08:58 AM EDT on Friday, May 6, 2005

Is Providence boxer Peter Manfredo Jr. headed for a million-dollar bout in Las Vegas later this month?

Three boxing Web sites say he is.

Manfredo is a contestant on NBC's boxing reality show The Contender, which pits 16 fighters against each other in a series of elimination bouts. The final two fighters will fight live for a $1 million purse in Las Vegas on May 24.

So far, Manfredo is one of four finalists remaining on the show.

The show airs Sunday nights at 8 on Channels 7 and 10. Manfredo is scheduled to fight on the May 15 episode, and the Manfredo family is planning a large, private viewing party in Providence. If he wins, he goes to the championship in Las Vegas.

Strict confidentiality rules prevent any of the contestants, along with friends and family, from revealing the results of the show. All of the episodes, except the final bout, have already been filmed.

The British boxing Web site Boxing Monthly ( www.boxing-montly.co.uk ) reports that it's "common knowledge" in the boxing world that Manfredo and Sergio Mora will meet in the championship fight.

Two other Web sites, Honkytonk Hitman ( http://honkytonkhitman.proboards36.com) and Sherdog ( www.sherdog.net) are also reporting that Manfredo and Mora will meet in the finals.

"We don't comment on rumors," said Kahlil Olmstead, an NBC publicist for The Contender.

In the meantime, according to the Trim Barbershop, 782 Warwick Ave., Warwick, Manfredo is scheduled to greet fans tomorrow from noon to 1:30 p.m.

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Warwick native David Shalansky, an actor now living in Los Angeles, will be on two upcoming episodes of The Gilmore Girls. In Rhode Island, the show airs Saturdays on Channel 28 at 9 p.m.

Len Shalansky, David's father, said his son also has roles on future episodes of HBO's Entourage. (Ruby Shalansky, David's mother, is executive director of Temple Beth-El.)

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Who are the young stars of film, TV and music?

Teen People's list of the "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" includes Alicia Keys, Ciara, Jessica and Ashlee Simpson, Jesse McCartney and Justin Timberlake. The list is featured in the magazine's latest issue, on newsstands today.

Other stars making the eighth annual installment of the list: Jessica Alba, Britney Spears, Jake Gyllenhaal, Elijah Wood, Lindsay Lohan, Natalie Portman, Destiny's Child, rapper T.I. and the cast of Fox's The O.C. -- minus Benjamin McKenzie, who is 26.

Timberlake, 24, has been on the list five times since 2000. What's keeping him hot? "Helping make Snoop Dogg's Signs a hit and his role in the film Edison," the magazine said.

As for Lohan, star of the upcoming movie Herbie: Fully Loaded, Teen People said: "She's bounced back from controversy to remain one of the hottest stars around."

Compiled by Lifebeat editor Alexis Magner Miller from staff and wire reports.