Keeping track of The Contender

The Gold Team, down 0-2, looked to Rhode Islander Gary Balletto to right the ship after Philadelphian Aaron Torres chose the New Englander to fight in the third episode of the Contender’s second season.

After a recap that showed Norby Bravo, at 34 ten years older than his opponent, getting his hand raised over Rudy Cisneros, a smack talk sesh went down.

Vinroy Barrett and Grady Brewer weren’t seeing eye-to-eye, and some other guys I haven’t yet nailed down the identity of jawed at each other.

Aaron Torres then made it clear he’d be more than happy to do the honors for the boys in blue, and he’d like to invite Balletto to tangle. The Rhode Islander, who I saw starting out on the circuit when he fought in Boston, was in an obliging mode.

There was much talk about Balletto’s KO pop as the whole crew is well aware that “Tiger” has 25 early stops in 29 wins.

Torres admitted that he had his lunch money taken from him on the schoolyard in North Philly, where he was the only Hispanic clutching the brown bag at noon.

He also admits that he’s been unlucky in love; after getting married, he and the old lady separated after four months. Lots of people back home, he said, have given up on him, which is too bad, because he’s only 26. At 26, I was…lord, I was quite the lou. Don’t sweat it too much, Torres, I’d argue. There’s plenty of time to get on the winning path, as long as you’re still ambulatory.

In the Contender housing area, we see the Balletto brood, three kids and the wifey. I remember her back in Boston, clapping loudly when her man would celebrate wins over iffy competition by walking a handstand in the ring. It was a highlight of many of those crappy Cappiello cards, no offense Used Cars…

Balletto brought his boy, age 11, a cake for his b-day and then he smothered his 5-month-old with smooches, as well he should’ve. This was pure Burnett “Adrian factor” time, a bone for the ladies whose guys are not handing over the remote control. Gets me every time, and this occasion was no exception. I ran into the bedroom with the missus after hitting pause on the TiVo and requested that we start our own brood, like Balletto’s…

After that three minute break, we saw Torres’ pop, and replacement love interest. Dad loves the boy but hopes he won’t get too cocky and take his eye off the prize. Torres says that he has more to lose than Balletto, who has a nice house, job and family to go home to. Sure that makes Torres Sr. and the new SO very pleased…

Balletto’s birthday boy worries that dad will get hurt and is acting scared, so pop cheers him up. “Don’t worry, I’ll knock him right out,” dad tells the boy…He could’ve said something like “We’ll both try hard and do our best and exit the ring healthy” but hey, he tried…

The fight starts and Torres makes Balletto look foolish, slipping everything as Balletto does his Arturo Gatti imitation. He loads up on everything and practically sends Torres an email and IMs him before he throws a shot…

In the second, Torres slows down a tad and the Rhodie gets his range.

In the third, it looks like an even round in the snippet we see. Tommy Gallagher slaps Torres after the round, tells him to smarten up. Next time turn over on the hook, Tommy G…

In the fourth, Torres is all over Balletto, and almost has him out, when he slips and hits the deck. Balletto gets a reprieve.

The fifth sees a ton of toe-to-toe trading, and the joint looks hot. My missus says she hasn’t seen trading like that. I tell her I bet Torres and his ex probably brawled like that…

The cards are tallied and the scores are in: one judge goes for Balletto, 48-47. The next arbiter sees the same score, for Torres. The tiebreaker: 48-47 for the Rhode Island veteran, Balletto.

He doesn’t do a handstand, not that I see…

Torres feels robbed initially but quickly realizes he fought his tail off and has nothing to be ashamed about. “I’m proud of myself, man,” he admits, as goosebumps break out all over me for the fourth time. “I didn’t let anyone down, especially myself.”

He admits to the SO, though, that he hopes his effort isn’t for naught. “I just hope it opens up doors,” he said.

Solid ep: could’ve used more in-ring action of course.

So why doesn’t ESPN put the whole fight on the web so arseholes like me will shut up about that?