Two time IBF Cruiserweight Champion of the World Steve ‘USS’ Cunningham became the first two time Briscoe Award winner, after receiving his second Philadelphia ‘Fighter Of The Year’ award, at the 4th Annual Briscoe Awards, which took place at the VBA Club in Port Richmond, PA, on Monday evening.
Cunningham, who was awarded the 2007 ‘Fighter of the Year’ Briscoe ahead of his December ‘08 ‘Fight of the Year’ nominated battle against Tomasz Adamek, was put forward for his second Briscoe after securing the IBF title for the second time, and won based on votes cast by boxing fans, boxing media, and the readers of the Web site PhillyBoxingHistory.com.
Speaking from his Philadelphia home earlier today Cunningham said, “Being voted Philly’s boxer of the year for 2010 means a lot to me. I don’t get to fight at home and so my Philly fans don’t really get to see me fight, so to be recognized was special. The event was great, a lot of people came out to show support. I would like to thank John Di Santo, he works really hard keeping Philly’s boxing history alive and organizing the awards, I appreciate all that he does for Philly boxing.”
Also receiving Briscoe Awards on Monday were, Derek ‘Pooh’ Ennis and ‘King’ Gabriel Rosado, for their classic 12-round war, which received the ‘2010 Philly Fight of the Year’. Ennis won the fight, but both boxers rightly won the ‘Briscoe’. Dhafir Smith won a special Briscoe Award for his ‘Upset of the Year’, for his magnificent victory over former world champion Jeff Lacy. Smith defied all odds by going onto Lacy’s own back yard to battle his way to a major upset victory.
Amateur star Damon Allen, Jr. won the ‘Everett Brothers Award’ which is presented by Eddie Everett and Mike Everett in the name of their deceased brother Tyrone and their family’s great boxing tradition.
