Put Up or Shut Up!
We begin this episode where we left off last time. In the ring, with Walter winning over Andre. Walter is shown in the locker room telling us about his victory. Cut to the blue team, in their room at the loft, discussing how proud they are of Andre and how he was able to go the distance, despite being knocked down in the first round. Then, Walter returns to the loft and talks about the fight and his win with the gold team. Nito is sweeping the floor and hears the discussion. He tells us he doesn’t like cocky guys and Walter is being very cocky.
Sugar Ray comes up to the loft to give Walter and the gold team their reward. He tells them that a very special guest wants to give them the reward this time. In walks Sugar Shane Mosely, who gives them all leather jackets and expensive sunglasses. Sugar Ray reminds them that the gold team has the power to choose the next pair of fighters. Nick, from the blue team, thinks Vinroy will finally call out Grady because their rivalry has been brewing since the guys showed up on the first day! Will we finally see these two shut up and fight? This pair really needs to put up or shut up at this point! …but we’ll have to wait to see what happens because we’re off to some commercials.
When we return to the show, Sugar Shane Mosely comes to the gym with a small entourage. He is going to spar today and we see Walter in the ring with him. Obviously, Sugar Shane outboxes Walter easily. The guys continue their training outside running behind the truck with Tommy in the back trying to pump them up and get them moving. Also during the day of training, Grady spars with Alfonso Gomez. On the sidelines, K9 is telling Grady what to do, giving him tips and whatnot. Walter tells K9 to shut up because he’s acting like he’s a coach or something now. They bicker and Walter says to K9, wait until the next round!
Sugar Ray gathers the guys in front of the bracket wall and gives Walter his golden glove necklace. …but not without pumping up Walter’s ego a notch or two by telling him how great he was in his fight! Pffft! Like Walter needs his ego pumped up any more. *rolls eyes* Walter has to choose where to put his name plate in the bracket wall. He tells us he wants to fight K9, but really wants to fight the first fight of the next round. He slides his name into the empty fight #9… then takes it out and puts in fight #10 next to K9! Sugar Ray asks him about his choice and Walter says he wants to fight K9 because he doesn’t think K9 respects him. Hello Walter? I don’t think you respect K9 either. You’ve got to give respect to get it, right? K9 tells us he thinks Walter has made a big mistake by choosing him. We will see in round 2!
After the next bunch of commercials, the teams line up on the apron. Who’s it going to be? Will Vinroy finally put his money where his mouth is? …and he does! Vinroy steps out when Sugar Ray asks the gold team who will fight. He calls out Grady. He had to, really. I mean if he didn’t call out Grady, who he had already called a coward, he would then be dubbed a coward himself! Sugar Ray asks Vinroy why he chose Grady and he tells him, “He has so much talking!” with his thick Jamaican accent. I love the way he talks! It’s cool, even if there are a lot of sentences in very broken English.
Next we take a peek at the two fighters’ lives outside the ring. Grady visits his family at the Contender housing. He tells them he’s going to fight the next day. Vinroy tells us about Jamaica and how he moved to Tennessee to follow his dream and train. He sacrificed a lot for this by leaving his family behind. He doesn’t get a visit, instead he talks to them on the phone.
We come back from commercials to find Grady getting ready for the fight in his locker room. Tommy is giving him a pep talk to get him ready. Over in Vinroy’s locker room, Jeremy is pumping him up. Then… it’s a surprise visit from Vinroy’s family! His wife and his 2 adorable girls come in and he’s very happy to see them. They are his reason for doing this and making his sacrifices.
Now we’re on to the fight!
In round 1, after the two of them are dancing around a bit and not getting off any shots, Grady goes crazy with punches and lands a lot of combinations! Grady has control of this round, hands down.
In round 2, Grady is still in clear control as he lands several more combinations, gets in a few uppercuts and gets Vinroy in a corner up against the ropes.
In round 3, Vinroy wakes up a bit and get some good shots in, but Grady keeps coming back and seems in control, until… Vinroy “accidentally” (*rolls eyes*) headbutts Grady and Grady is cut and bleeding. The fight is stopped momentarily so Grady can get clearance form the ringside doctor to continue. He is cleared and they continue round 3, but Grady is bleeding and hurting.
In round 4, from what we are shown, Vinroy gets in a lot of jabs and Grady continues to be a bit disoriented and not clearly in control as before.
In round 5, Grady takes control, gets Vinroy running around the ring and finally gets him on the ropes into a corner again where he finishes him off with several combinations and uppercuts.
Now for the judges scores: One judge score the match 48 – 47, the other two score the match 49 – 46, for Grady by a unanimous decision!
Vinroy goes back to his locker room and tells us he fought hard, gave it his all, has waited for this chance, but feels like he let down his family. He hangs his gloves and leaves the gym.
Next week: There is concern about Grady’s cut from the headbutt, the blue team can’t decide who’s fighting, and something happens during the fight that shocks everyone! Hmmm… will we be seeing a knockout?
Slice & Dice Sigpic Chop Shop 2005