09:35 AM EST on Monday, March 21, 2005

BY ANDY SMITH
Journal Television Writer

It's not over until it's over. And when it comes to reality TV, sometimes not even then.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson

Providence boxer Peter Manfredo, eliminated in the first episode of The Contender, gets another shot.

Just ask Providence boxer Peter Manfredo Jr.

Manfredo had been eliminated from NBC's boxing show The Contender on its very first episode, which aired March 7.

Or had he?

The show, which airs Sunday nights at 8 p.m. on Channels 10 and 7, features 16 young boxers who fight each other in a series of elimination bouts. The winner will get $1 million.

Manfredo, who brought a record of 21-0 into the show, was considered a very tough competitor. But he lost his fight to Alfonso Gomez Jr., and was out of the competition.

Then, on last night's episode of The Contender, a case of chicken pox opened the door for Manfredo's return.

Boxer Jeff Fraza, of Haverhill, Mass., developed a fever and a mysterious rash on his legs. The doctor took one look and diagnosed chicken pox. Seconds later, the doctor told Fraza he couldn't stay on the show because the chicken pox might infect the rest of the contestants.

So Contender hosts Sylvester Stallone and Sugar Ray Leonard told the remaining boxers they needed to vote someone back onto the show.

By then, three boxers had been eliminated: Manfredo, Jonathan Reid, and Ahmed Kaddour. Manfredo won the vote.

The Contender was filmed in California in August and September, with the exception of the finale, which will be broadcast live May 24.

In a recent phone interview, Manfredo said the fighters who had lost their bouts were living in a house in the Los Angeles area.

"I was so depressed about losing. So depressed," Manfredo said.

Then the three boxers were told "Something is going to happen." They were taken to the gym where The Contender was being shot, which is where they learned Manfredo had been voted back on the show.

"I was excited to go back . . . I definitely got lucky," Manfredo said. "But I was really not in the right state of mind. I didn't want to get beaten again."

Manfredo explained that many fighters, after a loss, take some time off, then build their confidence by fighting a series of lesser boxers.

Coming back to The Contender, he said, he didn't have that luxury.

Why was he voted back?

Manfredo speculates the other fighters may have considered him an easy mark.

"They knew I had some trouble making weight, they knew I was emotionally down . . . they wanted someone to take my head off, and get that on their record," Manfredo said.

The Contender's strict secrecy rules prevent Manfredo from discussing what happens next on The Contender.

That also meant he couldn't tell anyone -- including The Providence Journal -- that he was going back on the show until after last night's episode aired.

The toughest part, he said, was the Rhode Island viewing party attended by 350 people who had assembled to watch the first episode March 7.

When Manfredo lost to Gomez, he said, the room became very, very quiet.

"Everyone was shocked. You could hear a pin drop," Manfredo said. "I wanted so much to say 'Hey! Keep watching! I'm coming back on!' but I couldn't.

Manfredo did not fight again on last night's Contender. Instead, the show featured Najai Turpin, the Philadelphia fighter who killed himself on Feb. 14. Turpin lost his fight to Sergio Mora.

Before the fight, "den mother" Jackie Kallen described Turpin as "A sweet guy, but very distrustful of people. He reminds me so much of, like, a little animal that was mistreated."

After the loss, Turpin was devastated.

"It's agony . . . it just hurts. The feeling is overwhelming," he said in the locker room. "What did I do wrong, for something to go wrong?"

Manfredo, who worked in Turpin's corner during the fight, said he thought Turpin made a mistake picking Mora, who enjoyed a considerable height advantage.

At the end of the show, after the words "In loving memory of Najai Turpin" appear on the screen, Leonard announces that The Contender is establishing a trust fund for Turpin's small daughter, Anyae Chapple. Details are available at www.contender.yahoo.com.