Highlights
–Southpaw champion Krzysztof Glowacki dropped Steve Cunningham twice in the second round on consecutive counter left hands. Cunningham made it to his feet both times, only to get shaken again in the third with three more solid lefts.
–The pace slowed during the more evenly contested middle rounds, but a large welt—which looked to be caused by a head butt—began to develop in the seventh over the right eye of Cunningham.
–Cunningham hit the canvas yet again from a short right during the 10th round, and walked into yet another Glowacki right hand that dropped him late in the 12th and final round. Cunningham easily beat the count both times to finish the fight on his feet.
Steve Cunningham entered Saturday’s 200-pound title fight against champion Krzysztof Glowacki with a history of struggles against southpaws and Polish titleholders. Those struggles continued at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Glowacki (26-0, 16 KOs) twice floored Cunningham (28-8-1, 13 KOs) with second-round, left-hand counters, then used short right hands to drop him once more in the 10th and 12th rounds en route to a unanimous decision.
Thanks to the four knockdowns, Glowacki prevailed by scores of 115-109 twice and 116-108, much to the delight of a Barclays Center crowd that was packed with Polish fight fans. However, the contest was tougher than the scorecards indicated, as the 29-year-old Glowacki was often forced to hold or fight off the ropes against a game challenger who engaged toe to toe throughout the night.
A 39-year-old two-time champion in the 200-pound division who spent four years fighting at heavyweight, Cunningham had hoped to recapture past glory by returning to the weight class. However, he struggled to avoid the come-forward champion’s power left hands or take consistent advantage of his three-inch height and seven-inch reach edges.
Still, Cunningham didn’t make things easy for Glowacki, who was making the first defense of the championship he won in August by rising from a sixth-round knockdown to dethrone Marco Huck by 11th-round stoppage.
With the win, Glowacki kept his perfect record intact, while Cunningham fell to 4-6-1 in his last 11 fights.
Krzysztof Glowacki tags Steve Cunningham with a jab during their 12-round battle Saturday. Glowacki dropped Cunningham four times on his way to a unanimous decision victory to retain his 200-pound title. (Ryan Greene/Premier Boxing Champions)
