Steve Cunningham made a winning debut for Team Sauerland as he clinched the vacant IBF Cruiserweight Title thanks to a fifth-round TKO victory over Troy Ross. Ross was the aggressor while Cunningham tried to keep his opponent at bay with his left jab. He landed a big left in the first round and not soon after Ross’ face was swollen. The pattern remained the same with Ross scored a knockdown with a big left in the fourth. However, Cunningham responded with a punch that badly cut Ross below his left eye (likely with the thumb).

The ring doctor advised the referee to stop the fight after one second of the fifth round because of a vertically cut eyelid. Since the injury was caused by a punch, as the referee ruled, Cunningham won by TKO. After the fight, the supervisor confirmed the referee's decision. Ross will undergo surgery today before flying home. We wish him all the best and a speedy recovery, Team Sauerland General Manager Chris Meyer said. It was a high-class fight and we are thrilled to have added another champion to our line-up. Steve Cunningham is a great fighter with a great team.

Cunningham thanked his entire team for their great support. It is great to be a champion again, he said. We have worked so hard and I want to thank my whole team and of course Team Sauerland who made this possible. I knew Ross would cut easily and that he could not beat me. The plan was to keep touching him and hit him hard later on. I am very happy. My goal is to become the best cruiserweight in the history of boxing.

Promoter Kalle Sauerland congratulated him on a strong performance. That was USS Cunningham at his very best, he said. He has a great team behind him. He has now defeated all three reigning cruiserweight champions. After the tremendous success of the Super Six tournament, we will be trying to put together something similar in this exciting division. We got WBO Champion Marco Huck under contract so we have a lot of options. I can promise fight fans all over the world that the best will be fighting the best at cruiserweight, too. We will try to sort out the details in the next couple of weeks.