Cunningham vs Ross Has Been Ordered By The IBF

By Rick Reeno

BoxingScene.com had been advised that the IBF has informed the camps of Steve Cunningham (22-2, 11KOs) and Troy Ross (23-1, 16KOs) to begin immediate negotiations to make a fight for the vacant cruiserweight title. If the two camps are unable to reach a deal within thirty days, the fight will head to a purse bid.

Cunningham had originally been scheduled to fight Matt Godfrey this coming Friday in Chicago. The fight initially fell apart last Tuesday after a contractual dispute between ESPN and Don King, who won the purse bid on December 18. After King defaulted by not making the fight within ninety days, the second-highest bidder, Main Events, stepped in to save the fight on Wednesday.

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Main Events president Kathy Duva quickly reached a deal with Godfrey's promoter Jimmy Burchfield. There was only one problem, Burchfield allegedly failed to inform his fighter about the new deal. Godfrey's trainer, John Scully, told BoxingScene over the weekend they had stopped training as of last Wednesday when Burchfield told them the fight was off.

According to Scully, the first time they were informed the fight was still moving forward was last Friday - as they watched an announcement during a live broadcast of ESPN's Friday Night Fights. Because Godfrey had stopped training for several days, he withdrew from the contest. As a result, the IBF dropped Godfrey from his position and ordered the fight between Cunningham and Ross, who is the next contender in line.