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Cornelius Bundrage is the current IBF Junior Middleweight Champion. He is a former UBA Light Middleweight champion and was member of the ESPN reality show, The Contender.

TV Debut
Before becoming a member of the Contender, Bundrage's television debut was a fight against up and coming middleweight Sechew Powell on ShoBox on May 6, 2005, on Showtime. Seconds coming into the fight, Bundrage and Powell threw simultaneous right hands to each others chin, resulting in an extremely rare double knockdown. The referee actually didn't score any knockdowns in shock of the occurrence. Bundrage lost by getting hit by a straight left by Powell, losing by knockout.

The Contender
On the "Contender Season 2" series debut, Bundrage was the last picked, winding up on the Blue Team. Wanting to avenge the slight, he volunteered to be the first member of his team to box in the tournament (quoting Matthew 20:16, "And the last shall be first"), and found himself in a match against Michael Clark. Bundrage won a majority decision.

Bundrage's strength failed him when he faced Steve Forbes in the semifinals as Forbes won a unanimous decision. Bundrage then went on to win The Contender bronze medal fight against Norberto Bravo with a devastating TKO in the seventh round in very impressive fashion.

Moving Up the Ranks
On March 28, 2008 Bundrage defeated former IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Kassim Ouma by unanimous decision. Bundrage later upset previously unbeaten European prospect Zaurbek Baysangurov via 5th round KO. In 2009, Bundrage then fought a title eliminator vs. Yuri Foreman, which ended in a 'No Decision'. Bundrage accidentally headbutted Foreman in the 3rd round, and the ring physician ended the fight.

IBF Title
After four setback losses and a no contest, Cornelius Bundrage finally got his well-deserved title fight with former undisputed welterweight champion and then current IBF Junior Middleweight World Champion Cory Spinks in August 2008. Bundrage was able to pressure Spinks throughout the fight cutting off the ring, landing good shots and not letting Spinks get into his rhythm of jab and move. Midway through the fifth, a perfect 1-2 combo landed on the chin of Spinks backing him up to the ropes, Bundrage followed up with two roundhouse rights to the head that knocked Spinks down and into a daze, Spinks got to his feet but the bout was soon stopped as Spinks was taking too many unanswered, clean punches.

After a layoff of over ten months, Bundrage made the first defense of his IBF title by avenging his loss (six years prior) to Sechew Powell on June 25, 2011. This fight was an ugly and tactical affair with Bundrage winning by unanimous decision.