Bravo suffers emotional defeat

Twice. At the same time.

Just as he was shown misty-eyed on ESPN's taped broadcast of "The Contender," talking about his family after losing a majority decision to Grady Brewer, Bravo was wiping away live tears as he watched the show in Desert Diamond Casino's overflowing sports bar.

"It was real tough for me to watch that," Bravo told the crowd, later adding in an interview, "especially the little clips of my family — that was real emotional for me."

The clips shown at the end of the show, after Bravo's gripping five-round loss, included a shot of Bravo's 5-year-old daughter, Maya, in tears, and his gloved 3-year-old son, Roman, landing combinations against a wall.

The loss meant Bravo will not fight Tuesday for the tournament show's $500,000 grand prize, although he will fight the other semifinal loser, Cornelius Bundrage, in a consolation match live at Los Angeles' Staples Center.

The purse has not been disclosed but it is expected to be a five-figure amount that will be the most Bravo has ever fought for in his career.

Bravo came extremely close to fighting for the bigger purse. He knocked down Brewer in the first round with a pair of left-handed shots, and while Brewer appeared to win the next round, the final three were nearly even slugfests.

One judge scored the bout even at 47-47, while the other two had it 48-46 and 49-46.

"I thought I was ahead," Bravo said. "I know it was a close fight, but I thought I did enough to win, and that knockdown, I thought, was going to be the deciding factor. But I've been through a few bad decisions and here I am. There's no stopping me, man."

The Desert Diamond crowd agreed.

Many complained over the televised announcement that Brewer had won by a majority decision, although the boos quickly turned to cheers as fans turned Bravo's way.

Even if the judging wasn't an issue for Bravo, there were other disadvantages he faced against Brewer. Bravo gave up three inches in both height and reach to Brewer, and couldn't effectively counteract by working inside.

"If he would have gotten inside a little more, he could have worked the body a little more and slowed him down," said Bravo's trainer, Mike Agredano. "Brewer had pretty good movement. But even on the outside, Nito was catching him with that hook."

Bravo's other problem was that he had only about three days to prepare after his second-round win over Gary Balletto, a problem he brought on himself.

After his first-round victory over Rudy Cisneros, Bravo chose to fight in the last second-round bout, meaning he would have a quick turnaround for round three.

Bravo said he wanted to fight last in the second round because the show paid him more for every episode he appeared in, and that the lack of time in round three did not matter. Still, Agredano said Brewer appeared to be more rested.

"That Balletto fight was pretty rough" on Bravo, Agredano said. "But everybody I talked to who was there said he didn't really care when he fought. If it was up to him, he probably would have fought every day."