By Tim Donaldson
On December 11, I was fortunate enough to be witness to one
of the great fights in the history of boxing. The fight
between Steve “USS” Cunningham and Tomasz “Goral” Adamek
resulted in a split decision with Adamek holding the IBF
Cruiserweight Title. I recently had the privilege to speak
to Steve Cunningham and get his thoughts on the fight and
find out why he believes that there should be a rematch.
P4P:
How does it make you feel that so many people all around the
world are calling for a rematch?
Steve:
It makes me feel much better than most the other fights.
We’ve been fighting all over the world, and the American fan
base has finally got a chance to see us, and to see what
type of fighter I am. We’re able to do everything, box, go
toe to toe, show heart, show some discipline. I’m very
happy to be able to get another chance to be champion again.
P4P:
Can you give us any news on the possibility of a rematch,
any new developments?
Steve:
From what I’ve heard, they [Adamek] are trying to get a
fight in between, an easy fight quote, unquote. At this
level there are no easy fights. I heard they’re saying it’s
not good to go back to back with fights like that. But I
didn’t take any punishment. But Tomasz has to take an easy
fight and get a little break. I’m ready to roll as soon as
possible.
P4P:
Adamek has said that he would like to fight for another
belt; do you think that he should fight you first?
Steve:
This is the thing. Everyone is saying that boxing is dying,
and there are no good matches in boxing. After the fight on
December 11, I’ve talked to people who have said they’ve
talked to people and they’re like, ‘Man I’m a boxing fan
again. That fight made me love boxing. It was the most
exciting fight I’ve seen in years.’ Now the power is in the
fighter’s hands to give the people what they want. So we
should do it. We should give the people what they want
because boxing is hurting. You see some bad matches, bad
decisions, but we had a very beautiful show. We gave the
fight fans exactly what they were looking for. We gave them
skill. We gave them determination and heart. We gave them
everything, so why not do it again. Him going after the
other belt; it’s him looking for money. But there is money
in the rematch. There is no other Cruiserweight fight out
there, but me.
P4P:
So a rematch would be in Adamek’s interest?
Steve:
Exactly, he said it himself at the press conference. Money
and television. I heard Showtime and HBO are very
interested. Money comes with that. So let’s go ahead and
do it. Let’s give the fans what they want. Let’s give
boxing what it needs, and let’s go ahead and do the rematch
P4P:
When you watched the fight, what was your overall
impression?
Steve:
My overall impression was that it should have been a draw.
Another thing was the only rounds that I thought he won were
the rounds that he knocked me down. And one of those
rounds, round 4, I was totally dominating him for two
minutes and then he comes around and hits me and knocks me
down with the right hand, that round should have been scored
10-9 for him, not a 10-8 for him. But there are some
discrepancies in the scoring. That round should be a text
book round for the sanctioning bodies to show their judges
how you do you score this round. Because that would have
made a total difference.
P4P:
Adamek has been quoted as saying that he felt that you were
fighting defensively, is that how you see it?
Steve:
No, did you see his face after the fight versus mine? There
is no way I was fighting defensively. I was fighting trying
to keep my belt, stay champion, and I was actually trying to
knock him down. I fought the way I normally fought. The
guy is the champion now. He can say whatever and people
will believe him.
P4P:
Yes, I was surprised at that comment.
Steve:
That’s the thing. What did the fans see? That’s what
really matters. Because I can say that I went out there to
do this and do that all day, and he can say I thought this
and I thought that, but what did the fans see?
P4P:
After the fight you said that you shouldn’t have deviated
from your strategy, what did you mean by that?
Steve:
Well, after the first knock down, I went into urgency mode
because he got two points ahead of me with the knock down,
and we’re only two rounds in, and I’m thinking he’s up on
score cards. We still stayed with the game plan. After I
was hitting him with good right hands, I thought I could get
him down and out. I kind of went for him a little more than
I have in the past. We worked on so many different things
in the gym. There were just a few things I deviated off
of. Those little things caused me to get knocked down.
There still serious to me and my camp. We’re like wow, I’ve
been fighting for a long time and I’ve only been knocked
down once in my professional career, and that was 2002, and
here it is I get knocked down three times in the same
fight. They were just flash knock downs. I wasn’t hurt at
all. And then I’m hitting this guy with the kitchen sink,
and he’s not falling. I’m like he’s got this mysterious
power; he’s got this mysterious chin. I’m like what’s going
on. Whatever. The rematch will be even better.
P4P:
Is there anything you would have done differently in the
fight?
Steve:
I know that I can knock that guy out. I know that I can get
him out of here. I know that he can’t stand up to my boxing
skill and my boxing drive. I’m going to do what I should
have done in the first fight. He’s going to be out of
there. His eyes were rolling in the back of his head. He
was wobbling; he was buckling. So I just take my shots a
little more and he’s gone.
P4P:
Do you think the judges were influenced by the crowd?
Steve:
That’s possible. You look at that one judge and he had the
fight 116-110. That’s ridiculous. Even with the three
knock downs. Going into the tenth round I thought I need
these last three rounds in order to get a draw. And
truthfully I was thinking when the bell rung this should be
a draw. With his three knock downs, but with my fighting,
winning the rounds like I did, he should be embarrassed that
he went to a split decision with a guy he knocked down three
times
P4P:
With so many calling this the fight of the year, do you
think that this has actually helped your career?
Steve:
Indeed, this is one of those things. You lose but you still
win. Because in boxing, as you’ve seen it before, fighters
that get there butt kicked, but they keep coming back.
They’re back on HBO and back on Showtime. Why? Because
they got a fan base. These are the type of fights that
build your fan base. People love to see me fight like
that. They love to see fights like that, and I’ve gotten so
much more respect and love from that fight then I did from
any fight my whole career. So it’s awesome for me. It’s
helped me big time
P4P:
Final thoughts.
Steve:
I’m still confident about the rematch. It makes sense
mentally and for the pockets. If the networks get involved
there is going to be money there. I don’t see why the
rematch shouldn’t happen.
If you would like to see a rematch between Cunningham and
Adamek, you can go to www.wewantarematch.com and sign the
petition.