26.04.06 – By Troy Ondrizek: Cedric Kushner has launched Gotham Boxing; a New York based promotional company aimed at displaying New York’s boxing talent on a monthly basis. Gotham’s first show will be on May 24th and has some popular local flavor in the likes of Super Middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin, who sports a record of 4-0 (3KO’s), and Heavyweight Tony Grano, who has stopped all three of his opponents.
Female boxer Noriko Kariya will add some grace to this card, and for substance Light Middleweight contender Matt Vanda will take his 34-1 (21 KO’s) into the ring against overmatched Jay Krupp. J.D. Chapman will face Edward Gutierrez, an opponent he defeated last December. In the co-feature, Brooklyn based Heavyweight contender Shannon Briggs will look to add another notch to his bedpost, by putting Chris Koval to sleep. Koval and Briggs will be battling for the USBA Heavyweight title.
Kushner is looking for this new company to be a venue in which to develop and expose talent in the New York area. Cedric also stated that he might be celebrating a professional victory for the company in the way of soon to be signing an agreement with Sportsnet New York to broadcast the fights. Sportsnet New York is already affiliated with the New York Mets, and last week Lou DiBella signed a similar deal with the broadcasting company. With several promoters and managers in attendance and promising cooperation with Kushner, Cedric looks to have a solid start on what could be a very successful venture for himself and more importantly boxing.
Even though the press conference was Cedric’s New York coming out party, it turned into another Shannon Briggs showcase. The big man always draws the attention everywhere he goes. This time Lou Savarese showed up to steal some of the limelight, but as soon as Shannon spoke, Savarese went by the wayside. Shannon, who was shockingly nervous, spoke his typical rhetoric of how he has matured since he was a young fighter losing to Lennox Lewis and how he is now more dedicated than ever, and no longer parties like the old days, and any other politically correct, press friendly comments. Shannon did comment on how he had got him a Mayweather, and that his lack of defense was his greatest weakness, and now Jeff (Mayweather) would rectify that, thus completing the puzzle for Briggs’ championship goal. Than finally Shannon started speaking on how he is being avoided by today’s top heavies. He spoke of David Tua pulling out because he needed to consult his “witch doctor” and how Samuel Peter spoke a good fight, but was too afraid to face him. At that moment Ivailo Gotsev, Samuel Peter and Sergei Liakhovich’s manager stood up and stated that he brought along with him a contract to face either one of his fighters; Shannon promptly said yes. I cornered Gotsev after the conference to ask him about his offer, at first Ivailo looked like a deer in headlights, then I spoke in my old language, and he just looked at me like I was stupid.
I than tried the flattery approach and it seemed to work. Gotsev said that he would need to talk to Cedric Kushner, but that several items would need to be sorted out. So I asked; was Kevin McBride one of those items holding him back from scheduling Sergei Liakhovich from facing Shannon Briggs? Gotsev stated yes, and that the McBride deal was still in negotiations, but that nothing was final. When asked about who he was going to fight next, Shannon stated that Kushner and his people were in negotiations with newly crowned IBF king Wladimir Klitschko. Briggs called Klitschko out on a recent ESPN 2 appearance, and it seems that Klitschko’s people were listening. This fight would be an interesting match-up, and according to Shannon, the fight would have to be in America, he wants none of the German home-cooked decisions.
Cedric and Shannon seem to have drawn a fair amount of attention from the boxing community for Gotham Boxing promotions. Promoters Gary Shaw and Lou DiBella were in attendance, as were fighters turned trainers Mark Breland and Jeff Mayweather. Lou Savarese and Jorge Teron represented some of the local fighters, and several mangers showed up, most notably the previously mentioned Ivailo Gotsev. I look for this current endeavor by Cedric Kushner to be a very positive thing for boxing. A chance to revamp boxing in America’s media Mecca is something the sport desperately needs, and lucky for us, a very dedicated man is doing it.