Jesus vs. Allah

So, I meant to write about this yesterday, but as you could imagine, I was overwhelmed by the whole sleep thing. It was much too powerful to ignore.

So, the Big J and the Big A … tête à tête. Followers from both sides have quarreled for centuries, many losing their lives in the name of martyrdom and in the name of their faith. Never mind the crusades, the Spanish wars or that whole Ottoman Empire thing … this heated ‘beef’ came to fruition (and apparently settlement) on Sunday night’s episode of ‘THE CONTENDER’.

Let me start off by saying NBC’s ‘THE CONTENDER’ is a cool show, I think it does its part in bringing the sport of boxing back into everyone’s focus. Man, ever since Tyson got all crazy and started biting and shit, Boxing has suffered. However, with box office hits like ‘million dollar baby’ and a reality show entirely about boxing, it just might be the thing to get into.

Now, a little background on the show: The teams are split into East vs. West. (8 boxers on each team). Every week, two boxers, one from each team, face each other for 5 rounds in the ring, and the loser goes home. The show is touted as “The Next Great Human Drama” so every week; you get exposed to the boxers’ families, their daily struggles and their lives outside the ring.

The 2 particular boxers in discourse were the highlight of Sunday night’s episode, which I like to call "Duel of the Deities". From the West, you have Ishe Smith (A Christian, representin’ the Big J) and his Eastern counterpart, Ahmad ‘Hollywood’ Kaddour (A Muslim, representin’ the Big A).
(Note: Ahmad got his ‘Hollywood’ nickname because he made his entrance as the ‘pretty boy’ who was wearing flashy clothes)

Ishe Smith and Ahmad ‘Hollywood’ Kaddour have never liked each other. They were at each other’s throat from day one. Taunting, Shoving, Shit-talking, the whole deal. Both teams were in agreement that they would let them fight each other ASAP and get their score settled (Notable though is that last week, the WEST had a chance to make this happen and Ishe Smith wouldn’t step up, he was ‘uncomfortable’ and felt too much ‘pressure’ to take on the brash, and villain-esque Ahmad ‘Hollywood’ Kaddour).

So the episode revolved around a dramatic build up of their rivalry and disdain for one another. Ishe Smith was presented as a family man with a strong faith. His family and faith gave him the courage to face up to the challenge, after he had backed down last week and was in bad stature with his WEST teammates. Ahmad was presented as your typical arrogant sort of guy, talking smack, not really thinking before he says or does anything, and somewhat of a loose-cannon.

Now, for the punch (sorry, it’s hard not to get corny when you’re writing about boxing). Right before the fight, Ishe Smith was shown in prayer, thanking god, Jesus, and asking for strength to defeat his enemies. Ahmed, on the other hand, who was never shown in any light other than his vain and unapologetic self was shown walking down the hallway and yelling ‘Allah Akbar, Allah Akbar’ with subtitles ‘God is Great, God is Great’. This clip was run just as they were about to enter the ring.

As a viewer, the impression I got was that the show was implying that this is what the fight was about. Never mind the three weeks of absolutely loathing each other, let’s show this thing. As someone who’s watched this kind of stuff before, they could have played more warranting clips or sound bites (for example, playing a sound bite to quote each fighter saying how he’s going to win by ‘KNOCKING HIS ASS OUT’ would be more true to the nature of Ishe and Ahmad’s relationship). Throughout three weeks of bickering, never once was this about my faith vs. yours. But it sort of came off that way.

I am fully aware that those might very well be pre-fight ‘rituals’ for each of the boxers. However, this is the 3rd Boxing match of the series, and in the previous two fights, nothing ‘ritualistic’ was portrayed. It was all about “I’m gonna beat his ass, I’m here to win.” And the opposing clip “I’m more experienced, I’m quicker.” So it basically sounded like your typical interview answer set off with the pre-cursor question: “Why do you think you will win this fight?” In all fairness, this "Duel of the Deities” was too juicy for the producers to stick to your typical pre-fight taunts.

During the fight, Ahmad ‘Hollywood’ Kaddour should have been given a new nickname, Ahmad ‘Dirty Fighter’ Kaddour. He just fought dirty, got in a couple of cheap shots (after the bell) and oh yeah, at one point he gave the crowd a nice big “Fuck You’ flip off gesture. (The one that uses the whole arm curled underneath the other arm - not just that weak finger shit... so yeah, it was definitely a BIG fuck you).

Ishe Smith won by decision (3 rounds to 2). Ahmad ‘Hollywood’ Kaddour’s parting words were “Damn, even though I lost, I still look good.”

More on this, at a later date. (Maybe when a couple more deities ‘BOX’ each other … I’d like to see if VISHNU could hold a candle to Amoon-Rah).