Big Men Fall Hard!

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fury-cunningham

While Madison Square Garden held over ten thousand fans to see the Knicks beat the Celtics, the real battles were fought in The Theatre where Main Events and Hennessy Sports put together some very interesting match-ups. Overall, the undercard had it’s moments, but the true excitement came in the co-main event and featured fight.

In the untelevised portion, Karl Dargan showed true boxing ability as he continues his campaign at lightweight. Trained by Brother Naazim Richardson, Dargan swam without getting wet. He threw punches in bunches, ducked and slipped his opponents onslaught and utterly dominated his outclassed his opponent. Surprisingly, the fight ended due to a hand injury suffered by Dargan’s foe. In the post fight interview, Dargan joked that the only thing he could have broke his hand on was the win. My comical guess is that his hand dislocated as he missed throwing one of his haymakers. Another notable performance was that of Hughie Fury. In his second pro fight, Fury seemed composed, worked off a jab and finished his opponent with some beautiful right hands. Although there is more work to be done, Hughie has the size and good technical skills to eventually become a force at heavyweight. After almost 3 years off, former Golden Glove champion Adam Kownacki returned to knockout winless Calbert Lewis. Both men looked very out of shape, Kownacki coming in over 260 pounds (30 pounds heavier than his last fight in 2010). With such quick undercard fights, the crowd waited for the televised portion to begin.

steve

In the co-feature, Curtis Stevens fought a tough fight against Derrick Findlay. Findlay appeared to be more muscular and tried to use his size advantage to work Stevens over in the corner. While Findlay got the better of the exchanges with Stevens against the ropes, Stevens landed the cleaner and better placed punches throughout the fight. Stevens, whom knocked out his last two opponents in the first round, was forced to fight the entire eight rounds against the very rough and durable Findlay. Stevens showed composure, good hand speed and nice combinations, yet may need a couple more tough fights before he truly is ready for the top middleweights. This was a great learning experience and some needed rounds as Stevens continues his return to boxing.

The build up to the main event was one of the most interesting events in recent fights. Tyson Fury enjoys talking. Based on the pressers, you’d assume Fury believed he would win the fight with his mouth. He vowed to destroy former cruiserweight champ Steve Cunningham or retire on the spot. In the ring, Cunningham was significantly smaller. As the fight began, Fury continued where he left off, taunting Cunningham, dropping his hands and using his words rather than acting as though he was in a fight. Cunningham used this to size up Fury and show his boxing ability.

In the beginning of round 2, Cunningham landed a beautiful overhand right, dropping Fury. This had to be one of the most exciting knockdowns I’ve seen live from over the hundreds of fights I’ve witnessed. A giant of 6 foot 9 inches who has talked so much smack getting floored by the composed, vicious and professional little man in the ring left an electric feeling that resonated throughout The Theatre. The embarrassed look on the big bully’s face was priceless! Cunningham continued to follow his game plan, hacking the body and then finishing up top before spinning out seemed to be working. As the fight continued, Fury showed that his size really would be the determining factor in the fight. He tied up, pushed, head butted and shoved forearms and elbows into Cunningham. And although the punches landed seemed few and far between, the impact really moved the smaller man. Even the blocked punches were beginning to have their effect. Fury began to gain steam as Cunningham started becoming visibly tired. Towards the end of the seventh, with Cunningham looking tired in the corner, Fury lifted Cunningham’s head with an illegal elbow and came over the top with a vicious right hand to the vulnerable and blinded Cunningham. He stayed down for the count as Fury began his victory dance.

Fury backed up his words, regardless whether his win was classy or not. Cunningham gained much respect for flooring and performing valiantly against one of the biggest men in boxing. The fight left many questions. From here, where does Cunningham go? After a nice deserved rest, it will be interesting to see the next opponent Cunningham will be lined up with.

Fury on the other hand, although improved from previous fights, still needs a lot of work. Depending on the refereeing style, a lot of tactics used by Fury would be condemned and points would be deducted. On top of that, he was very hittable and floored by an unnatural heavyweight. Even as a cruiser, Cunningham did not display one punch knockout power. While Fury claimed he will have a 15 year undefeated heavyweight run, it is hard to see him remain undefeated for his entire career. Other top prospects will be able to expose Fury if he does not tighten up his defense and relies heavily on his size. Before even thinking of a Fury-Klitschko showdown, I think he’ll find trouble in fighting Kubrat Pulev, Bryant Jennings, Eddie Chambers, Robert Helenius, Johnathan Banks or other top, natural heavyweights. He has time, but his fighting skills do not yet match his talking skills. Regardless, talk does bring entertainment and his size brings the chance to fight the best in the division, so for now, he deserves the respect of an undefeated top heavyweight prospect.

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1 COMMENT

  1. Your not really giving anything to Tyson Fury are you? But i suppose that s the American way of late.

    The reason Fury is attracting so many headlines is exactly because the standard of American Heavyweight is disgraceful. Yes, Fury is not a classic heavyweight but there hasn’t been a truly, great heavyweight since Lennox Lewis.

    I’m the first to admit the HW scene is poor but what excitement there is, is generated by European boxers.

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