Press Release: On December 11, 2008, Philadelphia's Steve “USS” Cunningham defends his IBF cruiserweight championship against “Polish Warrior” Tomasz Adamek in Newark, New Jersey.  Versus will broadcast the Cunningham-Adamek bout and a co-feature. Cunningham is a constant fixture at the James Shuler Memorial Gym in West Philly and the Rock Ministries Gym in Kensington.   But despite his intensity he and his team keep the atmosphere relaxed with practical jokes:  “We like to have fun in camp.  Last week when my trainer [Anthony Chase] landed in Philly we told him we rented a nice apartment for him.  We took him to the ghetto to a house where the grass was over-grown and the windows were boarded.  I walked over to the car with a straight face and gave him the keys and his jaw dropped.  I couldn’t stop laughing.”

Chase has trained Cunningham since the amateurs; although the two did separate for a few years before reuniting.  Chase has also trained Cedric Boswell, Sam Reese, Dorin Spivey, Owen Beck, and Dave Hadden.

Chazz Witherspoon and Eddie Chambers are two of the fighters Cunningham is using for sparring because he wants “bigger, stronger guys”. . .

Cunnigham had this to say about Adamek: “From what it seems I think I’ve fought tougher guys [than Adamek], like Guillermo Jones, Kelvin Davis, and Sebastian Rothmann.  But I see a decent fighter in Adamek—solid, pretty strong.  I’m expecting a tough fight.  I think he’s been in there with good opposition.  He fought Chad Dawson.  But I’m different than Chad.  I’m bigger.  That’s what makes this fight so good.  Both of us have been there, done that. Adamek was bigger than I thought [when we met].  We were about the same size.  But size doesn’t mean much.  Some of my toughest fights were against smaller guys.”

Cunningham served four years in the U.S. Navy and finished as an E-3.  For the first 2 ½ years of his service he was an aircraft re-fueler for the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. America. “I re-fueled everything from F-18s, F-14s, helicopters, you name it.”  He visited many places such as the Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, Greece, Italy, and Malta. The last 1 ½ years of his tour were spent boxing for the Navy. Cunningham is proud of his service and would like to serve as a spokesman for the Navy.