Steve Cunningham makes Heavyweight Boxing Debut vs. Jason Gavern
Steve Cunningham makes Heavyweight Boxing Debut vs. Jason Gavern By SecondsOut, special to Doghouse Boxing (Aug 23, 2012) Doghouse Boxing
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By SecondsOut.com on Doghouse Boxing. Former two-time cruiserweight champion Steve "USS" Cunningham, 24-4,
12 KOs, will make his debut in the heavyweight division on September 8th
against Jason Gavern, 21-10-4, 10 KOs. The 10-round fight is part of a
big afternoon heavyweight triple header promoted by Main Events, at the
Prudential Center in Newark, NJ.
Former two-time world champion, Tomasz "Goral" Adamek, 46-2, 28 KOs,
and Travis Walker, 39-7-1, 31 KOs, fight in the main event, a 12-rounder
for Adamek’s IBF North American Heavyweight Title, and emerging
heavyweight star Bryant Jennings, 14-0, 6 KOs, and Chris Koval, 25-9, 18
KOs, faceoff in the third featured heavyweight contest.
It will be a night of firsts for Cunningham who recently signed a
promotional contract with Main Events. Cunningham makes his first start
under his new agreement with the promoter, and will fight for the very
first time at the new weight.
After losing a bid to regain his IBF cruiserweight belt in February,
Cunningham made the decision to move up in weight and try his luck in
boxing’s most prestigious division. At six-feet, three-inches tall,
Steve brings a heavyweight frame to the division, but will have to
carefully add the extra pounds to become a true heavyweight.
"I’m probably looking to do my first fight at 208 (pounds),"
Cunningham said recently. "And probably max out at 215 (for future
fights). I’m not interested in getting up to 225."
For his first heavyweight test, Cunningham will contend with
Virginia-born Gavern, who now fights out of Orlando, FL. Gavern is an
inch shorter than Cunningham, but will likely have at least a 20-pound
weight advantage in the fight.
Where a move up to heavyweight was once thought to be a hopeless
endeavor for smaller fighters, it is now considered more of a calculated
risk with some real potential upside. After boxers like Michael Spinks
and Evander Holyfield set the standard for the move, and cruiserweights
like David Haye and Tomasz Adamek having more recent success as
heavyweights, more and more fighters seem willing to take the challenge.
On September 8th, Gavern will do his best to keep Cunningham from
joining the others who have defied the odds.
In an interesting note, both fighters have history with the
participants of the main event. Cunningham lost a war of a cruiserweight
title fight with Adamek back in 2008, at the very same arena, and
Gavern fought to an 8-round draw with a then-undefeated Travis Walker in
2005.
This article provided by SecondsOut.com to Doghouse Boxing.
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