Peter Manfredo Jr.

What is a hero? A hero is a great person. A hero fights for the good and against the evil. A hero fights for what they believe in. They rarely ever back down from any bad situation. A hero is usually willing to risk everything, in order to help those in need. A hero doesn’t always have to fight well. The real question is, “ how does the hero react to the fight?” In my opinion, Peter Manfredo Jr. is a real hero, not by how he fought his major fights, but how he reacted to them.

Peter lost on the reality show, The Contender. Peter came into the show ranked third in the world. He was the favored to make it to the finals and win the one million dollar grand prize. Peter lost his first fight on The Contender, but came back on account of another fighter having chicken pox. Peter boxed his way into the finals. He was to get into the ring with Sergio Mora. The two men boxed it out for seven good rounds. Peter looked like he did just a little too much holding to win the fight. When the decision was read, Peter’s name was not announced. Sergio shocked Peter and the whole Contender Cast. This was such a tough loss for Peter. That was how Peter lost in The Contender.

Peter, after his finale loss on The Contender, managed to get his career back on track and received a world title shot. After losing in the finals, Peter said, “I’ll be back.” Peter did just that. He won his next two fights to put him in a position to fight the reigning WBO champion, Joe Calzaghe. This title shot would be Peter’s biggest fight, yet. Fighting for the World Championship was such a great accomplishment.

Peter Manfredo lost to Joe Calzaghe, but came back once again. Peter was TKO’D in the third round in his title fight. Many ringside observers believed that this was a very premature stoppage. Peter knew he had to reboot his career, and he did. He beat veteran Ted Muller in the 9th round. He then beat David Banks in 10 rounds. Peter is currently ranked 11th in the world. These were some great accomplishments. Peter overcame a huge loss to get back into the mix.

Peter has overcome so many struggles to become great in the eyes of many people. He lost in The Contender, but did not quit or look down on himself. He lost in his world title fight. That was by far the biggest obstacle he had to overcome, but he did. As I said before, it is not about the fights Peter won or lost, but about how he reacted to those fights. And for that fact, Peter Manfredo Jr. is my hero.