13 years ago

Date: 12th February 2011

Title: IBF World Cruiserweight Title

Promoter: Sauerland Event

Tv: ARD

Steve Cunningham
( 23 - 2 - 0 )
Weight: 198 1/2 lbs

Enad Licina
( 19 - 2 - 0 )
Weight: 198 1/2 lbs

Now in his second reign as IBF World Cruiserweight Champion, Steve 'USS' Cunningham made the first defence of his title against IBF No 1 contender Enad Licina, a Serbian living in Frankfurt, Germany.

Cunningham made a shaky start to the fight and lost the early rounds. After changing his approach, the champion started to come back into the fight and by midway, the scorecards were fairly even.

In the second half, it was all Cunningham, and the two-time IBF Champion cruised to a unanimous decision to retain his title.

Cunningham first won the IBF Crown from Krzysztof Wlodarczyk in May 2007, and after knocking out the then-unbeaten Marco Huck in his first defence, he lost the title to Thomasz Adamek in December 2008. Eighteen months later he regained the title in a vacant title fight against Troy Ross.