Steve “USS” Cunningham is a former cruiserweight world champion looking to make his mark in the heavyweight division. Cunningham’s record stands at 28-7 (13 KO’s) but of his losses, many are considered either close or controversial. Steve’s next fight will be against another fighter looking to make his mark in the heavyweight division, Antonio Tarver. The fight will be part of Premier Boxing Champions and the winner is hoping this fight will lead to a title shot.
In my interview with Steve Cunningham, I speak to him about this upcoming fight with Tarver and what he think’s it will do for him moving forward. Cunningham also talks about his controversial losses and how he has been able to move forward despite of them. Additionally, Steve shares his thoughts on Klitschko vs. Fury and Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Here is what Steve Cunningham had to say.
Robert Brown: What are you expecting from Antonio Tarver and what do you expect your strengths against Tarver will be?
Steve Cunningham: We’re preparing for the Antonio Tarver who beat Roy Jones. We’re preparing for the best Tarver that there ever was. I’m expecting him to be who he was at his peak, good, intelligent, powerful. His left hand is very powerful, so we’re preparing for all of that.
There’s nothing you can say bad about Tarver, he’s a five or six time world champion and I think he’s going into the Hall of Fame, just because of his win over Roy. I’m preparing accordingly for a Hall of Fame fighter.
Robert Brown: Do you think this fight is both yours and Antonio’s last chance to get a heavyweight world title shot?
Steve Cunningham: No, I’ve heard that so many times. Just because I’m 38 years old, I don’t look at none of that. I just let people diddle their thumbs with that type of stuff. There are so many opportunities in this world.
I’m not expecting to lose, so I totally don’t believe that. Even for Tarver, if he takes a loss from me, that’s not bad. If I take a loss from him, vice versa. I’m not taking a loss from him, plain and simple. There are too many opportunities out here to get to a world title, there’s other avenues to go.
Robert Brown: You’ve been on the wrong end of some questionable decisions. What’s been the strength and resilience that’s kept you going despite of all of the controversial decisions?
Steve Cunningham: There’s three major things. One is my faith, my faith in Christ, my faith in God and what his word says. He says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, so I take that to the heart. These people can cheat me, they can do all they want, that’s still not gonna stop what God said about me. I take that to heart.
Two, every time I’ve been cheated, it’s been like extra fuel, extra motivation to go harder. There’s stuff I feel I haven’t done yet in this sport and stuff I want to do. If they keep robbing me and cheating me, it got me to this point now where my drive is through the roof.
Last but not least is just that I love what I do. I love to box, I really enjoy what I do. Throughout all of those robberies and all those victories for other guys that I should have won, they still haven’t taken the love of the sport out of me. It still hasn’t drained me of the love of boxing and being in shape and defeating a guy.
Robert Brown: Are you confident that if the fight against Tarver goes twelve rounds, that you’ll get the correct decision no matter what it is?
Steve Cunningham: You’re never confident about that, especially in this situation too. It could turn out to go twelve rounds, it could possibly be a shady situation. I’m fighting on the network Tarver commentates on. I saw when they announced the fight it was all, “Tarver, Tarver, Tarver,” because he commentates on Spike TV. There wasn’t too much mention of Steve Cunningham. We take that into consideration and know that Spike TV is going to be possibly for Tarver.
With that said, I’ve gone into the hell, the lions den and fought guys and won, in Poland, in Germany. We take that into consideration, but at the end of the day, I’m still gonna go get in that ring an fight my butt off and do my best to beat this man and get this victory.
I never concern myself with whether I’m gonna get cheated or not. People are gonna do what they do after the fact. My main thing is that the fans see my ability and skill. That’s why I’m still here, I’ve got seven losses on my record and four of those losses shouldn’t even be there. It is what it is, I’m just gonna fight and do what I gotta do. They’ve been trying to get rid of me and they can’t. Either you work with me or I’m gonna keep going until I’m 50 and get what I want, and I can do that.
Robert Brown: Tyson Fury is going to be facing Wladimir Klitschko next. You’ve fought and been in training camp with Fury, do you give him a chance against Klitschko?
Steve Cunningham: Yeah I give anybody a chance with that determination and drive and hard work that Fury puts in. I won’t call the fight because I’ve been in camp with both of them, I fought Fury. I know they both work hard and I know they’re both determined.
Wladimir is a veteran, long standing champ. Fury is the up coming young guy that wants to be champ bad and he works hard at it. It’s gonna be an interesting fight. Wladimir is good at fighting bigger guys, and Fury can box from the outside and he can rough you up on the inside. I think it’s gonna be an interesting fight.
Robert Brown: Despite Manny Pacquiao losing the fight with Floyd Mayweather, do you think the talk about the shoulder injury has damaged Manny’s legacy or do you think he will still be remembered as a great champion?
Steve Cunningham: I don’t think it’s damaged his legacy, I just think it damaged just the way he looks from that fight. He put work in, he’s done some awesome things in this sport, he’s a Hall of Famer already. I just feel the excuses being made after the fight, I don’t think they can hurt what he’s done, it just makes him look bad for a second. All he has to do is come back and beat somebody else.
I know people that know people from his camp and they said there was a legitimate injury, but I don’t think it was as severe as they’re saying. He was throwing that arm, but that’s another thing, a guy like Floyd Mayweather nullifies your weapons. You look normal, you look average when you fight Floyd.
TRuth is if FLOYD fought Pacquaio toe to toe then it would’ve been a different story! YOU CANT EXPECT PACQUAIO TO HOLD AND RAN ALSO JUST LIKE FLOYD WAS DOING ALL NIGHT TO PACQUAIO OR ELSE THERE’S NO FIGHT! IT WOULD BE LIKE A MARATHON!
Pacquaio tried to be the agressor but its hard when youre being held and your oponent runs around inside his preferred football size ring! LOL
There were 18 clinches in the fight. Please stop exaggerating.
all I can say is that,the pacquiao/mayweather fight is sabotage,clearly what is reputation by now compare to million of bucks for both boxers.yes it was a loss for pacman’hey dude mayweather is long time scared manny…just simply accept that business first before anything else…its all money making gentlemen.
Basis for the fact:
=Marquez was down 3 times in round 1 back in their featherweight class way back in 2004
=Miguel cotton loss to to manny via TKO.
=Ricky Hatton put to sleep just in a couple of round.
what else?????????????????????
FYI Pacquiao held Rips more times than Mayweather held Pacquiao.
I meant Rios
People have problem with floyd is because the way he fights.muhammed Ali clinched Frazier heck of a lot when he fought him but he didn’t do to just nullify his punches but after all would try knock Frazier head off to KO him out. When Ali used his feet to get out of the way ali would get in range to Knock you out. Floyd clinched and ran from pacquiao all night ..and didn’t do sh..t to rack up points..I couldn’t believe judges were out weighing floyd pawing jabs out pacquiao dished out.pacquiao were landing harder shots and rocked him couple of times..his thudding body shots were better than floyds..this is professional boxing not a beauty contest. His flashy jabs and 2 atlernative of way scoring like ring generalship ,defense won floyd this fight..
People assume since floyd defense look prettier so they assume he won. when you actually saw the fight pacquiao slip thru Floyd punches and countered him beautifully.pac countered floyd a lot..but no one notices it why you ask?? If you don’t destroy floyd he wins cuz his defense is prettier..but not who had actual effective punches
What fight were you watching?
Your comment shows a true lack of actual boxing knowledge .
This what separates from the greats. Everybody rembered at on time other than Chicago Bulls fans hated Michael Jordan because he beat yours and my team. But after awhile we accepted and embraced like our own cuz he try greatness. He had skills and the will to win and that killer instinct. We couldn’t deny his greatness. With Floyd years down the line we will think of him as a guy who cheated the system..
“If Floyd fought Manny toe-to-toe” who reasons in this way? It’s not Floyd’s job to fight in such a way that it helps Manny Pacqiao. It’s not Floyd’s responsibility to do what’s best for Manny’s career, or what’s left of it. The name of the game is to hit and not be hit and that’s what Floyd did and that’s why he dominated. If Manny needs someone to stand in front of him with their chin out, then he can go fight MMA. If he can pass the drug test.
Well, you said hit and not be hit. But did you see the fight? did he really hit Pacquio? I guess not. Pacquiao hit Mayweather more than Mayweather hit Pacquiao.
Wow! My cable provider must have shown me a different may-pac fight, cause the one I watched Manny got out classed. Wasn’t even close imo.
Your a winner.The whole world saw Manny lose and you saw something else.Very impressive.
Yeah, the whole world saw how your gayfriend Mayweather ran like a chicken
Can’t believe people still taking bout this fight. We all knew pac was not gonna out boxing Floyd, out punch may be but not out box. Pac fans wanted Floyd to stand there and be a punching bag lol. God bless
Maybe not be a punching bag but at least win convincingly …it was a terrible fight neither one did nothing but miss wildly a night
Excuses excuses excuses. When you are enter the ring that means you are ready. No more bullshit pacquaio! Pacquiao always have excuses when he is beaten just like with marquez before he says he hurt his arm but thats boxing you can get injuries anytime. The truth is i think as far as i can ses the fight with mayweather that pacquiao has no match. Mayweather is the best offensive boxer at all times. Mayweather talk trash but that the way he deals with it to sell the fight. Pls. No more excuses pacquiao! 100x you fught wirh mayweather you can get beaten at all times. He will whoop your ass!
If your the Champ and I got what you want,, well come get it,, Mayweather not just going to give it to you,if they would fight toe to toe , Paxman would get Knock out, , he tried that before and got Knock out,, with that sloppy boxing, Mayweather was trying to learn the way that Paxman fight,, the Champ fight Smarter ,,Paxman punches was weak, Sorry,, if they ever fight again, what is Paxman excuse this time, don’t be mad at Paxman making up excuses, he get it From his Fans!
Pacquiao still used his arm at some point because that’s the warrior in himself and he is never gonna let Floyd know that he’s hurting. But Floyd punched Manny’s injured shoulder that made it hurt more. Look at Manny’s shoulder that has a bright red mark looking to be bleeding from the inside. Floyd also had the advantage from the first round as he punched Manny’s chest first, that maybe took out Manny’s momentum. Floyd is really smart, he knew from Manny’s punch-mitts session with Freddie that Manny is planning to target his chest.
It’s expected some or majority of the people won’t believe pacquiao had a really bad injury going into the fight because they hid it from the public for strategical purposes but he actually did. Check Manny’s face in the dressing room before the match began, he was anxious and he never was looking anxious in all his fights even in the fights he had some fear over his opponents like dela hoya, cotto and margarito.
Yeah losers allways make an excuse.There was clearly nothing atall wrong with Manny’s shoulder in the fight ,then him having this so called injury for six years.
You people are happy to tell yourself what ever you need to…..it’s shocking but typical.
Yeah easy for you to say. But we know what happened. His sparring partner targetted Manny’s old injury in 2009 (not 2009 as Bob Arum claimed) which Alex Ariza knew as he was Pacquiao’s “stretcher”. Sparring partners do not target shoulders so this sparrmate’s attacks were “very suspicious”. He had the strength to hurt Pacquiao as he messed it up pretty bad in April 4 halting Manny’s training at the time his rhythm and timing was still off. I believe Floyd had about 6mos.of training for this fight but he was just holding up the fight announcement.
Yeah Manny made excuses in the past. We call it excuses but he has a different opinion and feels not 100% when he’s bothered by something during he fight. That’s what he is, tho I fully disagree with it.
I know how hard it was to get this fight made if pac had backout of the DATE Floyd team would of just said SEE I TOLD YOU GUYS ,HES THE ONE WHO DOESN’T WANT THE FIGHT TO HAPPEN, AND I GAVE YOU A CHANCE THEN YOU HAVE THIS EXC– USE YOU SHOULDER IS MESSED UP AND IT NEED surgery and you gonna be out for 9mos or more,No im not giving you the fight you already got one &you backed out! Bc Everybody knows that fmj runs away but then he managed to make his fights even less interesting by,Holding which Ive never seen him do so much to where THE REF HIMSELF CONSTANTLY WARNED HIM TO STOP DOING WHOSE THINGS STOP REPEATEDLY “WAS SO FUNNY ABOUT THIS FIGHT IS THAT WHEN FMJ FOUGHT MAIDANA FLOYD SR. SAID DURING A INTERVIEW ITS ON YOUTUBE PPL SEEM TO FORGET well anyways, FLOYD SR. Was OUTRAGGED BC HE SAID MAIDANA HAD GOT AWAY W/WAY TOO MUCH IN HIS FIGHT FROM REF”HE GOES ON TO SAY MAIDANA WAS DIRTY FIGHTER USING WRESTLING &MMA LOCKS HOLD TATICS THAT DONT EVEN BELONG IN THIS SPORT OF BOXING &WE NEED A BETTER REF THATS NOT GONNA ALLOW THIS DIRTY FIGHTING!FOR THE REMATCH BC EVERYONE SAID MAIDANA SHOULD OF AT LEAST GOT A” DRAW”So FLOYD sr,& team were Giving EXC– USES AS TO WHY FMJ DIDNT DO WELL IN THERE MATCHUP SR. SAID HE HAD A BAD BREAK UP MAIDANA WAS FIGHTING DIRTY! PPL R OUT THERE ON THE INTERNET CHECKING OUT VIDEO &VIEWING INFO,WITH MANY HITS EVEN ON YOUTUBE, SO AS A BOXING FAN I CAN’T BE MAD AT MANNY FOR ANY REASON BC,RIGHT NOW IN THE “UFC” Aldo vs Conor ,Aldo got hurt and postponed the fight scheduled ,And hes taking alot of scrutiny ANYWAY BC HE WANTS TO BE CLOSE TO 100%AND PPL R MAD N SAYIN HE JUST DOESN’T WANT TO FIGHT! ALL KINDS OF THINGS BUT ITS ONE OF THOSE SITUATIONS “DAMNED IF YOU DO DAMNED IF YOU DONT “BUT I WATCHED THE FIGHT N ALL THE POST COVERAGE PRESS IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS,MANNY SAID HE WON “THE FIGHT AND STILL THINKS HE WON THEN ,SO HE DOESN’T NEED A EXC– USE ANYWAY BC ,AND HE DID WIN NOW ITS PROVEN ROUND 4 ROUND SLOW MO TURNS OUT THEY COUNTING PUNCHES FMJ THAT WERE “UNLANDED LEFT JABS ” SO THE “ORIGINAL SCORE WERE ACTUALLY SWITCHED BY THE CORNER NAME,IN WHICH IT MATCH UP WITH TRUE COUNTING EA.ROUND COINCIDE W 1ST ORIGINAL SCORE CARD,REMEMBER THE SAID OH WHERE SCORING THE WRONG CORNERS. BUT NO THE SLOW MO SHOWS PAC OUTLANDED MAY WON ALOT MORE ROUNDS THAT HE WAS GIVEN CREDIT FOR ONLY EXCITING FLURRY ROUNDS. PPL DON’T KNOW THIS BUT AL HAYMON WHO IS FMJ ADVISOR WORKED TOGETHER THEY ACTUALLY PAID SPARRING PARTNERS MORE $SO THE WONT SHOW UP TO SPAR W TEAM PAC. IMAGINE NOT BEIN ABLE TO GET SPARRING PARTNERS TO GET PREPARED NOBODY SHOWS UP BC THEY GOT TONS OF MONEY TO PAY PPL MORE TO NOT SHOW UP,THATS DOESN’T HELP A DYING SPORT, WHEN MILLION OF VIEWERS TUNED IN THAT FIGHT. MAKING IT UNCOMPETITVE BOUT,TOO MANY ADVANTAGES OVER PAC,FLOYD HAD THE REF NEVER TOOK A POINT AWAY FOR ANYTHING EVEN 2 LOW BLOWS,THE JUDGES COUNTING MADE STATS BUNCK OF MADE UP LANDING PUNCHES,COMPUBOX, IF PAC HAD ALREADY GOT PERMISSION BY THE ANTI DOPING AGENCY THEMSELVES, THE THE NEVADA STATE COMMISSION, SHOULD OF GAVE HIM HIS SHOT ALSO,IF THAT WAS FLOYD THEY WOULD OF GIVEN IT TO HIM,FLOYD HAD TO MUCH CONTROL PAC WASNT EVEN ALLOWED TO GET ACCESS TO HIS WATER OR VITAMINS, BUT YET FMJ IS OVER HERE TAKING PILLS TO BOOST TESTOSTERONE THEY SAY THERE OK TO — USE LOTS OF ATHLETE SUPPOSEDLY TO IT MUSCLE ENHANCING W TESTOSTERONE, BUT THEN WHY CAN’T PAC DRINK WATER N VITAMINS ITS “NOWHERE NEAR WHAT WHAT FLOYD IS TAKING,FLOYD GETS AWAY W ALOT,IF BRONER WOULD OF GOTTEN AWAY W THAT BS HES WAS DOIN,THEN THET WOULD OF CALLED HIM A “”Genius too”bc ppl r BIAS ITS OK IF FLOYD DOES IT IT SOMEONE BUT NOT IF ITS DONETO FLOYD. HES A BIG JOKE
You know Floyd Always says hes not jealous of pac bc he lives in the Philippines, “but thats by choice of coarse ” But Floyd ALWAYS COMPARES HIMSELF TO Pac n his ACCOMPLISHMENTS,EVEN SAYS OH PAC PPV NUMBERS HAVE GONE DOWN W/O MENTIONING THAT HIS ALSO HAVE GONE DOWN, BUT I WOULD LOVE TO ASK FLOYD SO,IF YOU THINK that If you did indeed Already had Loss or a record like pac ppl,would all want to actually buy seats to your fights or buy ur ppv,Yeah Im pretty SURE PPL DID BC THAT UNDEFEATED RECORD HE HAS ,AND PPL R CURIOUS AS TO WHEN FLOYD WILL LOSE, HES THE MOST HATED PERSON ON PLANET, PPL WANT TO SEE IF LOSE . PLEASE HE NEEDS TO GET OVER HIMSELF UR UNDEFEATED EVEN THOUGH HE SHOULD NT BE,ON PAPER HE IS & THATS WHY PPL R INTERSTED IN HIM GETTING A LOSS, NOT BC HES EXCITING
Loooool.you probably actually believe what you wrote.Floyd jealous of Manny ???? Now we have heard it all ! Utterly dillusional but funny too so don’t worry as your all good for a laugh !
I do not agree with Manny not giving Floyd his credit. But I couldn’t blame him if he felt he won because he is the fighter and he said he knows he connected more punches than Mayweather did. I do believe him that he sincerely thought he won. But more people will not believe because of the compu box stats.
The fight was not fair from the get-go so having a rematch will be useless and should not happen because Floyd holds all the cards and he’s gonna do everything he did in his prepp going into the fight including having to monitor Pacquiao’s moves in the ring/training camp thru his spies so that the fight will be easy.
Whenever people argue and there’s a CCTV footage to show who’s wrong, then they are shown the CCTV footage. A woman claiming rape got debunked simply because a CCTV footage was shown that she was not getting raped at the time she claimed she was getting raped.
Pacquiao outlanded Floyd. It is a verifiable fact. Compubox needs a firmware update.