The first time Steve Cunningham (then the reigning IBF
cruiserweight titlist) faced Tomasz Adamek back in December of 2008, he figured
that with the fight being not too far from his home of Philadelphia in Newark,
New Jersey, he would be at the very least fighting in front of a neutral
audience. Instead, it turns out “The Rock” basically became “Lil’ Warsaw” every
time an Adamek fight was staged in this venue. It was red and white all over.
Cunningham, who had to go to Polish soil twice (in facing Krzysztof Wlodarczyk)
to his win his belt, figured at least this time, he was close to home in facing
Adamek.
Well, Philly felt like it
was a million miles away on this night.
“I didn't think it was going
to be like that,” he admitted to Maxboxing last week, recalling his first
back-and-forth encounter that he lost via split decision. “That was worse than
fighting in Poland. I fought in Poland twice; the Polish people in Jersey are
just a little rowdier than the Polish people in Poland. Most of the people that
came to watch me fight got stories like, ‘Man, we about to fight these Polish
guys,’ so it was hectic. It was like being in Poland - in Newark.”
Against Adamek, “USS” was
smooth sailing for large segments of the bout, boxing well on the perimeter and
picking his spots. But he simply got dragged into too many exchanges and saw
himself hit the canvas three times. Take away those knockdowns and he keeps his
crown. When asked if the atmosphere and the raucous crowd affected his
mentality for that fight, Cunningham answered, “I've fought in guys’ hometowns,
home countries with nobody in the audience for me at all but my wife. I did
that numerous times. Even in America, I've only fought in Philly once. So
that's how I come up; it doesn't matter to me. You can have everybody against
me - even the judges - I've been in that position. But I still perform to the
best of my abilities. The job has to be done.”
Simply put, that's life for
Cunningham, who spent years out at sea while serving in the Navy. Being a
cruiserweight from the States meant he was a man without a country, meaning his
passport’s been stamped a few times. He's spent so much time in Germany, he
probably considered dual citizenship at some time. The bottom line is Cunningham
is probably more stunned when he sees a crowd that's actually there to see him
win. Still, he's only human. It's hard not to notice the surroundings.
“Yeah, I mean, afterwards,
during the fight, it's like, ‘Wow, you see all the red and white flags?’ and
they're chanting, ‘Polska! Polska! Polska!,’ and you're like, ‘OK, let me do
what I gotta do.’ But after the fight, I was like, ‘Man, that was worse that
Poland!’” he says laughing. So what does Cunningham remember about their first
encounter, one of the better fights of 2008? “The main thing I recall about
that fight is a couple of things. One of them is, ‘Damn, I got knocked down
again!?!’ And the most important thing I remember about the fight is I kept
telling myself, ‘Keep fighting. You can beat this guy. Keep going; keep going.’
I just kept going.”
From their first meeting,
they went divergent paths. Adamek has had a successful run at heavyweight and
became a bona fide draw in both Newark and his native country. Meanwhile, Cunningham
stayed at cruiserweight and was forced to go back to Germany, where he won and
lost the IBF championship before signing on with Main Events and embarking on
his run in the sport’s glamour division. Now they meet again - but what took so
long?
“I mean, I wanted the
rematch, especially after the fight. I felt like, ‘Wow, with three knockdowns
and I still won on one of the judge’s scorecards,’ I felt like I could beat
this guy but I also felt with the fight being the way it was, with me
performing the way I performed, I was happy with my performance at the time. I
was like, ‘Man, I gave my all.’ I couldn't ask for more out of me, unless it
was something crazy like throw low blows or something. But I couldn't ask for
more out of me. I tried my best and I came up short in two of the three judges’
eyes. So I was really in fire for this rematch,” said Cunningham. Another
problem was that neither HBO nor Showtime - which rarely showcases
cruiserweight bouts - showed much interest in the fight in 2009. “That right
there put a little water on the fire,” he lamented.
Now, the rematch will be
broadcast nationally by NBC (Saturday 4 p.m., ET/1 p.m., PT). Originally,
Odlanier Solis was slated to face Adamek but Solis was “Gaby'd” out of the
fight and a call was made to Cunningham, who immediately accepted this
assignment. “It was quick; it made sense. It made sense all over the board,”
said Cunningham, who’s coming off a 10-round verdict over Jason Gavern on
September 8. “Who wouldn't take this fight? I mean, you get an opportunity to
fight a guy you've already fought. You get a chance to fight a guy that beat
you. You get a chance to get a little get-back if possible. And also, with
Adamek being one of the top heavyweights in the world - I see him at number three
on BoxRec - c'mon…you beat this guy, you're rated that high in the heavyweight
division. What former champion doesn't take that challenge? I would love to be
heavyweight champion of the world. That's my goal. This puts me closer to my
goal a little faster than expected.
“This decision can change my
life.”
SMALL BIG MAN
While these are two former
cruiserweight champions now battling it out as heavyweights, Cunningham will
still be the decidedly smaller man in there. Adamek has been as high as 225 recently
for his bout with Eddie Chambers in June.
“I won’t be anywhere near
225,” said Cunningham, who weighed 207 against Gavern. “I'm going to be the way
I come in. I'm weighing in and out of the gym at 208, 207, so we'll see. I'm
comfortable where I am.”
RATINGS
I'll let all the experts
decipher if this was a good audience or not but on the surface, keeping 90 percent
of the audience looks very good.
DUVA
So what does the head of
Main Events, Kathy Duva (whose company is promoting Adamek vs. Cunningham II
and made major inroads with their NBC Sports deal) feel about the recent
developments that see boxing on consecutive weekends, first on CBS and now NBC?
This is what she had to say (via email):
This
was a tremendous way to end the year. There was a string of upsets all
across the board and now two networks have decided to go all Old School and
offer boxing,
again, on
Saturday afternoon. Change is most certainly in the
air.
Based
on the 1.3 overnight rating, the audience for the CBS show on Saturday was larger than any audience that has
watched boxing on HBO or Showtime during 2012. That just goes to show the
power of network television coverage. Hopefully, Saturday’s great
performance won some new fans for the Sweet Science, and they will come back to
see the heavyweights do their thing this
coming Saturday.
I
hope that this renewed interest in boxing from the networks bodes very well for
2013 and beyond. The best thing that could happen would for NBC and CBS
to decide that this is something that they can build on and order up lots more
boxing going forward! All we have to do is give them great fights.
And I know for sure that on Saturday afternoon they are going to get to see a
great fight or two on NBC. Start time is 4 p.m. Don’t miss it!
FINAL FLURRIES
I'm told that Jhonny Gonzalez has declined
an opportunity to face the talented Gary Russell Jr., so the search is ongoing
for Russell's next foe...Omar Figueroa could be headlining a “ShoBox” card in
the early part of 2013...Beginning on Tuesday, I will be in China calling some
fights. Yes, China, which means I will not be tweeting. How will I survive?...Has
Dana White lost it? Seriously, has he lost it like Leonard Tose?...The Blue
Jays are playing around, huh?...
