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With Antonio Tarver out of this weekend’s planned fight against Frank Mir, scheduled to take place on Triller’s Jake Paul vs Ben Askren undercard, Steve Cunningham has officially stepped in to take Tarver’s place against Mir.
Speaking with RingTV on coming into this fight as a late replacement, Cunningham says he’s ready for the opportunity while making it clear that he never retired from the sport despite not having fought since the summer of 2017.
“When this call came up, I was like, ‘This is perfect.’ I’m know my age, I’ll be 45 this year, but I’m always working, I’m always in shape, I always train. We own a gym, USS Fight Academy. I train a lot of amateur fighters and my son – we spar. I’m ready, we’re in shape. I just want to put the cap on my career and this will help me do that.”
Cunningham says he expects Mir to be a dangerous opponent because being an MMA fighter he’ll be throwing punches from different angles and approaching the fight differently than a traditionally trained boxer would. And then there’s just the size difference, with Cunningham expecting to come in around 210lbs while Mir will enter the ring between 250-260lbs.
How to Watch Jake Paul vs Ben Askren
Date: Saturday, April 17 | Start Time: 9:00 pm ET
Location: Mercedes-Benz Stadium - Atlanta, GA
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Online Coverage: BadLeftHook.com
The former cruiserweight champion also mentions that he’s not trying to use this fight to jump start his fighting career again, saying he’s not looking to make any kind of run at another world title but rather just sees this as a chance to make some money and have fun before formally walking away from boxing for good. Cunningham is fully aware of where he’s at right now and is simply trying to capitalize on the entertainment portion of the sport — and good for him if there’s a check in it.
This weekend’s Triller card is set to go live this Saturday night starting at 9 p.m. ET.