Krzysztof Glowacki Has Something to Prove Against Steve Cunningham

When we last left Krzysztof Glowacki, his face was misshapen and swollen and he had a severe cut over the bridge of his nose. Underneath those layers of bruises, the undefeated Polish cruiserweight southpaw wore a smile, as his hand was raised after winning one of the best fights of 2015. Glowacki also wore something else, the WBO cruiserweight world title, after spoiling Marco Huck’s bid at a cruiserweight record 14th-straight title defense.

Ironically, it was Steve Cunningham that had handed Huck his last loss before Glowacki got him and shocked the boxing world. Glowacki (25-0, 16 KOs) was an unknown then. He is not now. Neither is Cunningham (28-7-1, 13 KOs), the former two-time cruiserweight champion. Glowacki will be making his first title defense against Cunningham on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. It will be televised on NBC at 8:30 ET.

The matchup is part of a tripleheader that also features Errol Spence Jr. (19-0, 16 KOs) and Chris Algieri (21-2, 8 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight clash. In addition, rising prospect Marcus Browne (17-0, 13 KOs), a 2012 U.S. Olympian from Staten Island, New York, will face Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic (21-0, 14 KOs), a native of Bosnia and Herzegovina now living in Saint Petersburg, Florida, in a 10-round light heavyweight fight.

What will set apart Glowacki-Cunningham is that it is likely to be the most exciting, action-packed fight of the night.

Over the last three years, Cunningham had been fighting at heavyweight. He is fighting at cruiserweight for the first time since February 4, 2012, when he lost a unanimous decision to IBF cruiserweight champ Yoan Pablo Hernandez, who had beaten Cunningham for the IBF belt in their previous meeting.

Glowacki is looking to show his amazing recovery against Huck was no mirage. He was knocked down with an awkward left hook to the head in the sixth round of that fight and survived serious trouble to emerge in the 11th and place Huck on his heels. An overhand Glowacki left led to Huck’s demise. It could not have arrived at a better time, because he was down on all three scorecards, Glowacki out-landed Huck in total punches, 147 out of 436 (33.7 percent) to 127 out of 395 (32.2 percent). Glowacki’s jab was particularly effective; he landed 42 out of 169 (24.9 percent) jabs to Huck’s pathetic 10 out of 130 (7.7 percent). Huck did, however, connect with more power shots, 117 out of 265 (44.2 percent) to Glowacki’s 105 out of 267 (39.3 percent).

At 29, Glowacki is a decade younger than Cunningham, though he is giving up three inches in height and seven inches in reach to “USS.”

“I am so excited to come back to the U.S. for a major fight,” Glowacki said. “I respect Steve Cunningham as a sportsman and as a man. He is a world-class fighter, and I know that he will be well-prepared against me.”

Cunningham always intends to box but has a tendency to be drawn into a brawl. That is what figures to determine this fight -- whether or not Cunningham can withstand Glowacki’s power and pressure.

Fedor Lapin, Glowacki’s trainer, feels Cunningham will be a tougher challenge than Huck. Cunningham’s longer arms and quick feet will make him difficult to pin down; and though we still do not know that much about Glowacki, we do know he possesses an iron will. With the fight at Barclays, he is sure to have a strong Polish contingent chanting his name, just as he did against Huck.

Joseph Santoliquito is the president of the Boxing Writer's Association of America and a frequent contributor to Sherdog.com's mixed martial arts and boxing coverage. His archive can be found here.