Bio
Najai Turpin was a professional boxer best known as a contestant in the boxing reality show The Contender. He was the 4th boxer eliminated from the show.
Nickname: Nitro
Record: W 13, L 1, Draw 0, KO 9
From: Philadelphia, PA
Occupation: Boxer/road and restaurant worker
Daughter: Anje
Born and raised in the ghetto, Najai was soft spoken, polite and a very motivated and focused fighter.
His mother died when he was 18 years old and Najai was left to raise his younger brother, sister, niece and nephew.
A hard worker, Turpin did road work in the early morning, worked from 10am –5pm at a restaurant cleaning seafood, then trained for two hours only to return to the restaurant to work until midnight.
Any free time he had he spent with his baby daughter Anje, to whom he dedicated everything.
Just a few months before the show, Najai was robbed at gunpoint and lost nine hundred dollars. The next morning he was informed he earned a chance to compete on The Contender.
He believed that the news was a sign from God.
On 14 February 2005 - shortly after the show had aired - Turpin committed suicide by shooting himself in the head while sitting in a car with his girlfriend.
The motivation for his death has never been clear but the fact that he wasn't allowed to fight between the time of being eliminated and the show's finale, together with the low self-esteem that may have resulted from his defeat, may have contributed.