What do you get when you combine an undefeated, but tested top ten fighter vs a former champion coming off a big win? You get a great fight. On 14th March heavyweights Steve Cunningham and Vyacheslav Glaszkov will fight and crown a legitimate top 6 fighter in the division.
Steve Cunningham was last seen in a bout with Natu Visinia who was undefeated before being stopped by Cunningham. Cunnigham was down in that fight but came back to retire Visinia at the end of the seventh. Before that he was in with another undefeated fighter in dangerous puncher Amir Mansour. Cunningham was also down two times in that fight and it had the feeling that Mansour was on his way to winning that one. However later on Steve Cunningham would drop mansour and walk away with the decision.
Glazkov has less big names on his resume when compared to Cunningham, but also has some big wins. In 2014 he beat Tomasz Adamek by decision and he also has wins over Tor Hamer and Konstantin Airich on his resume. In his last outing we saw him stop journeyman Darnell Wilson in the seventh to mark his 19th win and 12th stoppage as a pro.
These two fighters are already among the top fifteen in the heavyweight division and this is the kind of win each man needs to get their name into the equation for a title shot. Currently in the heavyweight division there are many fighters campaigning for a title shot, and when there are this many names competing it takes a special performace to land that big push. This is the kind of fight which could lead to a title shot for one of these men.
Many would like to see Glazkov win this one as we have seen Cunningham lose to world level opposition before and there is something interesting in seeing an undefeated fighter go up against the champ, however Cunninghams talent, as well as his emotional back story have kept him in the public eye, and if he can maintain the level he has been producing recently this s definitely a winnable fight for him. We could also see a rematch with Tyson Fury down the line, who beat Cunningham by stoppage in the 7th in 2013. Whilst many would not like to see that fight again, Cunningham was able to drop the much larger Fury in that fight, and surely would like an opportunity to finish him off next time.
