With all the fuss today about the cost Pay-Per-View boxing being one of the main reasons for the apparent decline in the sport, a new concept with debut later tonight as Cedric Kushner launches his new promotional company, Gotham Boxing that will take place just off broadway at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
It’s not so much that it’s the birth of a new company because Kushner has been a mainstay at the top of the promotional food chain for over a decade. But it’s the way the fights will be presented to the public that wants to see a solid fight card that is headlined by one-time linear Heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs.
The entire card can be witnessed from the comfort of your favorite chair and watch everything live as it happens on the internet.
Kushner is partnering with www.jumptv.com at a bargain low price of $2.99. If you want to purchase the card on the day of the fight it will still be a bargain at $4.99.
Usually when us fans or people in the media get to see a whole card we need to be at the arena for the first undercard bell all the way through the main event or subsequent walk-out bouts. Just about all the shows on TV will feature maybe two or three fights of a card that is seven or eight fights in length. Sometimes it’s that off-TV fight that is the fight of the night or a fight will feature that fighter that that one day you can tell your buddies “I remember when.”
The fight card itself is a very solid, more then worth the price of admission.
Shannon Briggs (46-4-1, 40 KO’s) looks to get back into a significant Heavyweight fight as he takes on Chris Koval (23-2, 18 KO’s) for the USBA Heavyweight title.
Briggs thought he had secured that step up fight this past April when he was all but signed to fight David Tua in a bout that earmarked for Showtime. The former linear champ has been on a roll since his last loss to Jameel McCline in 2002. Briggs has knocked out ten straight opponents with only Ray Mercer seeing the seventh round.
This is a big step up in class for Koval, who is a big man himself and will be given a great opportunity to throw himself in the muddled Heavyweight mix.
Briggs and Koval is just the capper of a very solid undercard that will be shown on www.jumptv.com
Jr. Middleweight Matt Vanda (34-1, 21 KO’s) won his first 31 starts before being stopped by Armando Velardez almost two years ago. Since that set back the popular fighter from Minnesota has won three in a row that includes a split decision win in his last fight against former world champion, Yory Boy Campas.
Vanda will be in with a fighter in Martinus Clay (11-12-1, 4 KO’s), in a scheduled ten round bout. Clay has given prospects like Keenen Collins all he could handle in back to back fights as Clay settled for a draw and a split-decision loss to the regarded Reading, PA prospect.
In a rematch of Heavyweights, undefeated JD Chapman (22-0, 20 KO’s) takes on Edward Gutierrez (15-1-1, 6 KO’s) in a scheduled ten round bout.
The first fight took place in December in Hollywood, Florida with Chapman winning a unanimous decision by a wide margin. Many who were at the fight, this writer included thought Gutierrez deserved a lot better as he landed the harder shots over the first half of the fight.
Chapman is a very athletic Heavyweight who starred in football in High School and the switch to boxing has been a good one as he slowly steps up the competition and is showing that he isn’t afraid to go right back in with a guy who gave him a lot of problems in their first encounter.
Some of New York’s top prospects will round out the show as Heavyweight, Tony Grano (4-0, 4 KO’s) takes on Rodney Ray (3-3, 3 KO’s) in a scheduled four rounder.
As evidenced by the combined record of seven knockouts in the seven wins the fighters share, this has all the makings of not going the distance.
This will be a good litmus test for Grano as all three of Ray’s defeats have been to top prospects, Chazz Witherspoon, Derrick Rossy and Mike Dietrich.
Another hot New York prospect is Middleweight, Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (4-0, 3 KO’s) will get to display his crowd pleasing antics and style against debuting Wayne Hajicek in a four round bout.
The card is rounded out by two exciting woman’s contests as popular Noriko Kariya (3-1) will be looking to come back after her first defeat in March as she takes on Amanda Knight (1-0) in a Bantamweight contest.
In a Jr. Welterweight contest, New York’s Chika Nakamura (3-0, 1 KO) takes on Cynthia Jones (1-6, 1 KO) in a scheduled four rounder.
This card is well worth the time and price as when can you get to see seven quality fights for under five bucks without having to leave computer room.
The card starts at 7:30 P.M. Eastern Time with the main event scheduled for sometime after 10 and can be seen for the low price of just $4.99 by just clicking on www.jumptv.com.