Blood, sweat and beers
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008
Some of the Time Out Singapore team were lucky enough to see the live final of The Contender Asia on Saturday night at the Indoor Stadium. And – WOW, we’re not going to spoil it for you as the final won’t air on AXN until Wednesday 23 April, but we’re telling you it won’t disappoint. It was almost a full house at the stadium with some hardcore fans holding up homemade signs for their favourites (we’re not necessarily talking fighters – presenter Jaymee Ong had a few admirers too). We loved watching the traditional pre-game rituals performed by the fighters (known as the “Wai Khru” in Thai) as they entered the ring to the traditional hypnotic music, and it definitely helped getting the crowd hyped. Everyone got more involved leading up to the intense final fight between… no names mentioned (but of course we already know the four semi-finalists include Russian Dzhabar, Aussie John Wayne Parr, Scotsman Sean Wright and Thailand’s Yodsaenklai so it’s not too much of a stretch of the imagination)–even the other contenders were showing their support for the finalists between bouts – and yes, expect blood, sweat and tears. Make sure you keep Wednesday free to stay home and catch the action.







