Ismaikel "Mike" Perez (born 20 October 1985) is a Cuban-Irish

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

who holds the WBA Intercontinental Cruiserweight title and challenged once for the WBC cruiserweight title in 2017.

Background

Perez was a successful amateur boxer in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

. In 2005, while competing with the Cuban team at a tournament in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, he caught the eye of Irish boxing promoter Gary Hyde. Hyde later expressed his desire to turn Perez professional, and to do that he had to arrange his defection from Cuba. In December 2007, under cover of darkness, Perez swam offshore from Cuba, to a boat manned by a Mexican cartel. After transferring through two other boats, enduring storms and depleted food and water supplies, Perez eventually reached Mexican soil nine days later. The Cartel then held him there, until they secured final payment from organizer, Gary Hyde. Upon receiving it, Perez was released, allowing him to board a flight to his new home. On 10 January 2008, Perez touched down in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, where he settled in

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

along with fellow Cubans Alexei Acosta and Luis García. Today, he fights under the nickname Mike "The Rebel" Perez, in reference to Cork which is known as the "Rebel County".

Amateur career

Perez had over 400 amateur bouts. In 2004, he won gold at the World Junior Championships in

Jeju City Jeju City ( ko, 제주시, Jeju-si; ) is the capital of the Jeju Province in South Korea and the largest city on Jeju Island. The city is served by Jeju International Airport ( IATA code CJU). Located on an island off the Korean Peninsula, Jeju ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The southpaw beat Englishman Danny Price in the semifinals, before defeating Russian fighter Nikolay Pavlyukov 38-16 in the final. Perez later beat fighters such as

Kenneth Egan Kenneth "Kenny" Egan (born 7 January 1982) is an Irish politician and boxer from Clondalkin, Dublin best known for winning a silver medal in the final of the 81 kg, Light-Heavyweight boxing final at the 2008 Olympics. He won ...

and

Constantin Bejenaru Constantin Bejenaru (born 7 June 1984) is a Moldovan-born Romanian professional boxer living Shelton Connecticut and training Brooklyn New York, United States. He is currently trained by Ilya Mesishchev. His former coach from Bacău, is Relu Aur ...

, but moved up to 201 lbs and initially struggled against world class competition like Luis Ortiz, who beat him in 2006 to become the Cuban national champion. Perez avenged that loss in the 2007 championships, but lost to Osmay Acosta in that year's final.

Professional career

Early career

In 2008, Perez turned professional under Cuban coach Nicholas Cruz Hernández, who had also moved to Ireland in 1988. On 7 May 2011, Perez won the International Prizefighter tournament, held in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. Perez faced Kertson Manswell and Grégory Tony, before defeating American

Tye Fields Walter Tyeson "Tye" Fields (born February 8, 1975) is an American former professional boxer who held the USBA heavyweight title. Boxing career Tye Fields grew up in Beaverton, Oregon. Fields played college basketball and was a starter at forw ...

in the final to take home the £32,000 prize. After the fight, Perez stated the victory would earn him a world title shot in the near future. He then fought and won against

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

Zack Page in a rematch on 9 November 2011, in

York Hall The York Hall, officially known as York Hall Leisure Centre, is a multi-purpose indoor arena and leisure complex in Bethnal Green, London, and is situated on Old Ford Road. The building opened in 1929 with a capacity of 1,200 and is now an inte ...

Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common land, Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heat ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Perez made his

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

debut on 30 December 2011, against the

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

n heavyweight Friday Ahunanya. The location for the fight was

Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa is a Native American gaming casino, of the Morongo Band of Cahuilla Mission Indians, located in Cabazon, California, United States, near San Gorgonio Pass. The casino has 310 rooms and suites. A , 27-story resort, Mor ...

Cabazon Cabazon (Spanish: ''Cabazón'') is a unincorporated community in Riverside County, California, United States. Cabazon is on the Pacific Crest Trail. In the 21st century, the area has become a tourist stop, due to the Morongo Casino, Resort & S ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Perez won by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighter ...

, winning every round on the judges' scorecards. After a hiatus in 2012, Perez returned to the ring on 4 May 2013, winning a 10-round unanimous decision against American

Travis Walker Travis Walker (born June 22, 1979) is an American professional boxer. As an amateur, he won the 2003 National Golden Gloves. Amateur career He became the 2003 National Golden Gloves Super Heavyweight Champion beating among others a 17-year-o ...

on the undercard of

Wladimir Klitschko Wladimir Klitschko; an equivalent English spelling is Vladimir Klichko . His full name in uk, label=Ukrainian is, Володимир Володимирович Кличко, Volodymyr Volodymyrovych Klychko, . ( uk, Володимир Вол� ...

vs. Francesco Pianeta.

Perez vs. Abdusalomov and aftermath

On 2 November 2013, he made his

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

debut against hard-hitting prospect Magomed Abdusalomov (18-0 18 KOs) at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

. In a rare southpaw vs. southpaw heaveyweight match, Perez won by unanimous decision after a brutally-fought 10 rounds. The fight left Abdusalamov permanently and severely injured after suffering a stroke during surgery to remove a blood clot in his brain. Abdusalamov's family later sued the

New York State Athletic Commission The New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, is a division of the New York State Department of State which regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, ...

due to negligence. The lawsuit ended with a $22 million settlement. Perez's form dipped after the tragic incident, as he drew and lost many of his next fights. He would later reveal that he struggled with

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

during this time, to the point of getting into the ring drunk a few times. Perez returned on 18 January 2014 to fight

Carlos Takam Armand Carlos Netsing Takam (born 6 December 1980) is a Cameroonian-born French professional boxer. He has challenged once for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, and IBO heavyweight titles against in 2017. As an amateur, he represented Cameroon a ...

at the

Bell Centre Bell Centre (), formerly known as Molson Centre (), is a multi-purpose arena located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Opened on March 16, 1996, it is the home arena of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL), replacing the Montr ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. Takam and Perez fought to a

majority draw A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referre ...

. The fight was shown on HBO on the

Jean Pascal Jean-Thenistor Pascal (born 28 October 1982) is a Haitian-born Canadian professional boxer. He held the WBA (Regular) light-heavyweight title from 2019 to 2021, and previously the WBC, IBO, '' Ring'' magazine and lineal light-heavyweight tit ...

Lucian Bute Lucian Bute (born February 28, 1980) is a Romanian-Canadian former professional boxer who competed from 2003 to 2017. He held the International Boxing Federation, IBF super-middleweight title from 2007 to 2012, successfully making nine consecutiv ...

under card. Perez then lost a narrow

split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split dec ...

Bryant Jennings Bryant Jennings (born September 25, 1984) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged once for the unified world heavyweight titles in 2015, and the WBA interim heavyweight title in the same year. Jennings holds notable wins over fo ...

on 26 July 2014, with the judges’ scorecards reading 114-113 and 115-112 for Jennings, and 114-113 for Perez. Referee Harvey Dock controversially deducted a point from Perez in the final round for hitting Jennings on the break. On 22 May 2015 Perez was brutally knocked out by Alexander Povetkin 91 seconds into a WBC heavyweight title eliminator. Following the loss to Povetkin, Perez spent over two years away from the ring, before returning in 2017 as a cruiserweight.

World Boxing Super Series

On 6 July, Perez was announced as the final entrant to the cruiserweight

World Boxing Super Series The World Boxing Super Series (WBSS) is a professional boxing tournament organised by Comosa AG. Each weight class features eight boxers competing in an annual knockout competition with the champion from each weight class taking the Muhammad Al ...

(WBSS).

Perez vs. Briedis

At the Draft Gala, which took place on 8 July in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...

, Perez was chosen by WBC champion

Mairis Briedis Mairis Briedis (born 13 January 1985) is a Latvian professional boxer. He is a three-time cruiserweight world champion, having held the IBF and ''Ring'' titles from 2020 to 2022; the WBC title from 2017 to 2018; and the WBO title in 2019. Up ...

as his quarter final opponent. On 22 July, the WBSS announced the fight would take place in Briedis' home country of Latvia at the Riga Arena,

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, on 30 September 2017. This would be the 8th time Briedis would fight at his hometown arena. Briedis won a scrappy fight, beating Perez by unanimous decision after 12 rounds (116-110, 115-111, 114-112). Perez was deducted a point in round 3 following an accidental clash of heads. Briedis was also docked a point during round 10 for excessive holding. With the win, Briedis moved on to the semi-finals to face the eventual winner

Oleksandr Usyk Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Usyk ( uk, Олекса́ндр Олекса́ндрович У́сик; born 17 January 1987) is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He has held multiple world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WB ...

Perez vs. Salam

In his next bout, Perez fought Tony Salam. Perez won the fight via third round TKO.

Personal life

Perez resides in Cork, Ireland with his wife Camille.

Professional boxing record

{, class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" , - ! !Result !Record !Opponent !Type !Round, time !Date !Location !Notes , - , 30 , Win , 26–3–1 , align=left, Jose Gregorio Ulrich , TKO , 6 (10), , 13 Nov 2021 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 29 , Win , 25–3–1 , align=left, Tony Salam , KO , 4 (12), , 13 Aug 2021 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 28 , Win , 24–3–1 , align=left,

Keith Tapia Keith Tapia (born September 29, 1990) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He was born in Bronx, New York, where he lived his childhood as part of the large Nuyorican community; he began boxing there and represented the United States for few in ...

, UD , 10 , 20 Oct 2018 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 27 , Win , 23–3–1 , align=left, Pablo Matias Magrini , TKO , 1 (8), , 17 Feb 2018 , align=left, , , - , 26 , Loss , 22–3–1 , align=left,

, UD , 12 , 30 Sep 2017 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 25 , Win , 22–2–1 , align=left, Viktor Biscak , KO , 1 (6), , 10 Jun 2017 , align=left, , , - , 24 , Loss , 21–2–1 , align=left, Alexander Povetkin , KO , 1 (12), , 22 May 2015 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 23 , Win , 21–1–1 , align=left,

Darnell Wilson Darnell Wilson (born September 22, 1974) is an American boxer. He challenged once for the WBA World Cruiserweight title in 2008. He is perhaps best remembered for his brutal left-hook knockouts of Emmanuel Nwodo and David Rodriguez. Backgro ...

, TKO , 2 (8), , 5 Feb 2015 , align=left, , , - , 22 , Loss , 20–1–1 , align=left,

, , 12 , 26 Jul 2014 , align=left, , , - , 21 , Draw , 20–0–1 , align=left,

, , 10 , 18 Jan 2014 , align=left, , , - , 20 , Win , 20–0 , align=left,

Magomed Abdusalamov Magomed Abdusalamov (russian: Магомед Абдусаламов; born 25 March 1981) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2008 to 2013. As an amateur he won the 2005 and 2006 Russian national championships in the super-h ...

, UD , 10 , 2 Nov 2013 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 19 , Win , 19–0 , align=left,

, UD , 10 , 4 May 2013 , align=left, , , - , 18 , Win , 18–0 , align=left, Friday Ahunanya , UD , 10 , 30 Dec 2011 , align=left, , , - , 17 , Win , 17–0 , align=left, Zack Page , PTS , 8 , 9 Nov 2011 , align=left, , , - , 16 , Win , 16–0 , align=left,

, TKO , 1 (3), , 7 May 2011 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 15 , Win , 15–0 , align=left, Grégory Tony , TKO , 1 (3), , 7 May 2011 , align=left, , align=left, , - align=center , 14 , Win , 14–0 , align=left, Kertson Manswell , , 3 , 7 May 2011 , align=left, , align=left, , - , 13 , Win , 13–0 , align=left, Ismail Abdoul , PTS , 8 , 4 Mar 2011 , align=left, , , - , 12 , Win , 12–0 , align=left, Pāvels Dolgovs , TKO , 1 (6), , 6 Nov 2010 , align=left, , , - , 11 , Win , 11–0 , align=left, Jason Barnett , KO , 1 (8), , 26 Jun 2010 , align=left, , , - , 10 , Win , 10–0 , align=left, Tomas Mrazek , TKO , 3 (4), , 15 May 2010 , align=left, , , - , 9 , Win , 9–0 , align=left, Edgars Kalnārs , TKO , 1 (4), , 15 May 2010 , align=left, , , - , 8 , Win , 8–0 , align=left, Zack Page , PTS , 8 , 28 Feb 2009 , align=left, , , - , 7 , Win , 7–0 , align=left, Harry Duiven Jr , KO , 2 (6), , 17 Jan 2009 , align=left, , , - , 6 , Win , 6–0 , align=left, Luis Oscar Ricail , TKO , 1 (6), , 26 Oct 2008 , align=left, , , - , 5 , Win , 5–0 , align=left, Claudemir Dias , , 1 (8), , 13 Sep 2008 , align=left, , , - , 4 , Win , 4–0 , align=left, Howard Daley , TKO , 1 (4), , 12 Apr 2008 , align=left, , , - , 3 , Win , 3–0 , align=left, Tomasz Zeprzalka , , 6 , 22 Mar 2008 , align=left, , , - , 2 , Win , 2–0 , align=left, Sándor Balogh , TKO , 1 (4), , 2 Feb 2008 , align=left, , , - , 1 , Win , 1–0 , align=left, Jevgēņijs Stamburskis , , 1 (4), , 26 Jan 2008 , align=left, ,

References

External links

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Bleacher Report - The Top 10 Heavyweight Prospects in the WorldMike Perez - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perez, Mike Heavyweight boxers Southpaw boxers Living people Cuban emigrants to Ireland 1985 births Prizefighter contestants Cuban male boxers People from Sancti Spíritus