Michael Marley
3/22/2007

COPENHAGEN--It is hardly a secret that "The Contender," the TV reality series about professional boxers, will switch to an all heavyweight format for its 2007 season. Casting for the show is going on now and the series, which is popular in countries all over the world (including Denmark, "tak,"), will be back on the air come September.

But Boxingconfidential.com has learned the progam, which is headed up by reality series guru Mark Burnett and boxing and entertainment man Jeff Wald, may be changing channels. ESPN, which picked up the show after it left NBC after its premiere season, has an option to carry the program.

But sources within the broadcasting world keep repeating to me hot and scalding rumors that Home Box Office is going to acquire the show and that, come autumn, you won't see Sugar Ray Leonard and his new students on ESPN.

I wouldn't be surprised to see HBO Sports President Ross Greenburg and his cohorts latch on to "The Contender," particularly with the heavyweight format for 2007. Some sources tell me it is a done deal and an announcement will be made shortly.

Greenburg and other HBO Boxing executives have had plenty of reasons to engage in protracted conversation with Wald recently what with program "champion" Sergio Mora being approved for a middleweight title shot against Jermain Taylor and show graduate Peter Manfredo slotted for a title bout against WBO super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe. Mora didn't make any friends at HBO when he pulled out for the May 19 Taylor bout, claiming he did not want to fight in Memphis because it is too close to Taylor's home state of Arkansas.

This is what ESPN honcho Mark Shapiro had to say about "The Contender" before the all sports cable network ran its shows for 2005 and 2006:

 "'The Contender' has all of the elements that make it the right fit for ESPN: compelling storylines, dynamic characters and suspense over the outcome," Mark Shapiro, ESPN executive vice president, programming and production, said. "This series speaks to our viewers' love for competition and their appreciation for triumph over adversity, and it goes without saying that the track record of Mark Burnett is exemplary -- a perfect match for the critical and ratings successes EOE has delivered in both scripted and unscripted drama."

Said Burnett: "Our vision from the onset was to improve the entertainment experience of televised boxing for the fans. What better platform to achieve that vision than on the network that pioneered sports television programming."

Maybe HBO can slot "The Contender" before or after "The Entourage." Natural broadcast and dramtic fit, I would say.