• Fox cancels 'Next Great Champ's return, dumps the boxing reality show on Fox Sports Net

  October 5, 2004
  Fox has KO'd its own The Next Great Champ reality boxing series, announcing that despite its previous announcement, the low rated series will not be returning to the airwaves after a short two-week hiatus. Instead, the network has cancelled all future broadcasts of the series, with the remaining six episodes of the ten episode series now scheduled for broadcast on the media conglomerate's Fox Sports Net network of regional cable sports channels.

• Fox KO's 'Next Great Champ's Friday repeats, schedules two week hiatus after fourth episode

  September 23, 2004
  Oscar de la Hoya found himself helpless against a bigger and stronger opponent in the ring this weekend. After three weeks, his Fox reality series The Next Great Champ is finding itself in similar straits in the ratings wars.

• Ratings: Fox's 'Next Great Champ' gets KO'd in premiere

  September 9, 2004
  Fox might have won its battle with Mark Burnett and gotten its The Next Great Champ reality boxing series on the air well before NBC's The Contender, but if the ratings for Tuesday's premiere episode are any indication, it doesn't look like it emerged from the fight with much of a prize.

• Fox's 'The Next Great Champ' faces new lawsuit alleging idea theft

  September 2, 2004
  It looks like Fox's copycat reality-competition boxing series The Next Great Champ will end up with as much battling in the courtroom as in the ring.

• Fox's 'The Next Great Champ' wins First Amendment court fight against NBC's 'The Contender'

  September 1, 2004
  In a battle between competing reality shows, California courts have once again confirmed that commercial speech is protected by the First Amendment.
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  Fox moves 'The Next Great Champ' premiere to September 7 as 'The Contender' producers sue

  August 25, 2004
  The "Great Reality TV Show Controversy of 2004" masterminded by Fox is finally headed to court ... despite a late date change by Fox that looked like an effort to circumvent the court fight (although Fox denies any intent to do so).

• Fox's 'The Next Great Champ' to premiere September 10

  August 10, 2004
  Officially confirming reports that have circulated for several weeks, Fox has announced that its The Next Great Champ reality boxing series will premiere on Friday, September 10 at 9PM ET/PT.

• Fox wraps production on 'The Next Great Champ', films fake matches to deter spoilers

  July 30, 2004
  Daily Variety reports that Fox and Endemol USA quietly wrapped production on their copycat boxing-reality show, The Next Great Champ, over the weekend of July 24-25. To keep the audience at the championship bout from being able to "spoil" the identity of the show's ultimate winner, Endemol filmed several different "title fights" without telling the audience which one was the real wrap-up.

• Fox's 'The Next Great Champ' to now debut in September

  July 21, 2004
  The slugfest continues.
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  Oscar de la Hoya changes his story about the origins of Fox's 'The Next Great Champ'

  July 19, 2004
  As part of Fox's counter-offensive last week against the widespread charges of reality-TV idea theft directed at it, boxing world champion Oscar de la Hoya defended his show, The Next Great Champ, against claims that it blatantly ripped off NBC's The Contender. However, the Golden Boy's new tale is vastly different from his previous story -- so different, in fact, that any claims that de la Hoya might have to the virtues of honor and integrity may have suffered a technical knockout.

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