10:31 AM EST on Tuesday, March 8, 2005

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer

Local fight fans hoping to follow Providence boxer Peter Manfredo Jr. on the new NBC reality show The Contender were disappointed last night.

NBC

Providence boxer Peter Manfredo Jr. lost the first bout on NBC's Contender.

Manfredo, one of 16 boxers on the The Contender, was the first fighter to be knocked off the series, after losing a fight that aired on the show's premiere episode.

"No one wants to the first one off," Manfredo said in a phone interview . "I feel bad for my family and friends. I love New England, and I love my family and friends. I feel I let them down."

The Contender began last night, airs again Thursday , at 10 p.m., then settles into its regular time slot Sundays at 8 p.m. All of the episodes, with the exception of the finale, were filmed in August and September.

The show was created by reality TV mastermind Mark Burnett, DreamWorks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, movie star Sylvester Stallone and former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard.

The idea is to take 16 young fighters, have them live and train together, and come up with a champion through a series of elimination bouts.

Besides the national recognition, the winner also gets a $1 million first prize.

The Contender made headlines before it aired when one of the contenders, Philadelphia boxer Najai Turpin, comitted suicide last month.

The Contender divided its boxers into two teams, East and West, so Turpin and Manfredo were teammates.

Manfredo said that Turpin, who came from a tough area in Philadelphia, would sleep in the closet, apparently because he felt safer there.

"He was a very quiet kid. . . . I think he was very happy to be on the show, very happy to have the opportunity the show gave him. I never thought in a million years that he would shoot himself, that's for sure," Manfredo said. "None of us did."

Manfredo's swift departure from the show came as something of a shock.

Going in, the 24-year-old was considered one of the stronger competitors, with a 21-0 record. He was ranked third by the World Boxing Organization.

So why go on the show?

"For boxers to make the big money, it's tough. You have to sell yourself," Manfredo said. "Sure, I was going for the million. But I was also taking the opportunity to get the exposure, for people to know me outside of New England."

The Contender allows the boxers to choose their opponents. Last night the two teams took part in a competition, and the winning team got to set up the bout.

After the West team won the first contest, which involved dragging logs up a hill, Alfonso Gomez Jr. announced he wanted to fight Manfredo.

His teammates were skeptical at first, but Gomez insisted he could win.

In a conference call with TV writers two weeks ago, the show's producers said they were astonished.

"Our jaws dropped when this kid [Gomez] came along and said 'Give me the best,' " Katzenberg said.

Burnett, who created Survivor and The Apprentice, said that attitude seemed to hold true of all the boxers, and separated them from the contestants on his other reality shows.

"This is the first time I saw people deliberately take the toughest way," Burnett said.

"It was astounding, week after week. They never chose someone they thought they could beat. Invariably they would chose the toughest fights. These are unbelievably proud men. They'd rather lose than take the easy fight."

Before the five-round fight between Gomez and Manfredo, viewers saw both men with their families. In Manfredo's case, that meant his wife, Yamilka, and their young daughter.

When the fight finally started, Gomez came on strong in the first round. Manfredo clearly won the second round, at one point landing a blow that obviously hurt Gomez.

But Manfredo appeared unable to do much after that, and Gomez ultimately won the battle.

"I don't feel that Gomez really beat me -- I beat myself," Manfredo said. "I was flat-footed, I couldn't get out of my own way."

Manfredo said that after he was chosen to appear on the show, out of thousands of boxers who auditioned, he had to lose about 15 pounds in a hurry. But he added that he doesn't want to use that as an excuse:

"He [Gomez] was the better man that night."

Will the early loss on The Contender hurt Manfredo's prospects?

"Probably," he said. But he was swift to add it's not going to affect his resolve.

"I'm going to pick myself up and come back," he said. "That's what the best ones do."

All of the fighters on The Contender, including Manfredo, are still in training and still on the show's payroll.

The producers said that The Contender finale, scheduled for May 24, might bring back some of the previously eliminated fighters for a series of "fan favorite" matchups.

Spokesman for the show said they're not sure yet how the fan favorite fights would work, although one possibility is voting on the Internet.

Manfredo said he'd love to fight on The Contender again, particularly if he could get a rematch with Gomez. Either way, he added, he's not giving up on boxing.

"I want to keep going. I'm definitely going to keep trying, because that's what fighters do," he said. "Hopefully, I can get another chance. I won't blow it next time."