Steve Cunningham’s Heart Takes Aim at Another World Title

It was always about the heart -- his heart, his daughter Kennedy’s heart, his family’s heart. Nothing beats louder in a fighter than his heart, and no one can deny it is a great engine that fuels former two-time IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham.

He has faced personal torment, dealing with the health of his daughter Kennedy, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome -- a rare congenital disease that occurs when parts of the left side of the heart (mitral valve, left ventricle, aortic valve and aorta) are not completely developed. She underwent a successful heart transplant in December 2014, while her father was in throes of his career.

Cunningham opted to move to heavyweight, dealing with bigger, stronger guys, and he knew the risk. However, his heart got in the way. It convinced him that he could take the punishment of guys 20, 30 or 40 pounds heavier, like future heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, and he kept coming back for more. That is when his head finally kicked in and “USS” opted to move back down to where he had the most success: cruiserweight.

Now, Krzysztof Glowacki has a problem in front of him Saturday, when the WBO cruiserweight champ faces Cunningham (28-7-1, 13 KOs) as part of a tripleheader from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It airs on NBC at 8:30 ET. Glowacki (25-0, 16 KOs) got here by upsetting Marco Huck last year. Cunningham got here by heart and desire.

Glowacki-Cunningham will also feature Errol Spence Jr. (19-0, 16 KOs) and Chris Algieri (21-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight clash. In addition, rising prospect Marcus Browne (17-0, 13 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian from Staten Island, New York, will face Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (21-0, 14 KOs), a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina now living in Saint Petersburg, Florida, in a 10-round light heavyweight fight.

“I did not see the Cunningham-[Antonio] Tarver fight, but my coach [Fiodor Lapin] was watching,” Glowacki said. “I cannot disrespect Cunningham’s power when you’re talking about Tarver, because we all know how good Tarver is defensively. I’ve watched Cunningham’s old fights with [Yoan Pablo] Hernandez, [Tomasz] Adamek and [Krzysztof] Wlodarzcyk, and I noticed his long reach, which makes a difference, and how quickly he responds to being hit. When you hit him, he wastes no time before he retaliates.

“My trainer will show me a round or two of how he fights, but regardless, I know that Cunningham is a fighter who likes to bring it,” he added. “This is possibly his last opportunity [to win a championship], so I feel this is going to be a fan-friendly fight.”

Glowacki, though 29 and a decade younger than Cunningham, will be up against a three-inch height difference and seven-inch reach disadvantage.

“This is big for me; it would put an exclamation point on my career,” Cunningham said. “I’d be a three-time world champion. How many fighters can say that? And I know what [Glowacki] brings. I can’t sleep on this guy. I’ll tell you this, too, I respect him. No one just handed him the title. He took it from Huck. Now I want to take it from him. That’s what I’m here for. We’re warriors. It’s going to be a great fight. I just needed to learn that I had to come down cruiserweight again.”

Cunningham gave Fury a tougher test than former heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, as he knocked down Fury in the second round of their April 20, 2013 fight at Madison Square Garden. Fury recovered to win by seventh-round TKO, but he also stood 6-foot-9 and weighed 254 pounds to Cunningham’s 6-foot-3, 210.

“Yeah, that was a little nuts, but I learned a lot from it. Don’t mess with those big guys,” Cunningham said. “I’m back where I belong, and I feel good. I’m ready for this.”

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.