Exclusive Interview – Steve “USS” Cunningham
By Jeremy Pepito and Boxing Community
Photo by Rob Epstein
Jeremy Pepito – So Steve, how was your holidays?
Steve Cunningham -Pretty good!
Jeremy – I see you added a new addition to the family, congratulations on that!
Steve – Thank you.
Jeremy – How’s your preparation coming along for the fight?
Steve – Oh, everything is going great! The sparring, good game plan, retain my title and move on to other things, great things.
Jeremy – What do you know about your opponent and what’s your game plan? You don’t have to tell us everything.
Steve – He’s a good fighter, 19 wins just 2 losses to some decent guys, he is from Serbia but he lives in Germany, we are promoted by the same promoting team, so the fight was easy to put together. Decent dude, nobody to underestimate at all. I’m not underestimating anybody at this level. The game plan is to WIN and put on a good win!
Jeremy – What did you think about the Huck vs. Lebedev verdict?
Steve – I’m not a judge or anything, I know how to fight but I’m not a judge. I thought Lebedev won that fight. Hands down, eight rounds to probably four, To tell you the truth I wasn’t at the fight. I don’t know man, I thought Lebedev won, I’m not even gonna play political, I thought Lebedev won. I just thought Huck was running the whole entire time, he wasn’t busy enough throwing enough punches to get Lebedev. Lebedev was throwing more punches he pressured him, he connected more. Huck did wobble him a few times but still that’s not enough to win. I didn’t think he did enough to take the titled but he got the belt so we gotta move on.
Jeremy – Your fight with Troy Ross, would you ever give him a rematch? And what did you think about what happened in that fight?
Steve – What happened in this fight is, what happens in boxing. You throw punches and if you ask any fighter, that’s what they were trained to do, it’s a part of boxing, Coming in that 4th round he scored that knock down and he got excited and came charging in, I threw my right hand and all I saw was a cut and I continued to pressure him with the right hand to his eye and all of a sudden the referee stops the fight and we didn’t know that the thumb part of the glove caused the cut until we got of the plane. The next day they were complaining about the thumb cutting the eye and we saw the tape and said hay, that’s part of the glove, that’s a punch the referee saw it and IBF ruled it, that’s part of the glove, that’s the rules in boxing. Same thing that happened with Lennox Lewis vs. Klitschko, that’s the fight Lennox Lewis retired on. I got a lot of ? on this Troy Ross thing people know this dude from the contender series, his family got to see him once a week and they had sympathy for him so of course they wanna see him do good. Lennox Lewis cut Klitschko and won a TKO victory and just like he celebrated a victory I celebrated a victory.
Jeremy – Tomasz Adamek had a split decision when you fought. He’s in Heavyweight now and seems to be doing pretty good. Do you have any thoughts in moving up to heavyweights? You got a pretty reach and a really good chance against the Klitschkos. What are your thoughts about the heavyweights? And is there any future in the heavyweights for Steve Cunningham?
Steve – Yeah, we’ve been talking about, we’ve been looking at it, you know. I still got work to do here in the cruiserweight division still. Two big fights that can be made against me and other opponents. We’ll see man, we’ll see, I gotta talk it over, my wife, my team and keep our prayers in God and see, there’s a possibility, I’ll entertain that we’ll see, it’s possible.
Jeremy – What are your thoughts about Adamek vs. Klitschko or David Haye?
Steve – I rather see Adamek vs. David Haye rather than Klitschko. Adamek fought with Michael Grant. You know Grant didn’t really look like he wanted to do anything to win. I thought Grant could have won that fight if he wanted to. He caught Adamek with 2 good right hand that wobble him a little bit I thought, I don’t know man I just didn’t think he really want to win that fight I just think he did it to be there but I think if Adamek fights Klitschko it’s gonna be an early night for Adamek he’ll be going down by the 6. I rather see Adamek vs. David Haye that’s a highly competitive fight right there, two former cruiserweight champs going at it, it’s very directed to the media, to the boxing world. I think that’s a better fight for the heavyweight division right there.
Jeremy – What can we expect from Steve Cunningham for 2011 and where do you want your career to go from here.
Steve – I’m not looking pass Enad but when we beat this guy, I’m looking for unification bout, that’s what we’re looking for.
Jeremy – What it’s like to work with Naseem Richardson and what did you think about the Bernard Hopkins vs. Pascal fight?
Steve – It’s intense working with Richardson. He pushes you and pushes you, especially is your in tuned with him you can do what he wants you to do, work and there’s no slacking at all. It’s hard work, it’s intelligent work, it’s motivational work, it’s educational, it’s a great experience for me. Naseem Richards is the best trainer in the world for me. I don’t know about any other trainer, but this trainer is right in all aspects, he’s the right trainer for me. He gets some things through me, that I didn’t even know was there. And he’s taking me through different spots in my mind, mentally and physically, it’s awesome training with him it’s like starting boxing all over again, he’s showing me stuff that I can do, that I never thought I can do. I’m excited and I don’t think the world has seen the best Steve Cunningham yet. Stay Tuned World. Now with the Bernard Hopkins vs. Pascal fight, I thought Bernard did an outstanding, awesome job, even with the knock down, “the one knock down” (chuckle) they scored 2 but it was really 1. It was in Canada he knew he was running the risk because they where notorious for their decisions. Going down and still fighting to a draw goes to show the world who didn’t see it exactly who he was. And his age 46, 45 that is impressive in its self. I thought he beat Pascal hands down, anything that happened after the 4th round was all Bernard Hopkins. Now that WBC ordered the rematch we’ll see what Pascal does with the issues with the Dawson rematch so we’ll see.
Jeremy – If you can have a big fight right now, who would that be?
Steve – Oh man, I don’t know? I would love to fight the Klitschko, I would love to fight one of the Klitschko brothers. That would be an awesome fight. Of course they are the best dudes in boxing right now besides “Manny Pacquiao” (we both laugh)
Jeremy – Maybe there could be a catch weight? (LAUGHING)
Steve – Yeah, that would be a very big catch weight right there. I would like to fight the Klitschko’s and that would be a good test for me, that would the ultimate test in boxing for me right now. I can’t go back in time and fight , Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis but fight one of those brothers would be awesome and an ultimate challenge and a great challenge.
Jeremy – What can you say to your fans through our site?
Steve – Just to stay tuned to Steve Cunningham, in Jesus name, we’re gonna keep working hard, doing what we do. Stay champion and become unified as the cruiserweight champion.
Jeremy – I just wanna say, thank you for taking the time for talking to BoxingCommunity.org , good luck on your fight and well continue to support you.
Steve – Alright, thank you guys, I appreciate it!
Jeremy – Thank you.
