(Photo:  Yahoo's The Contender Page)

Coming off of last week's knockout victory, plenty of heat was placed on Anthony.  Anthony was riding high off of the win, but his teammates felt he ducked Jimmy Lang for what they considered a weaker fighter.  Nevertheless, Anthony is safe for a couple of weeks.

Some of the guys were a little calmer after coming back to the house.  Ishe and Joey, however, weren't.  Joey packed his things and switched rooms, as he was Anthony's teammate and was "supposed" to be the one to fight Brent Cooper.  Ishe went on a rampage, throwing things and ranting about how he wants to get even for the doublecross.  TKO'ing Brent only made it worse.

Just when it looked as if there would be a confrontation, Anthony made it back to the training house and everything cooled off.  Tarrick ongratulated him for the victory and defended his choice.

We got an inside look at Tarrick's background.  Tarrick was actually a pretty good boxer when he was younger, even making it into the top ten by a couple of boxing organizations and was in line for a title shot.  However, the champ pulled out of the fight, and a disillusioned Tarrick never got his opportunity.  Tarrick quit boxing for a while, but then came back once he heard about The Contender.  This made him one of the most seasoned fighters of the bunch.

At the gym, Stallone gave Anthony the boxing glove necklace, as every fighter gets for their victory.  Anthony told the group that he wanted to give his gloves to Brent.  Stallone didn't like it, and hoped that Anthony would keep it for himself, but it was his choice.  In the end, Anthony said he would keep them. 

Due to the Anthony's potential gesture, Alfonso was a little cooler towards him, but Ishe was still angry.  In fact, he was so angry, he didn't go out with the guys for their reward.  Their reward this time was a night out...with Ja Rule.  Ja Rule?  I don't get it since Ja hasn't been hot for like, two years or so, nor is he a boxer, but they enjoyed it as they hit some clubs and enjoyed the nightlife.  Ja also presented them with some expensive watches.  Since Ishe didn't go, he didn't get one.

This week's mission was very important, as there were only four boxers left that hadn't had a bout yet.  Sugar Ray told them this mission would decide this week's and next week's fights, which makes since because the remaining two would have to fight each other. 

This week's mission was a little simpler than past episodes.  There were two walls made of cinder blocks.  One boxer had to use a sledgehammer to break up the wall.  The others had to grab the broken pieces and fill up the pickup truck (a Toyota....after watching the videos every week, I'm tired of that commercial).  Once the time limit was up, the trucks were weighed and whoever had the heaviest truck won.  This was a mismatch on paper, as Juan and Peter looked too small to be able to hang with Tarick and Joey, albeit Joey is injured.  My suspicions were right, as Joey was effective with the sledgehammer and the West won easily.

No drama for the picks this week.  With the West winning the mission, Tarick Salmaci challenged Juan De la Rosa.  These two were about as different as night and day, lifestyle wise.  Tarick is an experienced boxer at age 32 while Juan is only learning the game at 18 years old.  However, Juan went to Mexico at age 15 in order to turn pro there. 

According to Yahoo's profile, Tarick was actually an Olympic trials finalist, losing in the championship bout of the U.S. trials.  He turned pro, and became the NABO Middleweight Champion and was ranked #4 in the WBO and #6 by the WBC.  During that time, he only lost one fight.  After he quit the sport, Tarick's wife was expecting a child, and he went into residential real estate, making a six figure salary.  He now lives with his wife, Dena, and kid in Detroit.  So for Tarick, he's been there, and done that.  He's already a success, win or lose. 

Juan is a different story, as his extended family; his dad, three siblings, and grandmother share a two bedroom house in Texas.  His grandfather, who encouraged him to take up boxing, died a year ago, and is his motivation for winning.  So, far, so good, as he compiled a 12-0-1 record as a pro.

I'm not going to try to sugarcoat this fight; it wasn't that good.  There were some good punches landed and they stayed busy at the beginning of the fight, but it seemed as if both were out of gas in the fifth round. 

You could tell Juan was a Mexican fighter, because he fought like one: stand there toe-to-toe and swing until someone falls.  Juan was swinging haymakers, and would hit Tarick with one every once in a while to sting him.  However, Juan's technique was sloppy, and you could tell that he came into the fight real anxious and hyper.  He possibly won the round, but he was sucking air at the end of it.

Tarick's experience came into play in the second round, as Juan continued to throw wild punches, which was sure to sap his energy.  Juan's fighting style reminded me of Ricardo Mayorga; in other words, he didn't have one.  Meanwhile, Tarick used the jab, and got in some good combinations.  He looked like the better fighter after Round two.

But all of a sudden, Tarick seemed as he had lead in his gloves in Round three.  I don't know if it was due to conditioning, or what, but Juan was able to get some hooks in there and also do a bit of bobbing and weaving.  Tarick was stung by some of Juan's punches, and Juan took the round.

Juan tried something new in Round four:  boxing.  Instead of trying to dive in with punches, he worked inside, tried to work the body a bit and set up the hook to the head.  It worked perfectly, as he tagged Tarick three times with that combination.  However, Tarick at the end of the round gets a straight right hand in that cuts Juan above the eye.  We knew that was the beginning of the end for Brent last week.  But Juan finishes the round pretty solid.

Round five was more holding and sloppiness than anything.  Neither were landing punches that had any kind of effect whatsoever.  They duked it out at the end of the round, but the fight was pretty much over by then.

Juan won by unaminous decision.  Considering Tarick seemed as if he didn't come to fight, a sloppy fight by Juan sounds like the right decision.  However, I don't expect Juan to win his next fight, unless he fights a more technically sound fight than he did tonight.

Meanwhile, Tarick will go home.  Something tells me he didn't want it as bad anyway.  He has no regrets, and he's glad he finally got his opportunity.  Poor guy; now he has to go back home to his nice job and family.  Something tells me he'll be alright.

Next week is Joey vs. Jimmy.  That should be a decent fight as long as Joey's leg holds up.  See ya.

My Other Contender Posts:

1.  The Contender Quarterfinals:  Ishe vs. Sergio
2.  The Contender, Episode Eight:  Jimmy vs. Joey
3.  The Contender Episode Seven:  Juan vs. Tarick
4.  The Contender Episode Six:  Anthony vs. Brent
5.  The Contender Episode Three:  Ishe vs. Ahmed