O'Neil Bell from Montego Bay, St. James, celebrates after knocking out Jean-Marc Mormeck of France in the 10th round of their cruiserweight unification bout earlier this year. - REUTERS
PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (CMC):
THE CAMP of undefeated American boxer Steve Cunningham is expressing deep "disappointment" that Jamaica's undisputed world cruiserweight champion O'Neil Bell has withdrawn from their scheduled clash.
Cunningham's camp speaks of contractual and money disagree-ments leading to the cancellation and says Bell is reneging on a promise that he would offer their man a title shot against him.
"The Cunningham camp is deeply disappointed by the recent events surrounding the scheduled championship fight with O'Neil Bell. We had started training and Steve was very much looking forward to this fight," Cunning-ham's camp declared in a press release.
"Money and contractual pro-blems are an unfortunate part of this business, however at the post-fight press conference on January 7, O'Neil went on record claiming he would fight Steve for free.
"Also, in recent interviews, O'Neil claimed he would knockout Steve in two rounds. When you make strong statements like that, and then back out of the fight, you leave yourself open to criticism. It makes no sense to call this an easy fight and then turn around and over-price yourself out of the fight.
"Great fighters are made great by fighting, not complaining," added the statement from Cunningham's camp.
KNOCK-OUT TITLE
Atlanta-based Bell claimed the undisputed world cruiserweight crown in January when he whipped Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck on a 10th round knockout at Madison Square Garden in New York to add the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) belts to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt he already held.
On the same card Cunningham had halted Jamaican Lloyd "Jabba" Bryan in five rounds and announced himself as a legitimate challenger for Bell's title.
Cunningham, who is the number one contender for the IBF title, number two with the WBC and four with the WBA, has an impressive ring log of 19-0 with 10 knockouts.
Bell, the only English-speaking Caribbean boxer currently holding a world title, has a record of 26 wins (24 knockouts) against one defeat.
