‘Mean’ Joe Greene Returns with a Vengeance Tonight in Woodhaven, New York

Junior middleweight contender “Mean” Joe Greene (24-1, 16 KOs) will return to action tonight (Thursday, January 10, 2013) in his own backyard of Woodhaven, New York, against Inglewood, California’s Calvin Odom.

Greene’s homecoming versus Odom will serve as the eight-round main event of a Greg Cohen Promotions professional boxing show at the elegant Cordon Bleu Banquet Center.

Though Odom’s record is a rather pedestrian 15-12, 11 KOs, the fight has the potential for intrigue.

Odom always holds his own against top competition, and is very capable of pulling off the occasional upset. Plus, it’s been a full year since Greene’s last fight, a KO 8 over Jackson, Tennessee’s Nathan Bedwell and only his third fight since beginning a comeback in October 2011.

“Joe is back with a vengeance,” said his promoter Greg Cohen. “His weight is down almost 10 pounds since his last fight and that’s because he’s been training with the determination of a champion. He came to me a few months ago and told me to get him a fight and said he was back. And the shape he is in tonight is a clear indication of his drive to finally win that world championship we both dream about for him. He has all the tools to do it. Getting past a spoiler like Odom will be a great first step in that direction.”

In the night’s co-main event, former amateur star Antoine Douglas (2-0, 2 KOs) of Washington, D.C., will go for his professional victory against fellow Virginia’s Stanley Harvey (1-2, 1 KO).

On the undercard, Woodhaven native Danny Gonzalez will finally make his junior welterweight pro debut in a four-round fight against Harlem’s Bernel Ayers (0-2); Brooklyn’s Glenford Nickey will make his four-round lightweight debut against Benjamin Burgos (1-1) of Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania; and rounding out the action, Puerto Rican junior welterweight Carlos Nieves, a former amateur standout, will make his long-awaited pro debut against Brooklyn’s Anthony Smith (0-1).

Tickets, priced at $125 (VIP with Dinner) and $40 (General Admission), can be purchased at the Elite Heat Boxing Gym (130 Mt. Pleasant Avenue in Newark, NJ) and at the door on fight night.