Ross was superior than Cunningham for sure
Troy Ross was absolutely the better fighter and it looked like Cunningham couldn't really land much on Ross at all. Ross was moving around and picking his punches, that's what I thought.
In the fourth round, Ross threw a double jab and straight left that sent Cunningham to the canvas. After Cunningham got up, Troy Ross moved in to continue to pressure Cunningham and perhaps finish him.....after Ross missed with a couple of punches, he continued to pressure Cunningham to the ropes.
It was at that point that Cunningham threw a punch with his thumb out. I know it probably wasn't on purpose, but it was just an odd punch. All the replays show Cunningham's thumb gouging Troy Ross' eye. There was no doubt that it was the thumb that gouged Ross' eye.
I would think in an appeal this fight would be over turned and in the slightest if this fight took place in the USA, it would have been declared a no contest or even gone to the scorecards in which case Troy Ross was clearly ahead.
Funny things happen over in Europe, Germany in particular. I heard that Cunningham signed a big promo deal with the German company, so obviously it was in their best interest to make Cunningham the victor.
Troy Ross should be the New IBF Champion - Scandal
I really couldn't believe what I saw yesterday in that Championship bout.
Troy Ross was clearly the better man, outboxing Cunningham and then when Ross moved in to further pressure him after knocking Cunningham down, Cunningham throws a lazy punch, where the thumb of Cunninghams glove gouged Ross' eye.
It was obviously a foul, intentional or not, it should have been deemed a foul and the fight should have gone to the score cards. I'm now hearing that the score cards showed that it was a draw up to that point, but that is impossible.
On my scorecard Troy Ross had won at least 3 of the 4 rounds and the fourth would have been a 10-8 round as Ross knocked Cunningham down.
This decision was very suspicious and wrong. It should be appealed.
Apparently Cunningham signed a multi fight deal with the German Promo team, so they want Cunningham to defend against German and Polish fighters in Europe. It will be hard to get a rematch, despite the fact that Ross was the much better fighter. Therefore, this division is very busy in Europe.
The slow down replays show Cunninghams glove gouging Ross' eye.