Cunningham TKO5 - Ross Cut by Unintentional Thumb

by Joseph R. Holzer

Steve "USS" Cunningham recaptured the IBF cruiserweight championship when a nasty cut above Troy Ross' left eye caused the title bout to be stopped just before the fifth round was to begin. It was a brief, sometimes sloppy and unpredictable scrap up to the moment referee Bill Clancy stopped it on request of the ringside physician.

It was a wait of 18 months for Cunningham, of Philadelphia, who lost the same title against Tomasz Adamek in a 2008 fight of the year candidate. Circumstances aside, the newly crowned champion was all smiles after the bout, embracing his wife Livvy amid a cheering German audience. He praised Ross afterward, and the two shook hands.

Nervousness might have been an issue for each boxer coming into the bout. In the first two rounds, Ross was throwing looping punches that seldom landed cleanly. Cunningham, meanwhile, was in nearly constant motion, pushing forward behind a jab that seemed to be thrown from too far away to have an effect.

The action settled down in the third, with each fighter starting to find a semblance of rhythm and it looked like it was on pace to be a solid match.  Ross appeared to break through in the fourth, landing a picture-perfect straight left hand that floored Cunningham in the final minute of the round. Cunningham quickly rose to his feet and the action resumed, with Ross tying to follow-up only to cringe and retreat quickly after a glancing right hand caught his left eye.  Replays indicated Cunningham's thumb landed directly on the eye causing the fight ending cut, although it was clearly unintentional.

As the fifth round was about to start, Clancy walked Ross over to the doctor to evaluate the cut.  On the doctor's request, Clancy called a halt to the action awarding Cunningham the TKO victory.  It was an abrupt and unsatisfying ending to a bout that was starting to heat up.

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