Steve Cunningham vs. Tim Skolnik

This is absolutely fucking wild. I've actually heard of fights being signed (or at least the ball having gotten rolling) via beefs on social media before, and in some cases they were the quite ridiculous little circus act, but this might be the cake-taker.

Outspoken former 2-time IBF cruiser world champ turned scrappy but undersized heavyweight fringe contender turned aging but still game part-time cruiser fringe contender and full-time comic book artist Steve "USS" Cunningham is known for his inflammatory caprice on social media, posting whatever pops into his mind with no impulse control and quickly buying into a wide range of conspiracy theories and histrionic propaganda in support of his political (far left/black supremacist) and religious (hardline Christian) views. It lures out trolls, who engage in verbal brawls with Cunningham no less grueling and spiteful than his storied battles for the IBF belt with the likes of Diablo, Goral, and Kap'n Huck in days of yore. The most recent instance of this was his lambasting Eminem for his freestyle on Donald Trump, accusing him of having remained too silent on Black Lives Matters issues until now in what Steve considers ingratitude toward a community that largely boosted him to his celebrity and wealth, accusing him of now jumping on the bandwagon cause disingenuously and only to attract new attention because he currently has a new album coming out. He also said that Em coming from a position of white privilege wasn't qualified to speak on issues faced by African-Americans, which prompted a lot of backlash from Steve's (mostly black) friends saying essentially "bruh! ...we can't accuse whites of not caring and then switch it up and say they can't speak up for us either, that's a ridiculous contradiction". Also, problematically, this got Steve into a few verbal fistfights with some white people on his friends list and that's where things get a bit uncomfortable.

Here's the entire stupid exchange:

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From the outside looking in, just a misunderstanding between friends, but throw in a double-dash of male ego (pro boxer male ego at that) and voila. Here we are.

Skolnik enjoyed a so-so time in the amateurs (depending on how you're judging it; excellent by regional standards but at the full boundary of domestic level was stopped by Tony Grano; he was on the US Boxing team for a few years but AFAIK didn't ever participate abroad in any major tourneys) and is currently, if you were a TV channel marketing rep or event promoter wanting to spruce things up a bit to sell this fight, "undefeated in the professional ranks with a 100% wins-by-KO rate". Of course, putting things in context he's 1-0-1 and fought in 2008 and 2011 respectively.

Here's an old article on him:
http://www.recordonline.com/article/20080529/SPORTS/805290330

Here's the extant footage of Skolnik:

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I'd say that Cunningham electing to actually box this guy in a sanctioned match that counts on their records - taking an Internet beef that probably could've been resolved with a phone call way too far - is a ludicrous notion, but a) we are living in the Mayweather vs. McGregor era, where ATG's can apparently sell a PPV in their fiftieth pro bout versus a debuting novice, and b) Cunningham isn't exactly the USS of days bygone. He is 1-3-1 since his last remotely decent victory (and even that was no big whoop, exposing one-dimensional and previously untested 10-0 Samoan-American prospect Natu Visinia) which as of this Wednesday is 3 years in the rearview mirror. In that lone win, he didn't even manage to stop (or so much as drop) Felipe Romero, for whom eleven of 15 losses have come by KO. So maybe, if Steve were to underestimate him and Skolnik was serious about giving it his everything and caving his skull in with bad-intentions punches, just maybe I guess it might be competitive?

Nah, realistically, Steve would ice him in a minute. But there's no way this should be a sanctioned bout. Three rounds in a gym somewhere, and uploaded to YouTube for smack-talking rights for the winner (and shame for the loser) - and then go out afterwards to grab a beer and hash **** out face to face once they've purged all the angry testosterone from their systems - yeah sure. That's fine. I'd watch it. But Steve needs to keep this nonsense off his record, and Tim needs to keep his "unblemished" one just the way it stands. IMO.

 

Also the guy, despite officially still calling Chicago his home (originally from Traverse City, Michigan) has apparently been staying with his girlfriend here in Boston for at least a year or two and while here is working out & teaching some classes at Peter Welch's Gym in Dorchester (have been several times myself over the years but never signed up for a membership).

If he does end up having an exhibition with Cunningham and miraculously getting over on him you know damn well I'm hopping in an Uber and challenging his ass to a hard (videotaped) spar toot suite. You gotta beat the man that beat the man to be the man!

 

All this over Emi-freaking-nem.

 

You know the powers that be would try selling it as some kind of grudge match pitting "racist white guy versus militant black guy" but nothing Skolnik did appears to be overtly racist (or even implicitly) and Cunningham is kind of a troll online from what I've seen, he isn't exactly the Kill Whitey type, in fact just today he posted a picture of his pale as snow childhood boxing coach with a heartfelt message about reconnecting with him after many years, so they'd be appealing to strictly the lowest common denominator with that angle. Then again, they managed to hype and schedule, (and then reschedule) that Big Brody vs. Tyrone match (which, if you haven't seen THAT circus act..., so anything is possible I guess.

Half of me expects Big George vs. Segal to actually pop off...

 

Skolnik by KO on the scoreboard with a single vote!

 

Before we scoff at the idea of someone like Cunningham at the age of 41 losing to a Skolnik, let's remember that James Toney found a way at 46 to lose to Charles Ellis (who in all honesty is probably about the same level as Skolnik...)

Of course that five years makes a difference, as does staying active, plus the fact that Steve is a notorious ever-shredded gymrat and stays in much better shape than James (understatement of the millennium) but still...I'll bet Toney in his considerably longer career has taken less FLUSH hits than Cunningham, who is more inclined to go to war and has been caught with bombs on his relatively far shakier chin and dropped a slew of times, unlike Toney.

Just sayin!

 

I find it hilarious they've remained friends on Facebook through all of this.