Boxer Peter Manfredo Jr. loses in Las Vegas, falling one victory short of the $1-million title on The Contender.

01:04 PM EDT on Wednesday, May 25, 2005

BY ANDY SMITH and ELIZABETH GUDRAIS
Journal Staff Writers

Boxer Peter Manfredo Jr., "the Pride of Providence," kept his pride last night but couldn't win the final, $1-million fight on the NBC boxing reality show The Contender.

The winner was Sergio Mora, known as "The Latin Snake," a 25-year-old fighter from East Los Angeles.

The seven-round bout was broadcast live from Caesars Palace casino in Las Vegas on the two-hour finale of The Contender.

"Dreams come true, from East L.A. to Caesars Palace," a triumphant Mora shouted when the fight was over.

The mood was understandably glum in the Manfredo camp.

"It was just one of those nights, I guess," said Manfredo's father and trainer, Peter Manfredo Sr., in a subdued phone interview from Las Vegas.

"I don't know what to say; he was looking a little sluggish. He looked great before the fight. . . . I don't know what happened."

The younger Manfredo was on his way to a post-fight news conference. "He's a little depressed. He'll be all right," his father said.

The fight was not an easy one for either contender.

Manfredo opened a cut over Mora's eye in the early rounds that left blood streaming down Mora's face.

But Manfredo absorbed too many quick combinations from Mora, even though Mora frequently fought with his back against the ropes.

By the seventh and final round, Manfredo appeared to have very little energy left.

At the Hi-Hat club in Providence's Davol Square, a large and boisterous crowd of Rhode Islanders cheered for their hometown boy and talked trash at his opponent.

At first, it looked good for Manfredo. "I think Peter's going to have a good fight," Jerry Biern, a Cranston resident who said he was a friend of the Manfredo family, said as he stood nursing a glass of wine. "He's been pacing himself."

By the sixth round, though, Manfredo's punches were weak and ineffectual.

"Pe-ter! Pe-ter!" the Hi-Hat crowd chanted, along with the crowd on television, but to no avail.

After the seventh and final round, the screen cut to a commercial before the judges' decision, but everyone in the room already knew the outcome.

The Hi-Hat's owner, Larry Friedlander, walked around shaking his head.

AP photo / Danny Moloshok

Peter Manfredo Jr., of Providence, leaves the ring after losing to Sergio Mora, of East Los Angeles with an unanimous decision in their middleweight bout for the $1 million concluding prize on the finale of the reality television show, last night at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline sat at a table with state Rep. Paul E. Moura and House Majority Leader Gordon D. Fox.

"I'm just disappointed for Manfredo," Fox said. "He's a great guy. But he gave it his all, so I'm proud of him."

Cicilline, who said he's known Manfredo's family for years, called Manfredo "an incredibly tough kid."

"He fought his heart out tonight, you can tell, and made everybody in Providence very proud," Cicilline said.

At a table nearby, talk radio host Arlene Violet, a former attorney general (and former nun), talked about boxing.

"I absolutely hate the violence of the sport, but I admire the discipline," Violet said.

"I wanted Peter to win," she added, "but there's no question that Mora deserved to win."

Friedlander is planning a party for Manfredo when he returns, but he doesn't know yet when it will be.

Manfredo wins $250,000 for finishing second on The Contender.

Interviewed earlier this month at his father's gym in Pawtucket, Manfredo said he hoped to earn enough on The Contender to buy a new house.

"My first priority is to get a nice house for my wife and daughter. Maybe a couple of acres. Mow that lawn," he said.

As for Mora, he said winning the $1 million meant that his mother would never have to work again.

The Contender was a mix of sports and entertainment that began with 16 fighters, who fought a series of elimination bouts until only Manfredo and Mora were left.

The show was filmed in Los Angeles in August and September, but didn't start airing until March, so the participants knew the results many months in advance.

The exception was last night's live matchup in Las Vegas.

Actor Sylvester Stallone, the man behind the Rocky movies, and former boxer Sugar Ray Leonard hosted the show, which was produced by reality TV mastermind Mark Burnett (Survivor, The Apprentice).

The show has not been a ratings success and NBC does not plan to bring it back next season.

Stallone, Leonard and NBC sportscaster Al Trautwig called the fight. Stallone started hyping a rematch by about the third round.

"I'll give Manfredo a rematch anytime. He deserves it," Mora said when the fight was over.

Manfredo, 24, has been training at his father's gym since he was 5. He had his first bout when he was 9. He took a record of 21-0 into The Contender.

His path to the finals at Caesars Palace was not an easy one.

Manfredo lost his first fight, to Alfonso Gomez Jr., but he got back into the competiton after Jeff Fraza of Haverhill, Mass., got chicken pox and was forced to drop out of the show.

The remaining fighters were told to vote one of the eliminated boxers back in, and they picked Manfredo, who then fought his way to the finals.

On the undercard last night, Contender runners-up Jesse Brinkley and Gomez fought a tough, five-round bout. The winner was Gomez, the man who had started The Contender by beating Manfredo.

Digital Extra: Share your reaction to the outcome of The Contender finale, view more photos from the bout, take a multimedia look at Providence's Peter Manfredo Jr. and more, at:

http://projo.com