09.05.06 – By Vanessa McConnell, photos by CJ Cansler: ESPN and Tournament of Contenders were in Vegas celebrating not only Cinco de Mayo but also their third boxing special “The Contender: Latin Warriors” at the Aladdin Resort & Casino. The Contender, aired live on ESPN, celebrated the Hispanic fighters of season one of the show “The Contender.” Selling out venues and drawing boxing fans by the thousands, the Contender has been hosted at notable venues like the Staples Center in LA and Caesars Palace here in Vegas. Season two of the show “The Contender” starts on July 18th..
“All of the ingredients are coming together in this recipe of success. ESPN and Tournament of Contenders continue to provide these brave young men with the platform to tell their story in and out of the ring. The attendance and the response of the fans at our live events show that people genuinely care about the sport and the popularity of our fighters is growing,” said Mark Burnett, executive producer of the Contender and co-founder of Tournament of Contenders, LLC.
“Only Las Vegas can match the excitement and energy this bout will deliver to viewers and ticket holders alike. Boxing fans have an insatiable appetite for the Contender storyline and these fighters. As the company committed to giving the fans what they want, when they want it, we’re more than happy to oblige them,” said Ron Semiao, senior vice president, ESPN Original Entertainment.
Sugar Ray Leonard was at the Aladdin earlier in the week making a special guest appearance at a one-on-one boxing workout for the fighters. Ten impressive fighters went head to head in the ring for thousands of boxing fans, all representing and celebrating Cinco de Mayo.
The co-main event in the welterweight division between Jesse Feliciano and Alfonso Gomez was a crowd shocker. Both fighters put up a great fight and both got hammered in the ring. The fight went the full 8 rounds but went to the judge’s scorecard and they came up with a draw. Both fighters poured everything they had out on each other during the fight and both suffered a near severe beating. The fans rejected the decision, but the decision still remained, both fighters will walk away as champs.
The main bout of the evening was bitter and swift. It was a table dance through the first seven rounds until the last ten seconds and that’s when the seemed to wake up and fight. Mora was knocked off his feet in the second round and it snapped him out of the daze. Mora seemed more embarrassed than anything else so it was like his ego took over and eventually is what won him the fight. Overall, Mora landed more punches and combinations, over powering Archak throughout the entire fight.
In the seventh round he stunned Archak and as he stumbled to the ropes he followed with endless power punches causing the referee to stop the fight. Archak woke up from his coma and lashed out at Mora as the referee was assisting him. As the referee pushed Mora away he fell causing Archak to begin to attack as if the fight was still going on. The referee quickly broke it up and the call still remained, Archak was knocked out in the seventh round at 2:44.
Other fight cards for the Latin Contenders featured Contenders Ramiro Rivera (3-1, 2 KO’s) from Pheonix, Arizona against Las Vegas’ very own Tyson Schweiger (1-2-1). Schweiger suffered a brutal beating in the third round causing the referee to stop the fight at 2:56. Ryan Davis (19-6-2, 8 KO’s) from Chicago lost to Jonathan Reid (34-4, 19 KO’s) by a unanimous decision when the fight went to the judges score card. The swing bout featuring Gabriel Hoguin (19-6, 6 KO’s) from Loredo, Texas and Miguel Espino (11-2-1, 4 KO’s) from North Hollywood, California went the full 6 rounds as Espino won by judge’s decision.