St. Louis Sports Blog

Something told me that Ryan Coyne, albeit the dark horse of The Contender, Season 4, was gonna go all the way to fisticuffs for the $250,000 purse.

The live fight at the MGM Grand at Foxwoods, in Connecticut, rolls at 9 p.m. (central), I believe, on February 25.

But unless the plot twists unexpectedly here during the next two episodes of the reality show, Coyne, "The Irish Outlaw," won't mug or glove up for the big-money match.

Two weeks ago on the show, Coyne got popped in the eye, for the second time. (Watch the bloody clip, called "Split Eye," right here.)

Bloody mess notwithstanding, Coyne squeaked through to win against Tim Flamos.

Last week on the show, Coyne got seven stitches for the cut, which a Singaporean surgeon told him was much deeper than the first one.     

"Oh, you motherfucker!" John Bray blurted last Wednesday night when St. Louisan Ryan Coyne got *popped* during his first fight on the reality show.

Coyne's right eye split plum open under the glove of 41-year-old fighter Tim Flamos. Watch the bloody clip (called "Split Eye") right here.  

So...did Coyne pull off a victory against the old dude?

Finally!

Last night's "Contender" featured a great match-up, a more technically attractive bout than any before, and a hot-damn-holy-SHIT-he's-DOWN knock-out.

Here's the deal: With three fights left in Round 1, the gold team was ahead, 3-2, going into this episode. Our town's Ryan Coyne, of the blue team, was looking hungry, with his head shaved and chops yammering.

We finally saw some of Singapore, when they brought in a foot reflexologist to help the guys unwind. Grown men getting tickled by an Eastern massage therapist, laughing their hineys off. Awesome.

Well, this RFT scribe was a little preoccupied eating Boston lobstahs and playing Wii on New Year's Eve, and episode four of "The Contender" just kinda...came and went.

You'll be either thrilled or bewildered to know that despite our town's injured Ryan Coyne going balls to the walls and calling out a rival in episode number-three, the gold team passed over Coyne on New Year's and instead made a match between Deon Elam and Richard Gringas from the blue team. (Who said boxers aren't boxes of rocks.)

You can watch all of episode four, sans commercials, here.

   

Ryan Coyne's got brass balls. Days after getting five stitches near his left eye, Coyne rolled into the Contender gym for episode three wearing a headband scrawled with the

nickname of the gold team fighter he wanted a piece of.

Alas, coach John Bray basically called Coyne a snot and told him to ratchet up the humility. The blue team wouldn't let their wounded warrior near the ring.

Instead, Texan Erick Vega (blue) and Nigerian Akinyemi "A.K." Laleye (gold) duked it out pretty mercilessly over five long rounds. I'd say Vega's body-punching and Laleye's AK-47-speed combined to make this the season's best fight so far.

Just a few cheap shots, though at one point, Laleye pulled down Vega's pants, exposing his black spandex and red pelvic protector. Tony Danza got a kick out of that one.

By the end, both dudes were stumbling, and the Singaporeans were jumping out of their seats, screaming.

Laleye claimed the victory.

With gold thus back in business, next week we might finally see our St. Louis contender get down and dirty. 

-Kristen Hinman   

Five stitches, five days.

Ryan Coyne figured big last night on the second installment of The Contender.

His team -- blue -- having won the first bout, had the advantage of matchmaking the next fight. They set to sparring in the gym, and Coyne got popped. Bad.

"BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!"

Woo-eee, Coyne was throwing f-bombs like Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich on a wiretap!

"I'M CUT! BLEEP!"

Ryan advances after the first episode of this season's Contender!

The new season premiered last night and features St. Louis' own cruiserweight 26-year-old Ryan Coyne.

Coyne arrived in Singapore to find himself on the Blue Team, coached by John Bray, who, I got to say, is one m-effin', scary-looking dude. (Ryan tells me Bray was coached by Kenny Loehr on some national teams back in the '80s and '90s.)

Tony Danza, a former boxer who hasn't fought since 1980 when he got his break in acting, is hosting this time round, and bears zero resemblance to the housekeeper/dad on Who's The Boss? According to Ryan, he's in sick shape. You can tell. I also like the silver buzz cut. Smokin' hot for an old dude.

So what happened?

Hey, boxing fans: Ryan Coyne, a 26-year-old pro cruiserweight who lives in South City and graduated from St. Charles High School, is one of the fighters on the latest season of The Contender.

The first episode of the reality show airs tonight on Versus at 9 p.m. central. (That's Channel 45 on Charter; 151 on Dish; 603 on Direct-TV.) 

Coyne's having a watching party *tonight* out in his native St. Charles at a joint called Undertow on Main Street. He'll be there by 8 p.m. and says anyone is welcome to join him.

I'll be posting weekly updates on Coyne's Contender exploits right here on The Rundown every Thursday. (See more details on Coyne's experience taping the show in my short story published here in this week's issue.

You can also check out my cover story this week, "And the Fighter Still Remains," about the legendary St. Louis boxing coach Kenny Loehr.)

-Kristen Hinman