Philadelphia Boxing Community Gives IBF Champ Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham Rousing Send Off

Training camp is over for the reigning IBF Cruiserweight Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham, and he has now relocated to Newark, New Jersey for the final few days preparation for his title defense against Tomasz ‘Goral’ Adamek on Thursday, December 11 at the Prudential Center in Newark.

A few days before he made the short journey north, Steve was given a rousing farewell by the local boxing community who turned out in force to show their support for Philadelphia’s only current world boxing champion.

Steve and his wife/manager, Livvy, were clearly overwhelmed by the sea of well-wishers who had packed into the Fox and Hound sports bar on Thursday, December 4.

It wasn’t just boxing fans that braved the cold and rain to meet their hero as many local luminaries also attended the event. Attendees included Banner Promotions President Art Pelullo, writer Ken Hissner, former junior middleweight world champion, Robert ‘Bam Bam’ Hines. Philadelphia boxing historian extraordinaire John DiSanto, former football superstar Manny ’Bumper’ Howard and Mr. Philly boxing himself, Percy ‘Buster’ Custus among many others.

After Steve had spent some time chatting and signing autographs with his fans, King of Prussia’s own soul sensation, Vanessa Lambre, sang an awesome acapella rendition of ‘Summertime’ for Steve to kick the evening’s proceedings into full gear. When the clapping and cheering died down, everyone took to their seats to watch a video of Steve’s December 2007 title defense against Marco Huck.

After the screening, Steve thanked everyone for coming out to support him before saying, “I’m feeling really good, I feel blessed and that God’s hand is on me again. You know, I feel like we’re fighting overseas again. I know I’m fighting here at home, in my own country, but it’s his home state.

“They think it’s going to be a factor with all the Polish people there. I’ve fought in Poland, so that don’t mean anything. I feel great, man. I’m really looking forward to this and hope you’ll all come to Newark and cheer me on. If you can’t, it’s on Versus so don’t forget to watch it.”

The IBF Cruiserweight Championship title fight between Champion Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham and challenger Tomasz ‘Goral’ Adamek is co-promoted by Kathy Duva’s Main Events and Don King Productions and takes place at The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday December 11, 2008.

Tickets priced at $303, $153, $78, $53, $38 are on sale now and can be purchased at The Prudential Center box office or by calling TicketMaster on 201-507-8900.