Cunningham ready for Fury fight

Trainer Naazim Richardson shouted down from the ring apron toward his fighter: "You're not in Europe anymore, baby."

The crowd, he said, will be behind West Philadelphia's Steve "U.S.S." Cunningham on April 20 when he fights heavyweight Tyson Fury in a 12-round afternoon bout at Madison Square Garden.

And Livvy Cunningham, Steve's wife, prays that Richardson is right.

Too many times, Cunningham sat alone in European stadiums cheering for her husband as he fought European fighters. The Fury bout will be Cunningham's third in America. He has fought seven times in Europe.

"It was lonely," Livvy Cunningham said on Wednesday afternoon at Rock Ministries Gym in Kensington.

With time, Steve Cunningham (24-5, 12 KOs) said he learned to block out the European crowds. Each punch thrown by his opponent was cheered. And each time Cunningham missed, the cheers seemed louder.

"I'm used to not hearing 'U.S.S.' or Steve Cunningham chants," said Cunningham, 36. "If I don't hear it, I'm still going to perform."

Cunningham knows it will take more than support to knock off the 24-year-old Fury, who is undefeated in 20 fights, with 14 knockouts. The 6-foot-9 British fighter holds a six-inch height advantage.

"I have to prove I'm the better man no matter what size," Cunningham said.

Last month, Cunningham sat ringside with his wife at Bernard Hopkins' Brooklyn fight. As the crowd chanted Hopkins' name in the later rounds, Livvy Cunningham said she had goosebumps.

"One of my prayers is that one day Steve will get that," she said. "Just as a wife, I want that for him."