by David P. Greisman
Steve Cunningham has gone 4-3-1 since the former cruiserweight titleholder moved up to heavyweight in 2012.
His latest appearance, a draw with Antonio Tarver, was the third time Cunningham felt he’d been wronged on the scorecards — there also was a highly controversial loss to Tomasz Adamek in late 2012 and a debatable decision dropped to Vyacheslav Glazkov earlier this year.
He feels he should do something different for future fights, including adding more weight to add more power (or at least the perception of more power). Yet he’s also trying to decide whether a return to the 200-pound ranks would be viable.
“I am going to turn it on more and work on getting my weight up more in-between these fights. Hopefully next camp I’ll be a solid 210, 212,” said Cunningham, who was 204 pounds for the Tarver fight. “I’ve thought about going back down to cruiserweight. I’ve got to talk to my team. I want to stay heavyweight. This is where I’m at. I’m not going to concede to what these judges or anyone is doing. I want to press forward.”
The extra pounds would “possibly give me a little more girth, a little more weight, a little extra snap on my power,” he said. “I was 210 when I knocked [Tyson] Fury down, so I think I’m going to try to go for that and stay there. We’ll see. Maybe that’s the little edge that I need. I caught Tarver with a few good flush right hands. Only he could tell you how bad they hurt. I feel [like if] I added a little more muscle he would’ve been on the ground. I was 203 or 204 for this fight, and I just want to see myself perform at that 210, 212 level.”
Cunningham isn’t concerned about having his speed diminished by getting up to that weight.
“At 210, 212 I don’t lose anything. I think I lose speed and athleticism when I start going over 215. When you start going over that, then you lose attributes. You start giving up things, giving up a little bit of athleticism, you’re giving up a little speed in order to gain, possibly, a little more power,” he said. “Really, weight doesn’t necessarily mean more power in the punches, but it’s just getting belief from other people, like, ‘Wow, he’s a heavyweight now.’ ”
He said he would have no problem making cruiserweight, though he didn’t think it would happen. While cruiserweights who are also signed with Al Haymon are making more money than they might otherwise, there’s an allure to competing at heavyweight.
“I’ve done the cruiserweight thing already. I’ve been the best in the division,” Cunningham said. “Fighting at heavyweight is a bigger challenge, and I love challenges.”
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