By Ian Aldous: On December 22nd, Steve ‘U.S.S’ Cunningham (25-4) continues his ascent of the heavyweight division when he faces Tomasz Adamek (47-2) for the IBF North American heavyweight title live on NBC network TV from 4pm ET. The former world cruiserweight champions will collide in a rematch four years after their FOTY candidate. This week Steve took some time to talk with me about the fight and his move to the heavyweight division.

Following two close but unsuccessful fights with the current IBF cruiserweight champion, Yoan Pablo Hernandez in late 2011 (controversial technical decision) and early 2012 (tight unanimous decision), Steve Cunningham chose to leave the division he has been such a staple of for so long and move up to heavyweight. After so many years of comfortably making the 200lbs limit, the move hasn’t affected his training too much. “I’m just making sure I’m eating more and eating the right stuff. Not working as much, like, I ran all the time, doing long distance runs, now I’m doing way more sprints than long distance. Keeping the weight on is the main difference. Everything else feels the same, working hard and I’m much more comfortable with the extra weight too.”

His heavyweight debut against Jason Gavern was chief support to the Tomasz Adamek vs. Travis Walker main event on September 8th. Two judges scored the fight a 100-90 shutout in what was a comfortable evening for Cunningham. “Yeah, I was happy. Jason Gavern is one of the rough, tough guys who upsets you if you let him. The main thing was just to go in there and work on the things we worked on in camp and having a safe transition. I felt I hurt him, stunned him a few times in there. With him being 239lbs, that gives me a little boost and the confidence I need to transition to heavyweight. For me personally, I went and got the rounds, my trainer wanted me to jump on him and do this but in the ring I told myself to just stay calm and make stuff happen. I felt very comfortable.”

After spending the majority of his career since 2006 fighting in Europe due to the popularity of cruiserweights in that part of the world, the return home to U.S soil was something that Steve greeted with open arms. “Yeah, like I said the word comfort comes in again. It’s still fighting but after travelling in Europe so many times and fighting, you see the difference in your body because we have to leave two weeks before the fight and then everybody’s tired and trying to catch the right sleep, eat different foods. It does affect you but I never complained about when I went to Europe, that’s what I had to do and I did it. Here and now you feel the difference, we drove to the last fight in our own car (laughs).”

Going into the fight, Adamek is highly rated on any top ten heavyweight list, while interestingly, the November issue of The Ring magazine stated that they’ve rated Cunningham in the cruiserweight division for 426 consecutive weeks. It was a statistic he was unaware of and rightly put a smile on his face. Surely a fight between these two would lead the winner into a big fight against Wladimir Klitschko? “What I’ve heard is that it’s like that tourney that they had (IBF four-man elimination tournament). I basically just replaced (Odlanier) Solis. I think the winner is supposed to fight (Kubrat) Pulev. A fight’s a fight and I just wanna fight and of course the goal is to be world heavyweight champion, so fighting Wladimir, you know, if that’s where I’m headed, let’s go.”

One of the reasons that I personally feel that the winner warrants a shot at Wladimir Klitschko is the distinct lack of worthy challengers in the division, especially from the U.S. Steve concurred. “I don’t know what has happened in America to American heavyweights. They were dominant for some time but it’s like heavyweights now figure that the heavier you are, the better you are, you know. It’s not about being in shape, it’s just about being heavy. ‘I’m 6’3” or 6’4” and I’m gonna be 260lbs’, you know, it looks sloppy. Any fighter that works every day like he should, there shouldn’t be anything flabby on him and jiggling. You’ve seen these fighters like that and it’s really disrespectful, it’s a disgrace. They’re not performing to that level, to the championship level, they’re not champions. Their work shows in their performance.” He continued “I mean, heavyweight is the most prestige weight in boxing, so people expect a lot.”

The first fight between these two was back in December 2008. It was a terrific back-and-forth war that saw Cunningham down three times yet only drop a split decision. Adamek was the power puncher on that night although Cunningham put in some great work to bank rounds on the scorecards. Will we see a similar fight this time? “Yeah, I’m not gonna say as blood and gutsy but yeah, if it goes there then we have to back him down. The plan is to win, if that’s where it has to be in order to get the win, yes that’s what we’re gonna do but Adamek is a different fighter, I’m a different fighter, we’ve grown, we’re both a little older. With his age, I don’t see him declining and I know I haven’t declined, I feel I’ve gotten better, so it’s gonna be a very good fight.”

December 22nd at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem in Pennsylvania features Tomasz Adamek vs. Steve Cunningham in the main event. The undercard will be announced shortly. The fights will be broadcast on NBC network TV beginning 4PM ET. The card is presented by Main Events and Ziggy Promotions, in association with Peltz Boxing.

Tickets are priced $ 50, $75, $105 and suites at $130 and are available at the Sands Bethlehem Event Center box office 610-297-7414, Main Events 973-200-7050 and Peltz Boxing 215-765-0922 and through Ticketmaster, http://www.ticketmaster.com/NBC-Fight-NightBoxing-tickets/artist/1794277, Ticketmaster Sales:during regular hours 800-745-3000, Ticketmaster Express: automated phone line for self-service ticket sales, even after hours, 866-448-7849

For additional information on the event, seating arrangements, or ticketing, visit the event page located on the website. www.sandseventcenter.com