He?s chugging away through a career in which he has mostly played a supporting role on the edges of the spotlight?
On Saturday April 16th recently crowned WBO cruiserweight champion, Krzysztof Glowacki, takes on well-traveled veteran, Steve ?USS? Cunningham. The look on people?s faces when they hear that I?m a fan of Cunningham is similar to the look I give when someone tells me they sit through four- hour baseball games 162 times a year. It?s not a look that completely dismisses the other person?s tastes, it just kind of asks, ?Why? Why would you do that to yourself??
Most boxing enthusiasts think of watching Cunningham as the ring equivalent of eating leftover meatloaf when they thought the menu offered prime rib. ?Um, yeah, sure. I?ll have it? If there?s nothing else. I mean if there is something else?Are you sure there?s nothing else?? As a fan I see the positives when others see a detriment. When someone notes his multiple knockdowns I see a determined man who usually gets back up. They see a plodding fight, I see a patient, measured performance. Wherever the truth in his qualities lies, his last time to prove his worth as an elite fighter will come when he passes through the ropes to face Glowacki.
Cunningham has wandered into a new era for his fighting days. He?s chugging away through a career in which he has mostly played a supporting role on the edges of the spotlight. And any honest prediction of how he?ll handle his undefeated Polish adversary would not offer much hope for Cunningham. This feels like a classic passing of the torch kind of battle. An old veteran meets the rising star. Heading into the fight the two men are going in different directions; one in ascension, the other descending. Steve?s best victories are several years in the past. But Glowacki is right near the top of a division that is finally earning some respect after spending years as the dumpster of boxing.
If Cunningham has an advantage going into the match it?s experience. Glowacki (25-0, 16 KOs) looked thrilling in his gutsy KO victory over longtime WBO champ, Marco Huck. But that was his twenty-fifth fight and the first time he stepped in with a world-class opponent.
Steve Cunningham (28-7-1, 13KOs) by contrast has been facing big names for over a decade and has spent a number of years consistently challenging the top men at 200 lbs. As a former IBF titlist, he also knows what it?s like to have a belt around his waist. Like Glowacki, he also took care of Huck, but he did it when Marco was eight years younger than the man Glowacki faced. Beyond that he split fights with Krysztof Wlodarczyk, fought a tough fight with Tomasz Adamek, and scored a victory over veteran Wayne Braithwaite.
No doubt part of Cunningham?s problems winning fans and money had to do with his natural size falling at the unwanted division of cruiserweight. In pursuit of the payday reserved for the golden division, the former serviceman journeyed up to heavyweight. Over three and a half years as a heavyweight he had acquired a mediocre 4-3-1 record. The only difference between the Cunningham that left the cruisers and the one who is returning to them is some wear and tear on his aging body. His frame has always been a bit deceiving: ripped with outward muscle, but easily knocked to the canvas. And that somewhat frail body may be reaching the end of its ring-time usefulness.
His best accomplishment at heavyweight came when he floored Tyson Fury, the man who went on to dethrone Wladimir Klitschko. It was a tough, brave performance. But victories are not rewarded on bravery alone. One has to wonder if he had spent that past three and a half years at cruiser how his numbers might be different. But this is the rosy language of a fan. Regardless of where Cunningham?s setbacks have come from in recent years, it won?t be a fan?s hope, but the cold light of reality that will shine its dim light on his career.
Glowacki looks poised to become 26-0. And if he wins it will be legitimate; the last legitimate victory against Cunningham. It won?t be the last time someone beats Cunningham, but it will be the last time it will mean anything. He looks set to become a name waiting to grace the r?sum? of every hungry fighter looking to add a former champion to their list of accomplishments. They?ll dine out on meatloaf and pretend they ordered the prime rib.
