Boxing News Boxing News
It was another close fight when IBF Cruiserweight Champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk rematched American opponent Steve Cunningham last night at the Spodek Arena in Katowice, Poland but this time it was Cunningham who came out the winner courtesy a majority decision.
The two combatants originally came to grips last November for the vacant IBF title in Warsaw and Cunningham came out the loser by split decision in what had been termed by many at ringside to be a highly controversial loss, so much so that the IBF ordered an immediate rematch.
As he was fighting in the champion’s home country, Cunningham knew that he had to overachieve if he was to get the win and the Philadelphia native was by far the busier fighter in this second bout with Wlodarczyk.
The champion showed good defensive skills in dealing with the challenger’s high volume of offense and although he tried to time his counters, Cunningham’s good footwork prevented Wlodarczyk from ever really connecting with anything big.
Cunningham struck paydirt in the fourth when he forced the champion to take a knee but he couldn’t finish the shorter man off and Wlodarczyk showed good survival skills to weather the storm.
In the seventh frame Wlodarczyk’s patience payed off as he finally caught Cunningham with a full blooded power shot but the Philly fighter showed a good chin to take the punch and carry on.
The last two frames featured good action from both men and when the scores were tallied Cunningham was judged to be the proud new owner of the IBF belt 116-112, 115-112 and 114-114.
30 year old Cunningham improves to 20-1 (10) while Wlodarczyk drops to 37-2 (27).
