The theme song for the show was tremendous :) So, it had that going for it. I liked it when it was originally on NBC, but didn't follow it to ESPN. I guess just like boxing, it's on its way out.

I'm actually pretty bummed about the cancellation. I'm sure the sport (er, promoters) made a killing off all the PPV fights during the Tyson years, but that turned into a huge mistake because it closed off who could become a boxing fan. Once every fight went PPV, the casual fan became less and less likely to follow the fighters. You couldn't just turn on your tv and see a great fight. They lost millions of fans this way.

Regardless, I truly enjoyed the show because it gave me a reason to watch something other than old fights on ESPN Classic. My sister, who had never seen a boxing match in her life, turned into a HUGE fan of The Contender in the first season. There's little chance she'll ever watch another fight unless it involves one of the guys from the first three seasons. I won't shed any tears over the cancellation, but the sport is losing a great opportunity to win over more fans.

I'm actually curious as to how many people care about this. I'm a huge sports fan, but I haven't watched a boxing match since Floyd Mayweather beat the living pulp out of that British guy (no not the current bachelor, though I'd certainly tune that in).

Even when I watch boxing it's because my friends are getting together to watch it. Other sports -- football, soccer, basketball, and baseball (in that order) -- I watch for the sheer enjoyment of it. Despite about 15 hours of sports a week (more during football season), I'll generally skip over boxing.

Is boxing forever dead as a TV sport? Yes, no? I guess the number of people actually clicking through to read this comment on the Contender post would be a good indication, huh? :)