When it comes to the boxing reality show The Next
Great Champ, other boxing
websites have endlessly
recycled the same press releases, giving little
information other than correctly
spelling the name of the
show in capital letters. Rather than shill for a potential
advertiser, Boxingtalk
has done a little research about
the Fox network reality series, and now takes a short
look at the
controversy surrounding the race to the
airwaves between The Next Great Champ, the first of
two planned
boxing reality series to hit network
television this fall, and Mark Burnett’s The Contender,
which
apparently was the first of the two shows but
won't air until November. Boxingtalk also has learned
the
identities of the twelve boxers who will star in the
Fox show, which is being co-produced by Oscar De La
Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
According to the website realitytvworld.com and
its
writer, Wade Paulsen, the producers of The Next Great
Champ, in an attempt to preserve the secrecy of the
winners, filmed fake matches and announced
decisions in favor both boxers so that people on the set
would not know who advanced to the next episode.
One of the keys to a successful reality show is the
element of suspense that causes viewers to tune in
week after week. According to realitytvworld.com, Fox
pulled the same trick with another reality show when it
rushed Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy to
the air before ABC could show the similarly themed
Wife Swap.
The show is also
the subject of litigation in California.
Mark Burnett, famous for The Apprentice and Survivor,
is producing a
competing show starring Sugar Ray
Leonard that will be called The Contender. He sued
Golden Boy’s
production partners, Endemol USA,
alleging that he came up with the idea for a boxing
reality show first,
but that Endemol stole it. Although
Golden Boy Promotions is a producing partner on the
Fox show, it was
not named as a party to the litigation.
Last month, Burnett went to court and sought a
temporary
restraining order against Fox and
Endemol that would have prevented Fox from airing the
show on its
scheduled premiere date. The New York
Times reported that judge denied the request to stop
The Next Great
Champ from airing, but she said she
would revisit the issue in the form of a preliminary
injunction hearing
on September 8, 2004, just two days
before the then-scheduled Fox premiere date of
September 10, 2004. The
September 8 hearing will
also give the California State Athletic Commission time
to rule on allegations that
when filming the show,
certain athletic commission regulations were violated.
All along, The Next Great
Champ was scheduled to
premiere on Friday, September 10. Now, perhaps as a
way to ensure the California
judge cannot squash the
show before the first episode airs, Fox has moved the
air date up to September 7,
the day before the
preliminary injunction hearing.
The 12 fighters who will appear on
the show are:
- James Mince, 26 (New Orleans, LA); Pro record:
4-0
- Fred Bachmann, 31 (Philadelphia, PA); Pro record: 3-0
(last pro fight appears to have been over six years
ago!!)
- Arsenio Reyes, 27 (Miami, FL); Pro record 3-0
(last pro fight in 2000)
- Rene Armijo Jr., 20 (El
Paso, TX); Pro record: 1-0
- Gilbert Zaragoza, 29 (Sacramento, CA); Pro record: 1-0
- Luis Corps, 30 (Miami, FL); Pro record: 1-1
- Mike Vallejo, 27
(Miami, FL); Amateur bouts only
- David Pareja, 26 (Chicago, IL), Amateur bouts
only
- Otis Griffin, 26 (Sacramento, CA); Amateur bouts only
- Paul
Scianna, 30 (South Orange, NJ); Amateur bouts only
- Mohamad Elmahmoud, 23 (Orlando, FL);
Amateur bouts only
- Lawrence Alonzo, 29 (Ontario, CA); Amateur bouts
only