Checking In With Peter Manfredo - - Peter Manfredo Talks About The Contender

PICTURES: CONTENDER FIGHT GALLERY

After your loss on The Contender, were you shocked that you got a call to return to the show ?

I was definitely shocked. I was kind of mentally and emotionally spent. I wasn’t even ready mentally to go back because I just came off the first loss and I didn’t have anybody there to talk to about it. I was just so depressed. I was eating In and Out Burgers every day. My weight went up to like 178 pounds. I wasn’t ready in no way, shape, or form to come back and win. I didn’t want to come back and lose to somebody I know I could beat and I didn’t want to beat myself like I did the first time. But I was happy that I got chosen to go back and I sucked it up.

How long after the loss did you get a phone call?

I believe it was like a week to ten days after.

Looking back, why do you think you lost that first fight?

You know, what? He was just a better man than I was and I really don’t want to make excuses. But I did have to lose ten pounds the night before the fight. I was sucked down. And I didn’t have my father, who was my original trainer, telling me no strategy in the corner. It was a lot of things. It was just tough. He had his father there who trained him. It was kind of like a little disadvantage. But you know what? That’s just how the show went. There was nothing I could do, so I just rolled with the punches.

It's funny that another boxer getting chicken pox got you another chance in the competition.

I believe it was fate. If it was meant to be, it was meant to be.

So, I guess when your family and friends saw you lose on the first episode, you couldn’t tell them that you be would going back on a later episode?

I couldn’t. It was kind of tough because I relived the experience all over again. The next day, I woke up, and I was kind of depressed. I kind of felt like that for the next couple of days and then I started to get emails. I mean outrageous (amounts) from all over the world from fans who said they were proud of me and I just made them a new fan. And they weren’t boxing fans before but now they love the sport and they love the show. That just made me feel so much better about myself.

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