Steve Cunningham vs Vyacheslav Glazkov Preview March 13th
Veteran American Steve Cunningham will be taking on undefeated Vyacheslav Glazkov of Ukraine in a 12-round heavyweight bout this Saturday, March 14 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada. The contest can be seen on HBO in the U.S. and via pay per view in Canada. The fight is on the undercard of the light heavyweight showdown between Sergey Kovalev and Jean Pascal and is listed as an eliminator for a shot at the IBF title. It’s also for Cunningham’s USBA Heavyweight crown.
The 30-year-old Glazkov is a former Olympic bronze medalist from the 2008 Games in Beijing, China, who will be entering the ring with a perfect record of 19-0-1 with 12 Kos to his name. Glazkov likes to wear his opponents down and isn’t afraid to get into the trenches. He has pretty good power, but isn’t really the type of guy to stop a solid opponent with just one punch. He’s beaten a couple of good fighters in Tomasz Adamek and Derric Rossy so far in his career and has 113 rounds under his belt since turning pro in 2009. He’s not huge for a heavyweight at 6-foot-3 with just a 75.5-inch reach, but has pretty good footwork
The 38-year-old Cunningham is a former two-time cruiserweight world champion who is hoping to get a crack at a heavyweight title. He’s 6-feet-3-inches tall with an 82-inch reach but isn’t a natural heavyweight. Both of these guys have good boxing skills along with decent power and chins. Cunningham is getting on in years as he’s just two birthdays away from 40 and he’ll climb through the ring ropes with a mark of 28-6 with 13 Kos. He has the edge in experience as he’s taken on several top fighters since turning pro in 2000 and has 246 rounds under his belt. His last couple of wins have been against undefeated boxers and hard punchers in Amir Mansour and Natu Visinia and he stopped them both. He’s also been beaten by the likes of Tomasz Adamek and Tyson Fury.
Cunningham needs to get off to a quick start from the opening bell since Glazkov has a tendency to be slow off the mark. The American will also need to land at a consistent rate and make sure he lets his hands go since he’s going to need to rack up some points on the scorecards. It’s doubtful he has the power to stop Glazkov, but has enough snap in his punches to slow him down and make him think twice about wading right in. Cunningham’s power may be a bit underrated though since he usually sticks to boxing, but once he digs in his heels and starts throwing bombs he can cause some damage. However, he needs to utilize his skills here instead of getting roped into a slugfest.
Cunningham has gone 12 rounds nine times during his career while Glazkov has hit a dozen rounds just once, so we know the American has good endurance. Both boxers are accurate punchers with good speed, but they can sometimes be too economical in their output. When it comes to their chins, Cunningham was stopped by Fury, but it was a borderline foul that decked him. He also went down twice against Mansour, but overall he can take a good shot.
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Prediction
Another tough one to predict here as Cunningham is a typical Philadelphia fighter with a lot of motivation and heart. He’s got everything a good boxer needs to be successful, but is fighting a younger opponent who’s just as good. Speed and getting off first should be a factor here and whoever wants this fight the most should be able to take it by outworking his opponent. It’s hard to go against an undefeated former Olympic champion, but Cunningham has the skills to win this by decision as long as he’s first off the mark and lets his hands go all night.
Odds
Sportsbook 5dimes.eu has the latest odds on all of the big fights. The odds of a Cunningham victory are listed at +120 while a Glazkov win is listed at -150. Visit 5Dimes.eu to see up to date odds and to bet on this fight. You should also check out our recent boxing betting predictions to see how we’ve done.
Steve Cunningham betting • Vyacheslav Glazkov betting