Will Cunningham Gain His Revenge?

Will Cunningham Gain His Revenge?

By Michael Gales Dec 17, 2012

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Boxing betting at Pinnacle Sports sees Tomasz Adamek as the 1.307* favourite to beat American Steve Cunningham 3.860* in a much anticipated rematch on December 22nd.  Can Cunningham gain his revenge in the heavyweight bout, or will Adamek prevail again?

First Fight Breakdown

Four years ago the last Adamek vs. Cunningham bout was regarded as one of the greatest cruiserweight battles of all time.

Adamek won by split decision in a highly entertaining 12-round brawl for Cunningham’s IBF cruiserweight championship in 2008. Despite being floored three times – rounds 2, 4 & 8 – Cunningham made the bout extremely close, as he landed more jabs, while Adamek produced more power punches.

The overall punch stats showed that Cunningham landed 30% of his punches thrown, while Adamek landed 39%.

Adamek Favourite to Beat Cunningham Again

Tomasz Adamek is the 1.307* favourite to win his 11th bout in the heavyweight division. The 36-year-old has a formidable record in the cruiserweight division of 47-2, with 29 wins coming by way of knockout, since moving up to the heavyweight division he has a 9-1 record with his only blemish, a knockout defeat to Vitali Klitschko.

In his last two fights against Eddie Chambers and Travis Walker he looked to be struggling despite winning both. The Pole survived a second-round knockdown to beat Walker, while he looked wild at times against Chambers.

Can Cunningham Beat Adamek?

Steve Cunningham can be backed at 3.860* to win his second fight as a heavyweight.  The American has a record of 25-4 with 12 wins coming by way of knockout at cruiserweight category, however he has only fought once at heavyweight.

The 36-year-old made his heavyweight debut against journeyman Jason Gavern – winning a unanimous points decision. Despite accomplishing huge wins at the lighter weight, Cunningham suffered two back-to-back defeats at cruiserweight against Yoan Pablo Hernandez, and has a poor 6-4 record since 2006.

Significant Fight Statistics 

As a heavyweight Adamek is far more accustomed and this will no doubt have a bearing on the outcome of this result. For instance Cunningham has boxed 10 rounds at the heaviest weight class, while Adamek has been involved in 95.

Like the first fight Adamek may be outboxed for long stretches, but when his punches land, they will do damage. In the first fight whenever Adamek connected solidly, Cunningham went down and those 10-8 rounds were too much to overcome on the cards.

Adamek is an orthodox fighter and hits with a hard punch despite having an average knockout percentage of just 59.18%. In comparison Cunningham also fights with an orthodox stance, but has a sterile career knockout percentage of 41.38%.

Cunningham will look to box from distance and utilise his jab against the smaller Adamek. The American stands at 6ft 3” and has a massive 7 inch reach advantage. Whether or not Cunningham can box at a distance will be key to determining the winner.

*Odds subject to change

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