KOs), rated No. 14 by the World Boxing Council and No. 15 by the International Boxing Federation, was a finalist in the original season of The Contender. The former NABO super middleweight title-holder plans to embarrass Spina in front of their families and friends at The Dunk.
 
WBC USNBC and IBF Intercontinental super middleweight champion Spina (19-0-1, 14 KOs), now rated No. 14 by the IBF and No. 16 by the WBC, has promised to knockout his former Providence neighbor Manfredo in the middle of the ring with all their supporters watching.
 
Unbeaten super middleweight contender Allan "Sweetness" Green is building a rage towards his opponent, Jerson "SuperJerz" Ravelo, in their highly anticipated eight-round co-feature.
Green (22-0, 15 KOs) is one of the most feared punchers in boxing today; his 13-second demolition of high-regarded New Yorker and previously unbeaten Jaidon Codrington (9-0) serves as testimony to Green's powerful reputation. Green-Codrington was the ESPN and The Ring 2005 Knockout of the Year.
 
Green, however, is upset that he hasn't gotten a high profile or world championship fight, yet. Now rated No. 5 by the World Boxing Organization and No. 18 by the World Boxing Council, "Sweetness" plans to take out his frustrations on Ravelo (17-1, 12 KOs), the 2000 Dominican Olympian who holds an amateur win against former world champion Jeff Lacy.
 
"I can't say that this is my biggest fight or he's my toughest opponent," Green said from training camp. "He's nothing. I'm going to kill him. I'm the best fighter he's ever fought. After this win I'm hoping bigger things will happen for me, but it seems like I hear that after all my fights."
 
An equally confident Ravelo is taking the high road, though, only saying, "This fight is very important to me because it's going to put me back to where I should have been two years ago. Green is one of the best super middleweights out there right now and this will be a great win for me."
 
Also featured on this card in a Special Light Middleweight Attraction is The Contender I favorite Alfonso Gomez against Juan Pablo Montes de Oca. The Mexican-born Gomez, now fighting out of (Whittier) California, is rated No. 7 by the NABF.
 
The fights will be televised on ESPN2 from 10:30PM - 12:30 AM/ET. It will be tape-delayed as the main event will begin LIVE at 9:00 PM/ET inside the Dunkin' Donut Center.
On the undercard against opponents to be determined are three Rhode Island fighters - Pawtucket light welterweight Eddie Soto (5-0, 4 KOs), Providence lightweight "Hammerin'" Hank Lundy (2-0, 1 KO) and Pawtucket featherweight Jose Sanchez in his pro debut.
 
Tickets priced at $57.00, $152.00, and $302.00 (ringside) are on sale 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.
 
For more information visit www.tournamentofcontenders.com, www.cesboxing.com, www.cesboxing.com or www.dunkindonutscenter.com.
 
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 2 season culminated this week under the ESPN Original Entertainment (EOE) banner and executive producers Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice, Rock Star: INXS), Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sylvester Stallone.
 
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, groundbreaking televised events such as the X Games and The ESPYS, and is delivered across multiple media platforms.  With theatrical releases such as Through the Fire about basketball phenom Sebastian Telfair and Once in a Lifetime about the 1970's New York Cosmos, as well as The Impossible Jump where motocross champion Mike Metzger performed a motorcycle backflip over the Caesar's Palace fountains live in Las Vegas, EOE continues to plant itself firmly on the cutting edge of sports and entertainment television, and event creation.  Also, EOE's daily lifestyle and entertainment-themed series Cold Pizza and Quite Frankly are cornerstones of ESPN2's programming lineup.  With many new scripted and unscripted projects in development, EOE serves both the passionate sports fan and the more casual viewer, and 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."