The original "Contender", seasons 1-4 - unedited full-length versions of fights?

Were these just never released? I understand when the show was on the air they wanted to cleave to a certain format (condensed to fit a time slot and still allow for plenty of reality-TV style behind-the-scenes intrigue between the contestants and inspirational montages of them cultivating their bonds with their loves ones and trainers while still making sacrifices as dedicated athletes, etc.; arranged in not quite exactly coherent order so as to better tell a story, with dramatic swells of music coinciding with moments deemed of narrative importance; all that jazz) but it has been years now. These were sanctioned fights that officially count on the professional records of every participant - even if they were bizarrely, for some reason, 5-rounders. Many of the boxers that appeared over the four seasons went on to have lengthy careers as everything from journeymen to world titlists. For posterity's sake, you would think at some point the raw footage would have been released by the producers for public viewing. They already milked all the use they could from it; the show last aired over nine years ago (though it has apparently been slated for a reboot) - so what possible reason could they have not to just let the stuff be seen?

Tomorrow marks the season 2 semifinals' twelve-year anniversary. Being a big fan (and online buddy) of Stevie 2lb Forbes, it struck me to make a commemorative thread with a link to his win that day over Cornelius Bundrage on YouTube. As it turns out, the only video to be found is the broadcast version. WTF? 2lb and K9 are both former world champs. They fought on national TV (granted on like seven-month tape-delay on a reality show, but still) and there's no way to see the whole thing, minus the silly mickey-mousing soundtrack and the cinematic wannabe cutting?

 

I can understand that logic then, when they were still airing the episodes, or even rerunning them, but ...now? You can't argue their brand is being hurt by having the "boring"/real-life/full-length versions available, because the brand doesn't even really exist anymore (despite the planned relaunch; that is going to be its own thing, brand new content, I don't think any plans are in place to air the decade-plus-old episodes). The videos exist, in some vault (or more likely on a hard drive and/or server and/or cloud, most likely backed up in more than one) somewhere, just going to waste, and the only retrospective look at these matches readily available to fans is the edited versions, which are useless for say,doing a RBR scoring.

 

Actually let me ask Stevie himself. If anybody would have access to complete versions of the fights, you'd think it would be the fighters themselves? Maybe there was a statute of a certain number of years they were asked not to share them with family/friends/fans or whatever..

 

Not that I've come across, I will keep looking though.

 

That was indeed a fun fight...I was there. 7th row.

 

True he might not have access to any of the raw footage shot on studio equipment ...but if a family member or friend had an amateur recording from ringside...