Back at the loft, the mood is sombre in the Blue Team room. The remaining fighters talk about who amongst them will be able to “reverse the curse”.  In the meantime, the Gold Team is jubilant with yet another victory and they plot to continue their winning streak and annihilate the Blue Team completely. The 2 most experienced fighters, Troy “The Boss” Ross and Rico “Suave” Hoye, both feel they have what it takes to maintain control.

The next morning in the Contender Gymnasium, Tommy Brooks, trainer for the Gold Team heckles Hino for his emotional outburst after the fight. Calling Hino a lollipop, Tommy teases Hino about his over-dramatic performance that night.

Despite the laughter in the gym, the Blue Team boxers weigh the possibilities of who might fight next on their team.  Michael “Righteous” Alexander figures that either Troy Ross or Rico Hoye will be calling out Ryan “The Irish Outlaw” Coyne because of his barely healed cut and his lack of experience.

The pressure of making it to the second round sinks in and the Blue Team gets serious about their training. The only person still having a good time on the Blue Team is seasoned veteran Lawrence Tauasa.  The happy-go-lucky Samoan dazzles everyone with his boxing skills, but also leaves them in stitches with dance moves quite unlike anything anyone has seen before. For Lawrence it’s part of his overall strategy to win, as he says, “When I do have fun, you know, you'll be in trouble”.

Later that day, fighters get a surprise when Tony Danza walks into the Loft with Master Soon, a traditional Chinese foot reflexologist.  It’s the fighters’ first taste of Asian Medicine.  Master Soon gets to work on their feet.  He helps relieve fighters of soreness and pain in their body just by massaging pressure points in their feet. However, the treatment is excruciatingly painful and Lawrence puts it best when he says, “I’d rather be punched in the head”.

Hino faces a dilemma of where to place his name in Round 2.  He can choose to fight Felix Cora, Deon Elam, or place his name in an empty bracket to face an unknown opponent.
When the decision time comes, Hino reluctantly places his name next to his good friend, and gold teammate, Deon.   Deon is troubled by this choice, wondering why Hino would choose him in the second round.  Tommy reminds everyone that there can only be 1 winner and at some point they will all have to fight each other, teammates or not. 

During Call-Out, Troy Ross, the two-time Olympian from Canada, steps out and challenges the most experienced boxer of the tournament, Lawrence Tauasa.  John Bray praises Troy for calling out Lawrence, “Troy Ross wants to show the world he’s top dog…For boxing enthusiasts, you are in for a real treat”.

It’s the morning of the fight and Troy and Lawrence are hanging out in the kitchen joking and laughing.  The 2 fighters have bonded in the short space of time, becoming fast friends. Tommy sees it and compliments them on their classy behaviour, calling them true professionals.  Tommy reminds them that the world is a small place and eventually their paths will cross, so it’s better to be friends than adversaries.

At the Fight Night Arena, Troy & Lawrence square off.  During the first round, both boxers set out to establish their jabs, circling around each other warily.  Troy & Lawrence are almost point for point and both fighters are well aware that it will take just one mistake to lose this match.

During the round break, John is happy with Lawrence’s power and performance and reminds Lawrence to stay busy.  In the Gold corner, Tommy Brooks’ eagle eye spots a flaw in Lawrence’s fighting style…Lawrence’s hands are down when he comes inside. Tommy instructs Troy to capitalize on that, “Straight1-2, down the pipe. You can’t miss him”.

In the 2nd round, Troy shows his speed and agility and racks up points with shots to the body. With the round coming to an end, the unthinkable happens… Lawrence walks right into a deadly over-hand right that sends him tumbling face first into the ropes.

The crowd goes wild at this sudden and unexpected turn.  Struggling to get to his feet, Lawrence does his best to shake off Troy’s devastating punch.  Beating the 10 count, the referee allows the fight to resume, but Troy seizes the opportunity to finish the fight early.   Delivering combinations of devastating punches, the referee is forced to stop the fight and declare the bout a TKO.
 
The fight is over, and immediately the face of friendship is back in place.  Showing true professionalism, Troy runs over to the Blue corner to express his concern for Lawrence. “You all good baby? I love you man” as Troy hugs Lawrence like a brother.

Afterwards, Lawrence tearfully struggles the outcome.  It is the first time in his entire career that he has been stopped.  He acknowledges Troy’s talent and despite his defeat, he has nothing but love and respect for Troy.  It’s a heart-wrenching exit for one of this season’s most beloved fighters.

10 fighters remains…who will be the Contender?