By Ryan Songalia

Former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve "USS" Cunningham's hometown of Philadelphia, PA is about 85 miles southwest of Newark, NJ. But given the partisan crowd in attendance to witness his second title defense against Tomasz Adamek, he might as well have been in Warsaw.

The Prudential Center in Newark, NJ was brightly adorned with red and white flags in support of the Polish transplant who now makes his home in Jersey City.

For Cunningham, who had fought his three previous fights abroad, the hostile audience was nothing new to him.

"I've fought in Poland and Germany with 5,000 Germans and Polish people chanting," says Cunningham, now 21-2 (11 KO). "It didn't bother me. I heard my 'USS' and 'USA' chants so I had people there, too."

The action was intense from the opening bell. Though Cunningham had been down three times, including a devastating knockdown in the sixth round, one judge scored the fight in favor of him while the other two scored it for Adamek.

Cunningham says he is eager for a rematch as early as March on either HBO or Showtime.

"Everybody was screaming for a rematch in the venue. The press conference was screaming rematch, so were the promoters. Off the fact that it was an awesome fight and people want to see it again. The fans are the power, they demand the rematches."

Less than 24 hours after what many feel is a front-runner for Fight of the Year honors, Cunningham reflected on his missed opportunities. Cunningham stormed back from an early knockdown to have Adamek, now 36-1 (24 KO), out on his feet in the fourth. With seconds to go in that round, Adamek sent Cunningham onto the seat of his trunks with a right hand. He feels that he compromised his game plan by being over-aggressive.

"I got a little greedy. You could see I was tagging him with all kinds of shots. I deviated from the plan to box and land big shots. I wobbled him numerous times and was hungry to send him down. He looked like he was on his way out. I'm looking dead in his eyes and his eyes are rolling in the back of his head from right hands and uppercuts.

"I started thinking, 'Damn, I can get this guy out of here.' I don't know if he's got granite in his chin but he wouldn't go down. It was definitely his night of endurance.

"In the last few rounds you saw me walking him down even though he knocked me down three times. I know the rematch is going to be 100% different. Adamek is a basic fighter and I know I have more skill in my pinkie than he does in his whole body. You're going to see me be cruiserweight champion again."

Despite the loss, Cunningham's believes his marketability has risen with his performance.

"I haven't seen the numbers for the fight but I totally believe I increased my fan base here in America. We showed America the heart of a lion. In America, we don't back down from nobody."

Cunningham's only other defeat, to Krzysztof Wlodarczyk, took place on Polish ground. Cunningham reversed the decision six months later with a majority decision win, also in Poland.

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at songaliaboxing@aol.com