Peter Cunningham | |
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Born | March 25, 1963 Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago | (age 61)
Other names | Sugarfoot |
Residence | Los Angeles, California |
Nationality | Canadian |
Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in) |
Division | Lightweight Super Lightweight Junior Welterweight Welterweight |
Style | Chitō-ryū, Karate, Ukidokan Karate, Boxing, Kickboxing |
Fighting out of | The Jet Center |
Teacher(s) | Robert Supeene Sr., Tom Forstreuter, Ed Couzens, Benny "The Jet" Urquidez |
Rank | 5th degree black belt in Kempo Karate, 2nd degree black belt in Chito-Ryu Karate |
Years active | 18 years |
Professional boxing record | |
Total | 14 |
Wins | 10 |
Losses | 4 |
Kickboxing record | |
Total | 53 |
Wins | 50 |
By knockout | 21 |
Losses | 1 |
Draws | 2 |
Other information | |
Occupation | Coach at Sugarfoot Kickboxing Coach at Team USA Kickboxing |
Notable students | Richard Norton, Stephen Quadros, Vinc Pichel, Mia St. John, Mikaela Mayer |
Website | sugarfootkickboxing |
Peter "Sugarfoot" Cunningham (born March 25, 1963) is a retired Canadian 7-time World Champion[1] Hall of Fame[2] kickboxer, boxer, martial artist, actor and author. Rated by experts as one of the greatest full contact fighters of all time,[3] Sugarfoot was a superb technician who possessed high fighting I.Q. and lightning speed. He retired from kickboxing in 1996[4] with a record of 50-1-1, having avenged the only draw of his career but only one defeated Peter, the undefeated Richard Sylla at the WKA World Title in Paris. Cunningham's skills in the ring have been praised by many martial arts legends, including Benny "The Jet" Urquidez, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Chuck Norris, Dan Inosanto, Rigan Machado, Don "The Dragon" Wilson and many others. Cunningham maintained a high level competition throughout his career as most of his opponents were either current or former champions. In 1998 in San Jose, California, Peter was honored as the inaugural inductee in the I.S.K.A. Hall of Fame.[5]
Cunningham's nickname "Sugarfoot" is a combination of the names of two great fighters in boxing and kickboxing that his style most resembled, "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, and it was given to him by his peers at his first dojo in Edmonton, Canada while he was still a teenager.
Peter's World Titles included the W.K.A (World Karate Association) Lightweight,[6] Super Lightweight[7] and Junior Walterweight[8] World Titles, the K.I.C.K. (Karate International Council of Kickboxing) Super Lightweight Title,[9] the I.M.F. (International Muay Thai Federation) Junior Welterweight Title,[10] and the I.S.K.A. (International Sport Karate Association) Light Welterweight World Title.
Sugarfoot is also an actor and has appeared in TV series such as Kung Fu: The Legend Continues[11] and CSI,[12] and in movies such as No Retreat, No Surrender[13] (1986) and The Fighter (2010).[14]