Heavyweight contenders Tyson Fury, 20-0, 14 KOs, and Steve Cunningham, 25-5, 12 KOs, will clash in a highly anticipated 12 round bout that will place the winner on track to fight for the heavyweight championship of the world. Only one man will come away victorious in the rare Saturday afternoon clash taking place at The Theater at Madison Square Garden and broadcasted on NBC at 4:00 PM ET, and both fighters are determined to be the one. Victory earns the winner the #2 spot in the IBF world rankings, and puts that fighter just one more step away from facing champion Wladimir Klitschko.In his first American appearance, Tyson Fury is looking to make his mark as the next big thing in the heavyweight division. At 6′ 9″ tall, he fits the bill literally, but he will try to prove that his feared punching power can make him the new star of the division.
Fury’s outspoken nature at the pre-fight press conference brought him much attention, and he is convinced that he can back up his words with an impressive victory over Steve Cunningham, the most seasoned opponent he’s faced thus far.
Cunningham, the former two-time cruiserweight champ who always trains like a Spartan, appears hungrier than ever, thanks to Fury’s trash talk. He is determined to prove once and for all that his transition to the heavyweight division was the right move. He came close to making his point in his last fight, but a bad decision stalled his climb up the ratings.
Against Fury, Cunningham will look to prove that in this era of BIG heavyweights, he can defeat a true giant. It’s a tall order, but it wasn’t that long ago that the average-sized Evander Holyfield defied the odds by rising from the cruiserweight division to capture the biggest title in all of sports. Cunningham believes he can do the same.
One thing is for certain, with so much at stake, this fight between two very different boxers, could be a classic. The bigger, younger, and harder-hitting Fury will try to put his foe on the canvas for a 10-count, while Cunningham tries to unravel his untested opponent with his experience, conditioning and ring smarts.
There is nothing like a heavyweight fight with something on the line, and Fury-Cunningham is such a fight. With both men fighting for the right to advance to a final eliminator for the heavyweight championship of the world, something’s got to give.
