The Contender, Episode 8: "Anything's Possible"

Big news, Contender fans! According to interviews with some of the eliminated contestants, NBC will soon be unveiling a contest wherein viewers will be able to vote for their eight favorite contenders, who will then duke it out in the ring at Caesar’s Palace as the undercard leading up to the million dollar fight on May 24.

This has been mentioned during radio interviews with eliminated contestants, as well as in print here. The show’s producers have been paying all the contenders to stay in training since filming ended so they will all be in prime shape should they be elected to the ring. I, for one, hope that viewers will give finally give Jeff a chance to show us what he’s got!

More info on this as it is released. Thanks to reader Wade for bringing this to my attention! Now, let’s take a look at what happened last week on the show:

• Joey discovered his father had returned from military duty in Afghanistan
• In a challenge involving demolishing cinderblock walls, Joey helped propel the West to victory, allowing them to orchestrate the final two fights of the first round.
• Tarick stepped up from the West and called out Juan
• By process of elimination, Jimmy and Joey knew they would fight the following week
• In the ring, youth prevailed over experience as Juan won the day, but not without incurring his share of injuries from Tarick

Juan’s victory over Tarick is sweet, as Juan tells us that it feels great to be only the second winning fighter from the East. The sweetness, however, is tempered by Juan’s concern about a cut over his left eye he incurred during the fight. Sugar Ray congratulates Juan and says that the cut isn’t as bad as it looked. Juan replies that he doesn’t heal quickly, and that if his eye is still tender, he won’t get back in the ring, saying, “I’m not gonna risk my boxing career for this.”

“Fighters don’t say that,” Sugar Ray tells us, adding that no one has come out of their first fight completely unscathed.

Back in the loft, Ishe thinks Juan was overhyped, but will be good in a few years. Juan arrives back to the loft, where Jimmy comments that Juan was sloppy, and Juan cannot disagree.

Attention now shifts to the impending battle between Jimmy and Joey. Anthony thinks that Jimmy will defeat Joey due to Joey’s lack of experience. “Joey’s a very insecure person, and 80 percent of this game is mental,” Anthony tells us. Alfonso worries that Joey will be scared, and will really bring something else to the ring, but might tire himself out early. Anthony feels that if Joey had more confidence, he would be a better fighter.

“I’m fighting a guy that I’m supposed to walk through,” says Jimmy. “That’s a terrible situation.” He confesses that he is quite nervous. With that, Jimmy departs to visit his wife, who is expecting their third child, as well as his father and younger sister, who have driven 2,700 miles to come see him. Jimmy is from a family of ten kids, and aspires to be as good a father as his own dad.

Dawn breaks over the city of Los Angeles, and Juan is resting in bed with a hot water bottle over his eye. “Today I wake up, and I can barely move my neck, and my lower back started hurting too, and my eye was almost swelled shut,” says Juan. “And now I’m having problems with my right hand. I’ve never felt like this after a fight.”

Down in the gym, Joey is dealing with an injury of his own. As he limps around the ring, he explains that by overexerting himself in the challenges, he pulled his hamstring. “It hurts more than I can possibly explain. Boxing uses your legs, it’s all legs,” he says. Well that’s just plain silly! Joey feels that not only is he at a disadvantage, but also that he has drawn one of the toughest opponents in the tournament. Still, he continues practicing so that everyone will know he can fight, even with the injury. Joey tells us that it is hard not having any family there to support him as the other contenders have. He especially misses his father, who has been an integral part of his boxing career.

Sly gathers the contenders to award Juan his golden gloves. Juan says that he got frustrated in the ring during his fight, and that it threw him off his game. Sugar Ray tells us that although Juan was billed as a boxing prodigy with “the total package,” what he saw in the ring didn’t back that claim up. Trainer Tommy offers that Juan got the win, and now he has to stop looking backward and move forward.

Shooting some pool together in the loft, Jesse discusses strategy with Joey. Jesse says that Joey reminds him of himself at that record. “Joey’s a wonderful kid,” says Jesse. Jesse takes Joey back to his family’s house since Joey doesn’t have anyone locally to support him. Joey and Jesse are both surprised to find Joey’s dad there! I’m not sure why this is so surprising, considering that Joey knew from last episode that his father had returned home.

Joey tells his dad about his leg injury. “You don’t want to talk injury with a Marine,” his father reminds him, and he suggests that his son deal with it and move on. Joey tells his dad how overjoyed he is that he will be there for the fight “This could be problematic for him now,” Joey grins.