Yo, Samanta, da Contendas is back

Tony Danza, emphatically described as a "television icon" in a press release from the Verses network, hosts the latest incarnation of the boxing reality show "The Contender" tonight (10 p.m.) with Season 4 coming from Singapore. (official site linked here).

We doubt that Alyssa Milano has been granted a passport to tag along and stalk the group of 16 cruiserweights.

There are 11 one-hour episodes heading into a live two-hour finale on Feb. 25. One of the fighters is Deon Elam of Van Nuys, a 28-year-old with a 9-0-0 record who is co-managed by former Clippers star Elton Brand.

Marc Fein, the Exec VP of Programming, Production and Biz Operations for Versus, says the series, still produced by Mark Brunett with DreamWorld TV, will "deliver the best season fight fans have ever seen." This is the series, if you recall, started on NBC, fell into ESPN's laps, and is now in Versus' domain.

Those who've competed in past seasons have done fairly well in their pro careers, going on to battle against Oscar de la Hoya, Joe Calzaghe, Arturo Gatti and Miguel Cotto. Last June, Season One champion Sergio Mora won the WBC title.