By Michael Marley
Kevin Cunningham, formerly in the Army and then for 8 1/2 years a cop on the meanest streets of St. Louis, is all about attitude and discipline.
The manager-trainer of undefeated junior welterweight champion Devon "The Great" Alexander is Old School in all the positive, solid citizen meanings of that expression.
So, when he kept noticing a huge chip on the shoulder of also unbeaten Tim Bradley, Cunningham grew somewhat irritated. And that's why, in the HBO promotional clip for Devon Alexander-Tim Bradley (Jan. 29 at the Pontiac Silverdome) in which Max Kellerman is the interlocutor, you hear a stern-looking Cunningham snap at Californian Bradley that "you're pissed off but you're going to get pissed on."
When I saw the clip, it stunned me because Cunningham is no brazen trash talker.
Cunningham boldly stated that his guy would "rain on" Bradley's parade and that it would "yellow rain" like the kind Juan Manuel Marquez uses as a pep tonic.
"Come January 29," Cunningham said, looking right into Bradley's eyes, "you're going to pissed on!"
So I asked Cunningham why he lashed out at Bradley and if there was any off camera reponse from Bradley or his trainer, ex-fighter Joel Diaz, who was also shown in the spot.
"Nothing," Cunningham said, "nothing was said off camera. It was kind of like Tim said nothing and his trainer seemed befuddled, like he swallowed his tongue. There was no response, when we left, we just acknoweldged them and said, 'See you in Detroit.' I think he and the trainer were at a loss for words.
"I've got nothing personal against Tim. Tim has seemed to be pissed off at the press conferences in Detroit and in New York. He was acting as if he resented this fight, two unbeaten guys, happening now, like it should not have been made now,"
Cunningham said. "I think Tim feels they, he and Devon should've had the opportunity to clean out the weight divison, to fight guys like Victor Ortiz and (Marcos) Maidana, before they had to fight each other. I understand that but we disagree, we're ready to go.
"But why the total frustration on his part? This is a done deal, the fight is on. The winner of this fight deserves a mega-fight and becomes a megastar."
Naturally, the St. Louis residents Cunningham and Alexander would've preferred to fight at home but Big Gary Shaw landed an $800,000 site fee in Michigan and co-promoter Don King welcomed that so Pontiac is the site.
Cunningham has no doubt that Missourians will outnumber Bradley supporters simply based on distance and the disparity in fan bases.
"We had no hesitation about Detroit," Cunningham said. "The 20,000-seat facility in St. Louis was booked for Sesame Street Live but we could've gone in 12,000-seater and we'd have sold out in 10 to 15 days. Michigan is stil the Midwest, a nine hour drive but only a one hour flight. Our fans will turn out."
Again, Cunningham is scratching his head at what seems to be an almost resentful attitude by Bradley, albeit getting his biggest purse and fighting on the big HBO platform.
No need for a head check for Alexander, his handler said.
"We're all good," Cunningham said. "As far as we're concerned, we're chasing greatness. To me, this is like the first Roberto Duran-Ray Leonard fight, a stage to show greatness."
Alexander, age 23, has a 21-0, 13 KOs record, and holds the WBC belt while Bradley, age 27, is the WBO beltholder and owns a 26-0, 11 knockouts record.
Bradley's nickname is "Desert Storm" as he hails from the Palm Springs area.
