# Steve Cunningham

Steven Ormain Cunningham (born July 15, 1976) is an American professional boxer who held the IBF cruiserweight title twice between 2007 and 2011. His nickname, "USS", is a reference to his US Navy service on the aircraft carriers USS America and USS Enterprise between 1994 and 1998.

## Early life

A native of Philadelphia, Cunningham gained a reputation as a tough fighter on the streets of Philly, but he began his amateur career while based at Norfolk Naval Station in Virginia. Cunningham served in the Navy from 1994 to 1998, serving on the aircraft carriers USS America and USS Enterprise.

## Amateur career

Cunningham started boxing at the age of 19, and won the National Golden Gloves 178 lb (81 kg) title in 1998 as an amateur.

## Professional career

Cunningham began his professional career in 2000 with a 19 fight winning streak including a split decision over Guillermo Jones.
On November 26, 2006, he challenged Krzysztof Włodarczyk for the Vacant IBF Cruiserweight Title but lost by a disputed split decision in front of Wlodarczyk's fans in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland. Later, Cunningham challenged Wlodarczyk again in the summer of 2007. With a majority decision in his favor, Cunningham at last won the title. He stopped undefeated Marco Huck in Germany in December 2007.
Cunningham lost the IBF title against Tomasz Adamek in Newark, New Jersey, on December 11, 2008. He lost the fight via split decision. One judge scored the fight 114–112 for Cunningham, while the other two judges scored it 116–110 and 115–112 for Adamek. Fight was close although Cunningham was knocked down in the second, fourth, and eighth rounds.
Cunningham faced former WBC Cruiserweight Champion Wayne Braithwaite, at the BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida on the July 11, 2009, and won the fight via a twelve-round unanimous decision 119–109, 117–111, and 118–110. On June 5, 2010, Cunningham regained the IBF Cruiserweight title with a fifth round stoppage on cuts of Troy Ross in Germany. Cunningham returned to Germany to defend his IBF title against challenger Enad Licina on February 12, 2011.

### Cunningham vs. Fury

Cunningham was knocked out in the seventh round by Tyson Fury, a British boxer, in an IBF heavyweight title eliminator on April 20, 2013. Cunningham had the much bigger Fury down in the second round. At the time of the stoppage, Cunningham was winning the fight with 56–56, 57–55, and 57–55. In an interview with Joe Rogan, Fury claimed Cunningham was the toughest opponent of his career.
After being promoted by Kathy Duva and Main Events for several years, he was now advised by Al Haymon. Cunningham was trained by Naazim Richardson.

### Cunningham vs. Glowacki

On April 16, 2016, Cunningham fought Krzysztof Glowacki for his WBO world cruiserweight belt. Glowacki dropped Cunningham four times, twice in the second round, and once in both the tenth and the twelfth round en route to a unanimous decision victory.

### Cunningham vs. Tabiti

On August 26, 2017, Cunningham fought Andrew Tabiti. Tabiti was ranked #4 by the WBC, #9 by the IBF and #12 by the WBA at cruiserweight, while Cunningham was ranked #10 by the IBF at the time. Tabiti won the fight via unanimous decision, 100–90, 97–93 and 97–93.

### Cunningham vs. Mir

Cunningham defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir by unanimous decision in Mir's boxing debut on April 17, 2021, on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren. Cunningham served as a replacement for Antonio Tarver who was denied clearance by the Georgia Athletic & Entertainment Commission.

## Outside of boxing

He joined light-middleweight Boyd Melson, Shawn Estrada, Demetrius Andrade and other boxers in Team Fight to Walk, an organization focused on increasing awareness in boxing of the importance of stem cell research for spinal cord injuries.
Cunningham is a practicing Black Hebrew Israelite.

## Professional boxing record

| 40 fights | 30 wins | 9 losses |
| By knockout | 13 | 1 |
| By decision | 17 | 8 |
| Draws | 1 | 1 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 40 | Win | 30–9–1 | Frank Mir | UD | 6 | Apr 17, 2021 | Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | |
| 39 | Loss | 29–9–1 | Andrew Tabiti | UD | 10 | Aug 26, 2017 | T-Mobile Arena, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | For NABF cruiserweight title |
| 38 | Win | 29–8–1 | Felipe Romero | UD | 6 | Mar 17, 2017 | Santander Arena, Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 37 | Loss | 28–8–1 | Krzysztof Głowacki | UD | 12 | Apr 16, 2016 | Barclays Center, New York City, New York, U.S. | For WBO cruiserweight title |
| 36 | Draw | 28–7–1 | Antonio Tarver | SD | 12 | Aug 14, 2015 | Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 35 | Loss | 28–7 | Vyacheslav Glazkov | UD | 12 | Mar 14, 2015 | Bell Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Lost USBA heavyweight title |
| 34 | Win | 28–6 | Natu Visinia | RTD | 7 (10), 3:00 | Oct 18, 2014 | 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 33 | Win | 27–6 | Amir Mansour | UD | 10 | Apr 4, 2014 | Liacouras Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | Won USBA heavyweight title |
| 32 | Win | 26–6 | Manuel Quezada | UD | 8 | Dec 14, 2013 | Resorts Casino Hotel, Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 31 | Loss | 25–6 | Tyson Fury | KO | 7 (12), 2:55 | Apr 20, 2013 | The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 30 | Loss | 25–5 | Tomasz Adamek | SD | 12 | Dec 22, 2012 | Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S. | For IBF North American heavyweight title |
| 29 | Win | 25–4 | Jason Gavern | UD | 10 | Sep 8, 2012 | Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | |
| 28 | Loss | 24–4 | Yoan Pablo Hernández | UD | 12 | Feb 4, 2012 | Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, Germany | For IBF cruiserweight title; For vacant The Ring cruiserweight title |
| 27 | Loss | 24–3 | Yoan Pablo Hernández | TD | 6 (12), 3:00 | Oct 1, 2011 | Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany | Lost IBF cruiserweight title; Split TD after Hernández cut from accidental head clash |
| 26 | Win | 24–2 | Enad Licina | UD | 12 | Feb 12, 2011 | RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Mülheim, Germany | Retained IBF cruiserweight title |
| 25 | Win | 23–2 | Troy Ross | TKO | 5 (12), 0:01 | Jun 5, 2010 | Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany | Won vacant IBF cruiserweight title |
| 24 | Win | 22–2 | Wayne Braithwaite | UD | 12 | Jul 11, 2009 | BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, Florida, U.S. | |
| 23 | Loss | 21–2 | Tomasz Adamek | SD | 12 | Dec 11, 2008 | Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey, U.S. | Lost IBF cruiserweight title; For vacant The Ring cruiserweight title |
| 22 | Win | 21–1 | Marco Huck | TKO | 12 (12), 1:56 | Dec 29, 2007 | Seidensticker Halle, Bielefeld, Germany | Retained IBF cruiserweight title |
| 21 | Win | 20–1 | Krzysztof Włodarczyk | MD | 12 | May 26, 2007 | Spodek, Katowice, Poland | Won IBF cruiserweight title |
| 20 | Loss | 19–1 | Krzysztof Włodarczyk | SD | 12 | Nov 25, 2006 | Torwar Hall, Warsaw, Poland | For vacant IBF cruiserweight title |
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Lloyd Bryan | TKO | 5 (10), 1:10 | Jan 7, 2006 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Kelvin Davis | UD | 12 | Sep 3, 2005 | Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Guillermo Jones | SD | 10 | Apr 2, 2005 | DCU Center, Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. | |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Forrest Neal | TKO | 4 (8), 0:53 | Oct 2, 2004 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, U.S. | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Sebastiaan Rothmann | MD | 10 | May 22, 2004 | Carnival City, Brakpan, South Africa | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Terry McGroom | UD | 8 | Sep 20, 2003 | Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S. | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Demetrius Jenkins | UD | 8 | Mar 29, 2003 | Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Joseph Awinongya | UD | 8 | Jul 27, 2002 | Mandalay Bay Events Center, Paradise, Nevada, U.S. | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Caseny Truesdale | PTS | 4 | Sep 29, 2001 | Martinsville, Virginia, U.S. | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Shawn Townsend | TKO | 3 | Aug 30, 2001 | Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Shawn Townsend | TKO | 6 | Jul 26, 2001 | Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | John Battle | KO | 1 | Jun 28, 2001 | The Plex, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Mike Williams | TKO | 6 | May 24, 2001 | The Plex, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Richard Perry | KO | 1 | May 12, 2001 | Johnson City, Tennessee, U.S. | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Jeff Bowman | TKO | 1 | Apr 28, 2001 | Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Kanovas Alexander | KO | 1 | Apr 12, 2001 | Gaillard Municipal Auditorium, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Nate Frazier | KO | 1 | Mar 10, 2001 | Virginia, U.S. | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Robert Marsh | PTS | 4 | Feb 17, 2001 | Radisson Hotel, Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Norman Jones | SD | 4 | Oct 28, 2000 | Jarrell's Boxing Gym, Savannah, Georgia, U.S. | |