(Photo credit: Ed Diller/DiBella Entertainment) By Jim Dower: In a disappointing outcome, former light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver (31-6-1, 22 KOs) fought to a 12 round draw against former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (28-7-1, 13 KOs) on Friday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Spike TV at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. The final judges’ scores were 115-113 for Cunningham, 115-114 for Tarver, and 114-114.
After witnessing an exciting fight in the co-feature between Marco Huck and Krzyzstof Glowacki, the boxing fans were kind of spoiled by the time the Tarver-Cunningham fight took place for the main event. The fans expected nonstop action, but unfortunately the 46-year-old Tarver was only capable of throwing occasional hard left hand power shots. Before long, the crowd started booing the lack of action, and they pretty much continued to boo off and on from the 2nd round until the 12th.