By Mike Indri

Retired Boxers Foundation

New York - The Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom was filled to "standing-room-only" capacity last night, and the main reason for that was the return of former big time heavyweight contender David Tua. 

While many were clamoring to see another vicious and annihilating knockout…a la Tua-style, most were wondering to see what, if anything, the Tua-Man had left.

The knockout would come, albeit nothing sensational or dramatic.  A crushing left hook to the body of Edward "The Iron Man" Gutierrez (15-3-1, with 6 KO's) at the 2:59 mark of round four incapacitated the overmatched fighter, whom had never been stopped before.  The 40-year-old Chicago fighter's claim to fame had been the fact of his twice going the distance (both unanimous decision losses) with up and coming heavyweight prospect JD Chapman. 

While it proved that Tua still has that awesome power, his four rounds against the light hitting Gutierrez also showed that his close to four year boxing hiatus has had a major effect on the abilities of the once most feared fighter in the heavyweight division.

Since blasting out former world champion Michael Moorer in only thirty seconds (8/17/02), Tua fought a lackluster draw against Hasim Rahman (3/29/03) and narrowly escaped with a split decision win against Cisse Salif in 2005, along with a couple knockouts of hand picked opponents sandwiched in-between.

Tua appeared easy to hit, was slow and his weight, at over 245 lbs, left him looking out of condition and laboring through the last two rounds.  With the state of the division as it is today, Tua will still get an opportunity if he can respect himself and his boxing talent & abilities, by getting into better fighting condition and truly dedicating himself. Then, maybe we can see what David Tua really has left to offer against today's top heavyweight contenders.  

On the ESPN2 televised main event, highly regarded cruiserweight Johnathon Banks had to pull himself off the canvas twice in round one to knockout Eliseo Castillo in climactic fashion at 1:12 of the fourth round.

Trained by the legendary Emanuel Steward and sporting the red and yellow of the Kronk gym, Banks was tagged in the bout's opening moments with a textbook short, overhand right by Castillo which drove the highly touted fighter to the canvas in a hurry.  Up quickly, but still dazzed, Banks again fell victim to the Castillo buzz saw of lefts and rights and the hurt fighter again was dropped to the deck.  Sensing this golden opportunity Castillo poured it on.  Luckily for the well-trained Banks, he had enough will and strength to hold on and ride out the time remaining, of the most difficult three minutes of his young professional career. 

To his credit, Banks was able to weather the storm and over the next two rounds fought on instinct and heart as the cobwebs finally cleared by round four.  To his dismay, the once mighty Castillo appeared to have expounded most of his energy as Banks began to have his turn and started landing several of his own nasty punches.  With the crowd roaring, Banks hammered Castillo back onto the ropes and sent the bewildered Miami fighter (20-2-1, 15 KO's) to the deck and to defeat, as Castillo somehow was unable to get to his feet before the count of ten.  Banks stayed perfect at 12-0 (9 KO's), picked up the NABO cruiserweight title and gained a lot of respect with his proud and hard fought effort.

The lone female bout, between Cindy Serrano from Brooklyn and Tawnyah Freeman of Fort Smith, AK, was highly entertaining and competitive.  Serrano, showed why she is so popular, as the Puerto Rican fighter displayed a polished offensive attack and fine boxing skills en route to a six round unanimous decision win.  Serrano stayed unbeaten at 13-0-1 (7 KO's), while the tough Freeman fell to 7-3 (3 KO's).    

Also making the most of his ESPN television exposure was talented middleweight Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin.  Pitted against William Prieto, the New York fighter established his superior quickness early, stinging Prieto cleanly with both hands.  For whatever reason Prieto (now 2-1) decided to carry his hands dangerously low and prance around in front of Quillen who smoked the cocky fighter with a blistering right hand, knocking him out and sending Prieto back to Cincinnati, Ohio, a loser for the first time.

The extremely talented and popular "Kid Chocolate" improved to 6-0 (5 KO's).

Gotham Boxing's "non-televised" results:

Promoter Cedric Kushner's second Gotham Boxing show didn't start off all that well, or on time, for that matter.

While working around a televised boxing event is something all boxing fans understand and are willing to tolerate, there is no excuse for having to wait close to 45 minutes because there is no medical personnel or ambulance on site.  It is shameful that with all the dangers a fighter faces, boxer safety isn't the major concern.  This should be on the top of the checklist of every promoter, and of every boxing commission, when formulating each and every fightcard.

In the night's opening bout, heavyweight Jon "The Fighting Marine" made his pro debut a successful one; knocking out Eddie Kimbrough (now 0-2) in the first round.

Another embarrassment was the match made between Bryant "The Fighting Cop" Pappas and James Durham of Louisville, Kentucy.  While the well conditioned and ready to fight Officer Pappas improved to 4-0 (4 KO's), he should arrest the matchmaker for having to contend with a fighter (?) who shouldn't have even been allowed in the ring.  The only way Durham (now 0-2) should have been allowed in the building was with a ticket, as he was not even able to fight and luckily a tragedy was somehow averted when referee Mike Ortega finally waved off the bout after round one.

New York lightweight prospect Jorge Teron (now 11-0-1, 8 KO's) avenged last month's majority draw against journeyman Armando Cordoba (21-26-2, with 16 KO's) with a six round unanimous decision victory against the stubborn Florida fighter.  All three judges saw it 58-56 for Teron.

For those fight fans that stayed around for the night's "walk-out" bout, their time was wisely spent.  Brooklyn's "Mean" Joe Green dazzled those who remained in their seats with an overpowering performance against fellow middleweight Damone Wright.  It all went wrong for Wright at the opening bell, as Green peppered his Omaha, NE, opponent with several nasty power punches, which sent Wright to the canvas twice and rendered him practically defenseless. 

Round two was too much of the same, and after a monstrous "Joe Frazier-like" left hook nearly decapitated the gutsy fighter, referee Eddie Cotton didn't even need a count and stopped the carnage.  Wright, now 17-26-2 (6 KO's), became the eight KO victim of the talented Joe Green, who improved to 11-0, and appears to have all the skill and tools to make a lot of noise in the middleweight division in the future.

Overall, a good night of boxing by Cedric Kushner and his Gotham Boxing, as the fight fans were treated to a night of knockouts and saw some young local talent, which should progress to higher levels in time to come. 

Some of the celebrities in attendance were boxing's own Renaldo Snipes, Winky Wright, along with his NY Yankee buddy Gary Sheffield, and Shannon Briggs.  Former NY Ranger hockey star Ron Greschner was also front row, catching all the action.