Steve “USS” Cunningham and wife Livvy were fighting for their daughter Kennedy’s life before she was even born. Now, as Kennedy awaits a heart transplant 300 miles away in Pittsburgh, PA, Cunningham prepares to step into the ring Saturday against a young, undefeated prospect with an 80 percent (8 of 10) knockout-to-win ratio.
Livvy and Kennedy Cunningham moved to Pittsburgh several weeks ago to be close to their doctors in the event a heart is found for Kennedy. Steve stayed in Philadelphia with their two sons, Cruz and Steve Jr., and trained for his Oct. 18 bout against Natu Visinia at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia. The separation has been difficult for this close-knit family.
“With Livvy and Kennedy in Pittsburgh, I miss them dearly,” he said, “but I get paid to do a job and it needs to get done.”
This will be Steve’s second fight in a row in his Philadelphia hometown after spending 11 years (19 bouts) fighting elsewhere. This has made his training easier while he is separated from Kennedy and Livvy. Although Cunningham is not accustomed to fighting in front of his hometown crowd, he has been touched by the outpouring of support for his family from the Philly fans.
“It is an honor to fight in Philly because Philly is the fight capital of the world,” he said. “To be here during this time when everyone has been so supportive of the situation with my daughter’s fund, it is great to give back to my fans. I didn’t really have to take this fight, but I just want to stay active while we are dealing with this situation. This isn’t a walkover fight but I have to make it look like that though.”
Cunningham’s trainer, Brother Naazim Richardson (trainer of Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Main Events’ stablemate Karl Dargan), said Cunningham is still focused on his opponent.
“Visinia is a big kid,” Richardson said. “He’s a dangerous kid. Steve is a real veteran. He’s seen a lot. He responds well in the ring. He has courage and talent and he is a great ambassador for our sport. At the end of the fight you will see how he neutralizes the big strong guy and that is what is important.”
Cunningham’s last fight on April 4 was against Amir “Hardcore” Mansour, a fellow-Philadelphian and good friend. The two battled for 10 hard rounds and Steve emerged with the USBA Heavyweight title. Despite losing his belt, Mansour became the champion behind the fund for Kennedy’s expenses during his televised post-fight interview.
“A big shoutout to Mansour because he was the one who got the fund for Kennedy started,” Cunningham said. “When Mansour said what he said after our fight about giving to our family, it hadn’t even been in our minds to open a fund.
“People started hitting us up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, wanting to know where they could donate. That’s when we realized people really wanted to help. We opened it and the thing just blew up. I told Mansour that this was all thanks to him. We were friends before we went into the fight and we were friends after. For me, boxing is more than just winning fights and being a champion. It is about relationships. It is a brotherhood. Even though we fight each other, we still got respect for each other.”
The fund created by Steve and Livvy, Heartbyfaith.com, raised over $25,000 to help with the expenses associated with Kennedy’s heart transplant. Kennedy was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, a congenital heart defect. She is currently awaiting a donor heart in Pittsburgh.
