Boxingtalk sat down with the IBF cruiserweight world champion Steve “USS” Cunningham, and got his thoughts on his upcoming fight against Marco Huck on December,29th in Germany. Cunningham also announces the opening of his brand new pizza parlor in Philadelphia. Lucky's Pizza. It's at 57th and Master street in Philly.
BT – What's up champ?
SC – Doing good, staying in shape, staying smart, and getting physically and mentally prepared to go over to Europe and do even better than I did last time.
BT – How's your training camp going so far?
SC – Camp is great, I got great sparring. Same old thing, nothing too different We are turning up the intensity now though, and I am 2000 percent positive that I am bringing the title back home. I am going over there like I am not the champion. I am going over there like I am going to get the title. I am keeping that tenacity with me.
BT – Styles make fights, what kind of fight do you think this will be?
SC – Marco Huck is a good fighter, he's pretty good, and he looks strong. But going up against the USS Cunningham, he's not going to be able to anything to me like he has his other opponents. I have superior boxing skills, and superior power.
BT – Are you concerned at all about the fight being in Germany?
SC – No, not at all. First I would like to thank my Lord Jesus Christ for blessing me to be champion. All I ask for is mutual judging you know? I am the ship of war, when I was in the Navy we would go overseas. The Navy used to go overseas and drop bombs on people away from home. I am the same thing, I am going over there to drop bombs, and come back home.
BT – Why do you have to go over there when you're the champ?
SC – Well it's the purse bid. Don King put his best foot forward to win the bid, they paid about 20,000 more. That's a small margin, but I was praying that Don would win so we could have this wonderful fight as the co-main feature with Roy Jones Jr vs Felix Trinidad. [But] we are world champions, not just the American champion. I wouldn't feel right to be world champion and never fight overseas. It's just part of the business to me, it's part of the job.
BT – Marco Huck won the eliminator to get his shot at you. Have you seen him fight before?
SC – Yes, I seen his last fight. He's a pretty good guy, I can't say anything bad about him. I will expose his weaknesses though, and I will bring them to light. I will connect, and connect at the volume that I want to connect at.
BT – Does he bring anything into the ring that gets your attention?
SC – Well he does some things dirty that he's known for. Look, I am from north Philadelphia, we can keep it clean, or not. I come from the ghetto, the hard streets of Philly, seriously. Anything he does I can match. If he wants to throw elbows and head butts bring it on, we got something for everything, you know what I am saying?
BT – Obviously you would like to unify your title, but do you see that being realistic with how the sanctioning bodies are and how the promoters are?
SC – Man, I mean it's kind of a mess with some of the belts. The WBA has two cruiserweight champions somehow. I still believe that it's for me to become the undisputed cruiserweight champion.
BT – What are your thoughts on Mormeck's fight?
SC – I didn't see the fight but I heard about it. Me and my wife speculated on that fight, and I know David Haye is very strong. I knew someone was going to get knocked out.
BT – When do you leave for Germany?
SC – We leave December 19th, we want ten days to get used to the time difference. I am going to spend Christmas there. Last year we missed Thanksgiving in Poland, and we'll miss Christmas this year in Germany. I am not complaining though, it's a beautiful life, and I thank God for putting me in this position, to make me a world champion.
BT – Talk more about your faith.
SC – Well it's very important and there are three reasons why I am where I am today. God says certain things in his word that gives me confidence. The Bible says, No man can stand against me when God is for me, and I take that very seriously. My wife, and my family... without my wife you would not know Steve Cunningham. The old saying that behind every great man is a greater woman is the truth. My kids, my daughter, oh man it's unbelievable to hear my kids say, 'hey that's my dad, he's the champ.' There are things that I want in this world, and first I want to bring glory to God.
BT – Your daughter fought through two major surgeries, and has one more to go. How is she doing?
SC – She is doing great now, she is just starting to walk now. She is a little bit behind schedule but that is to be expected with the surgeries. Hopefully by the end of February she will be running around. I am thankful to have her, she has one more surgery when she is three, and it is the least dangerous of the surgeries. God willing she will come through it and we can finally put the hospitals behind us. She is awesome, and I thank everyone that has prayed for us. When I won the championship, I gave her the belt, she fought a harder opponent than I did.
BT – I heard you opened a pizza parlor.
SC – Yes, good news. I purchased a pizza shop in Philadelphia. My wife is running it, and like I said, behind every great man is a greater woman, (laughs). We are going to have a grand opening, Don King said he is coming, Cory Spinks said he's coming, it's going to be a great day. The shop has a boxing theme, it was a blessed opportunity to come into the business. The name of the pizza shop is Lucky's Pizza. It's at 57th and Master street in Philly.
BT – Do you have any closing thoughts for your fans?
SC – I want to thank all of my fans for their prayers. Continue to pray for me as I go overseas to fight this opponent, and bring my title back home with me.
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