Stephen Cunningham is an American boxer. Performs at a professional level in the first heavy and heavy weight categories. Born in Philadelphia (USA) in 1976. This article will present a brief biography of the athlete.
Amateur career
From 1994 to 1998, Steve Cunningham served in the U.S. Navy. Just at that time, an amateur career began. In 1998, he won the National Championship called Golden Gloves.
Transition to professionals. First heavy weight
The athlete debuted on October 28, 2000. The American boxer hit the first heavyweight. Cunningham's rival was Norman Jones. By the decision of the judges, the hero of this article was awarded the victory.
For a very long time, Steve Cunningham met with low-ranking boxers. But all this was not in vain. So the athlete prepared himself for serious battles.
The first of them was scheduled for November 25, 2006. Stephen met with Krzysztof Vladarchik. The fighters fought for the IBF title. The Pole beat Cunningham, but this decision was very controversial. A rematch of boxers was scheduled for May 26, 2007. According to most judges, the athlete won a landslide victory, taking the belt from Vladarchik.
Then Steve Cunningham fought with Mark Hook. The battle took place at the end of 2007 in Germany. It all ended with a German knockout in the twelfth round. This was Hook's first career loss.
Heavy category
In 2012, Steve Cunningham decided to move to a new weight. On September 8, the boxer's debut fight took place. The American went against Jason Garver and confidently won. This inspired Cunningham, and he decided to continue his performances in a new weight.
But then everything did not happen as rosy as Stephen planned. At the end of 2012, as part of the IBF tournament, the athlete met with champion Tomasz Adamek. The first four rounds were dominated by the Pole. But then Cunningham took the initiative in his own hands and began to deliver more accurate strikes. However, Steve did not act as the first number and periodically broke the distance. After the battle ended, the American triumphantly threw up his hands, and the Pole went to his corner, bowing his head. Michael Buffer, who entered the ring, announced the decision - a draw. But, after a few seconds, one of the arbitrators made adjustments to the results. In the end, Cunningham lost to Adamek, and in April 2013 also to Tyson Fury. This fight is worth telling separately.
Boxing: Tyson Fury vs Steve Cunningham
All the fans were looking forward to this meeting. A gong sounded and the fighters entered the center of the ring. Tyson was very cocky. He constantly dropped his arms, showing open boxing. Stephen punished him for this in the second round. Fury knocked down, but was able to quickly recover and continue the fight. Subsequent rounds showed the equal strength of the rivals. On the part of both boxers it was possible to observe smooth, intense attacks and punches. In the seventh round, Tyson met Stephen in a clinch and, not by the rules, brought his head under his blow. The American went into a heavy knockout. If not for this, then the fight Tyson Fury - Steve Cunningham ended differently. Indeed, until the seventh round, the hero of this article was slightly ahead on all the referee cards.
New fights
In April 2014, Cunningham met with age athlete Amir Mansour. The latter began the battle in an aggressive manner, but most of his strikes did not reach the goal. In the third round, Stephen was able to adapt to the opponent and closely engaged in counterattacks. Both opponents began to appear dissection on the face. In addition, Amir's left eye was numb.
In the fifth round, Mansour knocked Cunningham on the right side. Rising, Steve took on a new attack by Amir and again appeared on the floor of the ring. Everyone thought that the outcome of the meeting was a foregone conclusion, but Cunningham was able to recover. In the sixth round, he constantly counterattacked Mansour. At the same time, the latter unsuccessfully cut the air with his fists. Amir's left eye closed completely. In the tenth round, Stephen’s opponent was knocked down. Mansour defended to the end, but the judges gave the victory to Cunningham.
In March 2015, Stephen met with Ukrainian athlete Vyacheslav Glazkov. From the beginning of the battle, the American worked as number one, showering a Lugansk citizen with a hail of blows. In the last three rounds, Glazkov seemed to catch a second wind and dominated Cunningham. As a result, all the judges awarded the victory to Vyacheslav.
The last battle Steve had on April 16, 2016 against Krzysztof Glowacki. At stake was the WBO champion belt. By a judicial decision, the victory was assigned to the Pole.