David Tua Returns To New York

Tuaman returns to active duty in the Big Apple

Former fatty turned human x-ray Cedric Kushner may have lost his inner tube, but he hasn’t lost his taste for the finer things in life. Case in point: Monday’s boxing press conference at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in New York’s Grand Central Station.

First opened to great fanfare in 1913, the Grand Central Oyster Bar is, according to its website, one of America’s most historic and celebrated seafood restaurants … drawing a clientele of high-society New Yorkers, local business people, dignitaries, celebrities and tourists alike.

Oddly enough, no mention is made of boxers, boxing and promoters.

Because on Wednesday, July 26, at the Grand Ballroom in the Manhattan Center on West 34th Street in the Big Apple, Cedric Kushner’s Gotham Boxing presents a ten-bout card spotlighting heavyweight slugger David Tua (44-3-1, 38 KOs), making his first New York appearance in almost ten years, against Oak Lawn, Illinois native Edward Gutierrez (15-2, 6 KOs).

In the co-main event, Cuban star Eliseo Castillo (20-1-1, 15 KOs) meets Emanuel Steward‘s unbeaten prospect Johnathon Banks (11-0, 8 KOs) of Detroit for the NABO cruiserweight championship.

And amateur standout Mean Joe Greene (10-0, 7 KOs) of Brooklyn, fighting out of the Starrett City, will fight Damone Wright (17-25-2, 6 KOs) of Omaha, Nebraska for the vacant WBC Youth middleweight championship in an eight-round affair.

The jam-packed card will also feature three local favorites: unbeaten Brooklyn rising star Cindy Serrano (12-0-1, 7 KOs) battles Tawnya Freeman (7-2, 3 KOs) of Ft. Smith, Arkansas in a six-round junior lightweight contest; heavy-handed Bronx favorite Jorge Teron (10-0-1, 8 KOs) faces Armando Cordoba (21-25-2, 16 KOs); and hard-hitting up-and-coming middleweight Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (5-0, 4 KOs) tangles with William Prieto (2-0) from the Buckeye State of Ohio.

Tickets for Cedric Kushner’s Gotham Boxing at the Grand Ballroom are available at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Gotham Boxing at 212.755.1944.

ESPN2’s Wednesday Night Fights will televise the show live.