By Jake Donovan
Seven months ago, he was on the wrong end of a razor thin decision in a Fight of the Year contender that topped perhaps the best televised doubleheader of 2008.
One fight later, former titlist Steve Cunningham was forced to toil without a title around his waist or his face in front of a camera, taking on Wayne Braithwaite in a cruiserweight elimination bout.
The lack of shine offered for a fight between two former titlists didn’t stop either from engaging in a championship-level fight. In the end, Cunningham was too young, too athletic and just too good for Braithwaite, taking a wide unanimous decision to earn a rematch by way of mandatory contention against current cruiserweight king Tomasz Adamek.
Cunningham controlled the early action on the strength of his jab. The first round was largely dominated by the stick, though Braithwaite offered a shoeshine late in attempts to steal the frame. The effort was to no avail, as Cunningham slipped or picked off every shot.
Braithwaite eventually worked around the stick, creeping closer inside with each passing round. The Brooklyn-based Guyanese puncher found success with the right hand early in the second, but the momentum swung back in Cunningham’s direction midway through the round, landing a jab and right hand to regain control of the real estate.
It was a different story in rounds three and four, both of which saw Braithwaite take the fight to Cunningham while forcing an inside fight. Cunningham fought smart rather than “fight back,” clinching when necessary, thus minimizing the impact of Braithwaite’s power shots.
The strategy paid off, as the Philly boxer enjoyed a big fifth round. The two still spent much of their time on the inside, only Cunningham was now willing to reciprocate. Braithwaite switched back and forth between conventional and southpaw stance, but was forced to hold on when Cunningham connected with a right hand along the ropes towards the end of the round.
A terrific two-way exchange opened the sixth round, forcing a fast-paced affair for the next two rounds. Cunningham alternated between trading on the inside and offering lateral movement to create space for his jab. Braithwaite did his best to force a brawl, charging in behind a tight guard and mixing it up with body shots and chopping rights upstairs.
Turning a boxing match into a brawl proved to be detrimental to Braithwaite, who was breathing heavily on his stool prior to the eighth round. Cunningham took advantage, landing one-twos upstairs and hard right hands to the body. Braithwaite was willing in spirit, but could offer little more than clinching and earmuff defense in response to Cunningham’s aggression.
Time was called prior to the start of the ninth, as excessive amounts of water conveniently spilled in Braithwaite’s corner. Referee Tommy Kimmons offered the cornermen to perform quick housekeeping before allowing action to resume, resulting in an additional 20 seconds or so of extra rest for Braithwaite.
The makeshift time out hardly helped. Braithwaite was still battling fatigue, throwing punches as if he were underwater. Cunningham proceeded with caution, returning to the jab and offering the occasional right hand. Braithwaite tried to work his way back into the fight, but would get peppered with jabs whenever attempting to land his overhand right.
Action slowed in the tenth round, but still featured plenty of two-way contact. Braithwaite dug deep to will himself back into the fight, but Cunningham remained in his face every step of the way. Cunningham’s jab and lateral movement minimized any success Braithwaite hoped to enjoy with his power shots.
Consecutively landed right hand shots upstairs provided Braithwaite with a much needed second wind as the fight entered the championship rounds. Cunningham’s speed and youth was the difference for much of the fight, but seemed to have few answers for Braithwaite’s sudden burst of energy, who landed several power shots early and late in the round.
Whatever both fighters had left heading into the final round, they left it all in the ring. Clinches early in the round threatened to produce an anti-climactic finish, but both picked up the pace considerably down the stretch. Braithwaite let his hands go and attacked Cunningham’s body whenever the action took place on the inside. Cunningham stood toe to toe the entire time, refusing to allow his Brooklyn rival to steal the round or the fight.
With minimal time remaining between the end of the fight and the Showtime portion of the evening, with the national anthem and a dedication to deceased pop icon Michael Jackson wedged in between, barely enough time was made available to announce the final verdict. No scores were offered, just the declaration of Cunningham winning by unanimous decision.
Quick footwork by Boxingscene.com unearthed the official scores, which were 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.
Cunningham improves to 22-2 (11KO) with the win, the fight serving as his first since the heartbreaking split decision loss in his Fight of the Year contender with Adamek last December. He now gets a chance to gain revenge, providing that Adamek survives his challenge against journeyman Bobby Gunn on a separate card later this evening.
Braithwaite falls to 23-4 (19KO), having now lost four of his last six and fighting for just the first time since last March.
THE REST OF THE UNDERCARD
Line results:
Ivan Kirpa UD12 Miguel Rodriguez – scores were 120-108, 119-109, 118-110. Kirpa is #2 contender, stuck behind Selcuk Aydin in the list of challengers forced to wait out the tentatively scheduled rematch between Andre Berto and Luis Collazo.
Victor Fonseca UD8 Mauricio Pastrana – scores were 80-71 (3x). Pastrana lost a point midway through the fight for excessive low blows.
Francisco Palacios TKO1 Manu Ntoh – official time 2:59. Flurry of headshots from Palacios floors Ntoh, who beat the count but was unresponsive, forcing the stoppage.
Angel Santana UD4 Jamie Rodriguez – 40-36 across the board.
Lanard Lane UD4 Carlos Garcia – 40-36 across the board
Archie Ray Marquez TKO4 Jayson Hayward – Marquez scores two knockdowns before forcing stoppage at 1:56 of round four.
A full detailed report of the aforementioned preliminary bouts can be found here: https://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=20962
The non-televised undercard portion of the show was presented by Don King Production and Gary Shaw Productions, LLC.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com.