Tarver-Cunningham & Huck- Glowacki this Friday on Spike TV

By Boxing News - 08/10/2015 - Comments

tarver4By Dan Ambrose: Former light heavyweight world champion Antonio Tarver (31-6, 22 KOs) will be trying to put himself into position for a world title fight this Friday night when he faces former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (28-6, 13 KOs) in heavyweight action on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV from the Prudential Center, in Newark, New Jersey.

The 46-year-old Tarver is hoping that he can get a world title shot against IBF/IBO/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko next year if he gets by Cunningham. Tarver stands a better chance of getting a title shot against WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder in the future rather than Klitschko. It doesn’t make Wladimir look good in fighting the soon to be 47-year-old Tarver.

The Tarver-Cunningham fight matches two aging heavyweights against each. Cunningham is 39 and is clearly getting up there in age. However, neither of these guys is showing their age. They’re older but they’re fighting like they’re in their late 20s.

“After I defeat Steve Cunningham, I will be ready for the giant,” Tarver said to fightnews.com. “Next year, at the age of 47, I want to become the oldest man to win the heavyweight championship by beating the heavyweight champ – the great Wladimir Klitschko!”

It’s not a good match-up between the 6’6” Klitschko and Tarver, because he doesn’t have the size to compete with Wladimir. Tarver looks like a flabby 225lb heavyweight rather than a solid 245lb guy like Wladimir. Tarver is more an overweight cruiserweight than a legitimate heavyweight, and that would be the reason why he would get easily beaten by Wladimir if he could even get the fight against him in 2016.

More than likely, Tarver will need to work himself to the No.1 mandatory spot with one of the sanctioning bodies before Wladimir agrees to fight him. With the hard fights that Wladimir has in front of him against Tyson Fury, Wilder and Anthony Joshua, he may not be a world champion for look.

The 39-year-old Cunningham has the experience and the mobility to beat Tarver, but he’s going to need to let his hands go to have a chance of winning.

In an interesting fight on the undercard, WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26 KOs) will be defending his title against his No.1 WBO contender Krzysztof Glowacki (24-0, 15 KOs). Huck is heavily favored to win this fight. Glowacki is unbeaten, but he’s never fought anyone of note yet during his career. It’s another contender with an inflated ranking.
Huck is someone who could be moving up to the heavyweight division in the future.

He’s got the size, the punching power and the chin to fight at the heavyweight level. Huck narrowly lost to Alexander Povetkin in the past in an exciting fight from start to finish. If Huck moved up to heavyweight he’d immediately become a major player in the division.

With his punching power and his ability to take punishment, Huck would have a good chance of beating Wladimir Klitschko if he could get a crack at him. It’s not a fight that Wladimir would likely be eager to take, even though it would be a huge fight in Germany due to Huck being well-known over there.

Also on the card is Heavyweight Artur Szpilka battling Yasmany Consuegra in a 10 round fight.



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