Troy Ross, still "young" at 35, wants
another shot at Cunningham
Cunningham's thumb,
not his fists,
ended fight with Troy Ross
By Rizwaan Zahid
of
www.ringsideboxingshow.com
Just outside
Toronto, a man works hard outside on his
lawn, digging away, planting trees and mowing on a Sunday
afternoon. Seems like any other lawn in Toronto, doesn’t it?
“Riz, is that you?” a
voice calls out.
“Yes it is,” I reply
back.
The voice is no ordinary
man. This is the IBF mandatory challenger for the cruiserweight
title. Back from his controversial loss against Steve Cunningham
in Germany, Troy Ross is back in Brampton, Canada, working on
his lawn and being a regular family guy. This is the Troy Ross
outside of training camp and the ring.
In that fight against
Cunningham, Ross was seemingly thumbed in the eye, which caused
a severe laceration, but the gash was ruled to be the result of
a legal punch, giving Cunningham the questionable victory. Ross
had Cunningham down in round four before the fight was called to
a halt at the end of the stanza.
Troy says the eye is
doing well now, however.
“It’s pretty much healed
up,” Ross said. “We lost the appeal and they said there has to
be proof that the tip of the thumb went into the eye in order to
define it as thumbing”.
Troy indicated that he
wasn’t all that impressed with what Cunningham brought to the
table.
“He didn’t do a thing
that surprised me. He was more surprised by me. Their plan was
for me to come forward. I’m a stronger guy and they expected me
to go directly toward him. I know I can box, so we just did that
from the outside and counterpunched.”
After the fight
Cunningham stated that he thought he proved that he was better
then Troy Ross. A statement that Ross disagrees with.
“My assessment was that
he didn’t prove anything in the ring. I didn’t have to say
anything in regard to that because every one else did, including
the media. They were saying I didn’t lose the fight. Dan Rafael
from ESPN moved me up in the rankings instead of moving me down.
I was clearly the better boxer.”
Despite knocking
Cunningham down in the fourth round, neither judge gave Ross the
10-8 round. Ross has accepted the event and is ready to move on
and wants to make another fight with Cunningham.
“A rematch is a must, I
think, because the fans want to see it and the media wants it.
Everyone wants it. Clearly, Cunningham was not the winner of the
fight. There should be a rematch. As a boxer and a man,
Cunningham shouldn’t want to become a champion that way. I would
automatically grant him one if I won it like that, and ‘say lets
do it again, I don’t want it this way.’ Not for a world title.”
Ross understands that at
35 he's reached an age where most fighters are heading into the
twilight of their careers and are on the decline. Ross however
feels like a young 35, indicating that his body is still
performing at its peak.
“I’m thinking I got
another 2-3 years that I would like to dedicate to the sport.
Physically my body is still performing. Honestly, I have no idea
when I’m going to retire. Every fight I fight like it’s my last
fight. That brings the best out of me, and that’s why I would
always like to fight the best.”
The cut Ross assures has
healed up nicely and is ready to get back in the ring.
Ross is now looking at a
date in late October on home ground against what he is hoping
will be a top 10 cruiserweight. Ideally, he’d like to get a
title shot right away. There is clearly unfinished business
between himself and Cunningham. And for Troy, unprofessional
business is personal.
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