It’s hard for Steve Cunningham to dislike someone, even if that someone happens to want to take his head off in the ring. It’s just not part of his nature.
Whatever it is, Cunningham (28-7, 13 KOs) is going to get the chance to do something about it when they meet in a 12-round WBC heavyweight title eliminator this Friday at 9 p.m. ET on the PBC on Spike card from the Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
The winner is looking at a title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. The loser will most likely be banished to “opponent” status. Both realize this is it for their careers.
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But it goes a little deeper for “USS” Cunningham, who is 4-4 over his last eight fights, which includes the highly controversial loss to undefeated Vyacheslav Glazkov in March.
“In the conference call, I wanted to go in as the normal me, but when he mentioned my daughter, and going through all of his problems the last three years, and then it just clicked on me,” said Cunningham, whose 9-year-old daughter, Kennedy, underwent a heart transplant on Dec. 5, 2014. “Does he really want to change roles with me? Does he want to compare problems? I’m not going to Newark on Friday with a list of all of my problems on it, so we can trade off problems.
“Does he really want to do that? Hey, my daughter had a heart transplant. Hey, I’m Antonio Tarver, I got fired from Showtime. Hey, I [allegedly] used steroids. I’m not into that. If he wanted my problems, he can take them. I had to let him know that. He was talking about his last three years as so horrible, which by the way he put himself in, while my daughter’s life is on the line, go ahead. Let’s trade. He has a Bentley he’s been driving around in. I want to keep my daughter’s story on the low key.”
There is a history there between Cunningham and Tarver that actually goes back years. In 2011, Tarver was coming off the Danny Green victory at cruiserweight, and Cunningham just defended the IBF cruiserweight title against Enad Licina.
“We were actually looking for a fight, and I was looking for a unification bout with any cruiserweight champion,” Cunningham recalled. “No one would fight me. I thought about Tarver, because of who he is, and being a cruiserweight, it would be a great fight for the division. We could have had it in America, between two Americans. It would have livened up the division. That was my goal. It was a marketable fight.
“I wanted to fight in America. Yet, Tarver downplayed me. He said I didn’t have 20,000 Twitter followers, as if that’s a way to gauge someone’s popularity. Get 20,000 followers and he babbled on about how no one knows me. That made me angry. It was just disrespectful. It’s why when we went on the conference call I asked him, ‘Now you remember me?’ It’s why I call him a professional talker. He just runs his mouth.”
If there is a more caring, respected family in boxing than Cunningham and the ordeal he’s undergone with his daughter, it would be hard to find. This may be the most hyped Cunningham has ever been for a fight.
He admitted after the Glazkov fight that he was so distraught he wanted to go nuts. He kept, however, a calm façade when the scorecards were read.
“My focus is like a laser beam,” USS said. “I want to dismantle this man. It’s not just because of what he said, but because I have to do it. I know what’s at stake here. I know this can get the winner a shot at Wilder. I want that shot.
“After the Glazkov fight, I could have thrown tables, and went crazy. I read the Bible and got myself under control. With me fighting Tarver, my focus is greater than it’s ever been. I’m not going in hating him. I do have a lot of confidence.”
Cunningham said he’s not altering his fighting style. He is seven years younger than Tarver, an inch taller and holds a seven-inch reach advantage (82-inches to Tarver’s 75). “USS,” a former two-time cruiserweight titlist, has also been in with far better competition over the last three years than Tarver.
Cunningham also has the benefit of having trainer Naazim Richardson in his corner. Richardson worked with Bernard Hopkins and designed the fight plan in 2006 that defeated Tarver, who was a favorite coming off the rematch victory with Roy Jones.
Tarver can be annoying to opponents. Yes, he can get on opponent’s nerves. That’s not the way Cunningham fights.
“I’ve defeated being angry in the ring,” Cunningham said. “I’ve had so much go against me in my career. I don’t fight the way I want to fight when I’m angry, which is something I learned as an amateur. I haven’t trained angry. My wife, Livvy, won’t let me get angry. Tarver hasn’t changed. I come from the hardcore streets of Philadelphia. I dealt with that stuff my whole life and got out of it by joining the navy. I feel really good about this fight.”
Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.