Craig Cunningham has his eyes on the prize
Craig Cunningham is out to upset the form book when he takes his place in the middleweight Prizefighter at Winter Gardens.
The odds are favouring a final between undefeated duo Jack Arnfield and Luke Keller when the trophy is decided in Blackpool tonight, live on Sky Sports.
But Cunningham has told his mates to put their money on a different outcome from the one-night, eight-man, winner-take-all tournament.
The Midlands champion, one of five fighters putting up their unbeaten status tonight, believes there every chance it might come to him and stable-mate Cello Renda in the final, writes Craig Birch.
They both train at Jon Pegg's gym in Birmingham, with mechanic Cunningham recently relocating to Oldbury from the second city after buying a house in the area.
They have landed on opposite sides on the draw and would leave coach Pegg with a conflict of interests if they both go all of the way, so he won't be in either corner if it comes to pass.
Cunningham said: "It's all on the night, but I think people are underestimating me and Cello is the most experienced man in it.
"I found one bookmaker offering me at 9-1 and Cello 15-2, so I imagine a few lads down the gym would make nice money if it was us two in the final!
"That would be great for Jon and us as a group, but none of that would matter if we had to get in there. As soon as the bell rings, it's all business."
Renda, from Peterborough, reached the final of the 2008 middleweight Prizefighter and lost an exciting split decision against Martin Murray.
He's got Liam Conroy in the first three-round contest, before home hero Arnfield takes on Mick Hall and Keeler meets Luke Crowcroft.
Cunningham then enters the fray to tackle Tom Doran, who was famously dropped before scoring a controversial first-round stoppage against Max Maxwell, another Brummie, in 2011.
The Welshman has boxed just once since and Cunningham, a skilful southpaw, will be looking to expose his chin again.
The 26-year-old said: "I have got a mortgage to pay now, there's £32,000 to the winner and £4,000 from the first round, which doubles on the way.
"There's a £2,000 knockout bonus for each stoppage, too, so if the chance comes along to take it you can bet that I will take it. I am confident that I can.
"I watched Doran's fight against Max, but what can you take from a one-round fight? All I saw was that he can be caught and I have the ability to dodge a lot of shots to catch him.
"This is full of up-and-comers and has the potential to be explosive, there's no one protecting a big name and everyone is in it to win it. I have the skill to, but people haven't counted on my power."
