O'neil Bell - FILE
philadelphia, usa (cmc):
UNDEFEATED AMERICAN boxer Steve Cunningham is sending verbal threats to new undisputed cruiserweight champion O'Neil 'Supernova' Bell declaring that he will beat the Jamaican whenever they meet.
Bell claimed the undisputed world title in the 200-pound division earlier this month when he whipped Frenchman Jean-Marc Mormeck on a 10th round knockout to add the World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) belts to the International Boxing Federation (IBF) belt he already held.
The result ended a solid 29-fight unbeaten streak for Mormeck but Cunningham gave Bell only a lukewarm rating for his upset win.
Cunningham declared that he told Bell after the fight: "Enjoy your time at the top, because it's going to be short."
"Even though he stopped Mormeck, Bell didn't show me anything new at all. He didn't prove that he'd upgraded his skills or anything," said Cunningham, who appeared in a support bout on the same card at Madison Square Garden on January 7.
The fluent Cunningham halted Jamaican Lloyd Bryan in five rounds at MSG and then settled into a ringside seat to watch Bell tackle Mormeck.
Earlier in his career, Cunningham was one of Bell's training partners and the Philadelphia-based 29-year-old IBF number one contender believes Bell only won the undisputed title because Mormeck did not train properly for the fight and was not in his best shape.
"Mormeck was a slouch, and was made for him. Mormeck didn't take his job serious enough - and wasn't in the kind of condition you expect from a unified world champion," Cunningham said.
"We sparred loads together back in Atlanta when we were both on the way up.
Truthfully, in the years that have passed since we did all that sparring, Bell hasn't changed much at all. He's maybe got a tiny little bit smarter, but that's it."
Cunningham praised Bell for his retaliatory skills after absorbing huge blows from Mormeck but declared that the ability to take punches is not an asset he would be proud of.
"O'Neil's chin is great - but, then again, that's all that brain damage crap I always try to avoid. Bell's chin has to be good because he has absolutely no defence. He gets hit a lot, and needs to rely on that good chin of his to stay in fights," added Cunningham, who boasts a record of 19-0 (10 knockouts).
Bell is the only English-speaking Caribbean boxer currently holding a world title and has a ring log of 26 wins (24 knockouts) against one defeat.
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