Cunningham Defeats Braithwaite

cunningham43534By Jason Kim: In a battle between former cruiserweight champions, Steve Cunningham (22-2, 11 KO’s) defeated Wayne Braithwaite (23-4, 19 KO’s) by a 12-round unanimous decision in an International Boxing Federation cruiserweight title Eliminator bout on Saturday night on the under card of the Joseph Agbeko vs. Vic Darchinyan bout at the BankAtlandtic Center, in Sunrise, Florida.

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Braithwaite Stops Hernandez

braithwaite46433.jpgBy Scott Gilfoid: In somewhat of an upset, former WBC cruiserweight champion Wayne Braithwaite (23-3, 18 KOs) stopped previously undefeated Cuban prospect Yoan Pablo Hernandez (14-1, 8 KOs) in the 3rd round tonight to claim the WBA Fedelatin cruiserweight title & WBC Latino cruiserweight titles at the Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Braithwaite, 32, rallied from a 1st round in which he was knocked down once and staggered on a separate occasion from the 23 year-old Hernandez. However, instead of going for the kill, Hernandez seemed to back off as if wanting to prolong the fight for his viewers.

In a way, it was like watching an old news real of the former great Cuban super heavyweight Teofilo Stevenson, who would often be incredibly patient while fighting and would knock many of his opponents out with a single punch. If that was Hernandez’s plan, it was a big mistake because Braithwaite hits too hard to keep him in the fight, and Hernandez was making it easy by him by opening up with wild exhanges, leaving his chin vulnerable from counter shots by Braithwaite. Hernandez controlled the action though the first and second round, though at the end of the second, he was hit with two right hands from Braithwaite, one of which landed at the bell and seemed to hurt Hernandez.

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Yoan Pablo Hernandez vs. Braithwaite On Saturday

braithwaite333535.jpgBy Scott Gilfoid: Former WBC cruiserweight champion Wayne Braithwaite (22-3, 18 KOs) steps up to the plate tomorrow night against undefeated Cuban prospect Yoan Pablo Hernandez (14-0, 8 KOs) in a 12-round championship bout for the little known WBA Fedelatin and WBC Latino cruiserweight titles at the Sparkassen-Arena, Kiel, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Braithwaite, a former WBC cruiserweight champion from 2002 to 2005, lost his title to Jean Marc Mormeck in a 12-round unanimous decision loss on April 2005.

Before that, Braithwaite had successfully defended the title three times, beating the likes of Ravea Springs, Luis Andres Pineda and Louis Azille, none exactly household names to be sure. However, Braithwaite, a fighter with excellent power, was considered was arguably the top fighter in the cruiserweight division during that three year period. With all things there comes an end, however, for Braithwaite would be defeated by the aforementioned Mormeck in 2005. Following that loss, it’s been pretty much non-stop bad news for Braithwaite since then, losing again in his very next fight, this time to Guillermo Jones by 4th round TKO in a WBC title eliminator in September 2005.

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