Michael Hunter, Jr. (born July 10, 1988) is an American
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 challenged for the
WBO junior heavyweight title in 2017. As an
amateur
An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
he won the
National Championships
A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...
as a
super heavyweight
Super heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and competitive bodybuilding.
Boxing
In amateur boxing, the super heavyweight division is a weight class division for fighters weighing in excess of 91 kilograms (200 pounds). Introduced for th ...
in 2007 and 2009, and qualified for the
2012 Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in the
heavyweight
Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling.
Boxing Professional
Boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 3 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the Wo ...
division. He is the son of late professional boxer
Mike "the Bounty" Hunter.
Amateur career
In 2006 at the age of 18 he made it to the finals of the
National Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nationa ...
with only five bouts where he lost to Felix Stewart and won the bronze medal at the Under-19 World Championships in Morocco by scoring wins over Andrey Volkov of Russia and Pavel Kulda of Lithuania before losing in the semifinals to eventual winner
Cristian Ciocan
Christian Hammer (born Cristian Ciocan) is a Romanian-German professional boxer who held the WBO European heavyweight title three times between 2012 and 2018.
Professional career
Ciocan's first coach was Felix Păun.
Hammer vs. Gregorin
He ...
of Romania.
In 2007 now based in Las Vegas he beat future (2008) champ
Lenroy Thompson
Cam F. Awesome (born August 6, 1988 in Uniondale, New York), formerly known as Lenroy Thompson, is an American amateur boxer best known for winning the US title in 2008, 2010, 2013 and 2014 and the Golden Gloves in 2009, 2011 and 2013 at super he ...
and narrowly outpointed two-time winner
Mike Wilson to win the US championships.
At the Olympic trials 2007 he easily beat Wilson-conqueror Kimdo Bethel twice and won the tournament.
At the World Championships 2007 he beat
Kurban Günebakan 30:7 and
Jasem Delavari
Jasem Delavari ( fa, جاسم دلاوری, born September 2, 1986 in Ghaemshahr, Iran) is an Iranian amateur boxer who competed in the Super Heavyweight (+91 kg) division at the 2006 Asian Games winning the bronze medal in a lost bout against ...
and lost only 15:22 to world #1 and European champion
Islam Timurziev
Islam Yahyayevich Timurziev (russian: Ислам Яхьяевич Тимурзиев; 9 January 1983 – 31 August 2015) was a Russian amateur boxer, best known for winning gold in the 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships.
Career
Born in Na ...
.
At the first qualifier he beat
Oscar Rivas
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
but lost to Cuban
Robert Alfonso
Robert Leosdan Alfonso Acea (born November 11, 1986) is a Cuban professional boxer. He is best known for his victory at the 2007 Pan American games in the super heavyweight division.
Career
Alfonso beat Newfel Ouatah but lost to Russian Evge ...
1:9, at the second he beat
Didier Bence
Didier Bence (born August 14, 1987) is a Canadian professional heavyweight boxer from Laval, Quebec.
He is best known for becoming a Canadian amateur boxing champion as a teenager and winning bronze at the 2007 Pan American Games, defeating two- ...
but lost to
Jose Payares
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
*Jose ben Abin
* Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galilea ...
and thus failed to qualify for the
2008 Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...
.
In 2009 he edged out Thompson 8:7 and once again became national champ.
Heavyweight, 201 lbs
In 2011 he dropped down to 201 lbs and won the Golden Gloves title there.
In June 2011, Hunter helped
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 ...
in his preparation for his fight against
David Haye
David Deron Haye (born 13 October 1980) is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amate ...
, acting as his sparring partner in the last few weeks building up to the fight.
He managed to qualify for the London Olympics by winning his qualifier against
Julio Castillo
Julio César Castillo Torres (born 10 May 1988) is an Ecuadorian amateur boxer. He won two medals at the Pan American Games: a bronze in 2007 and a silver in 2011.
Career
At the 2006 South American Games, Castillo lost to Hamilton Ventura in t ...
and
Yamil Peralta
Yamil Alberto Peralta Jara (born July 16, 1991 in Tres de Febrero, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentinian boxer who won Heavyweight Bronze at the PanAm Games 2011 and later qualified for the Olympics.
Career
At the 2010 South A ...
. At the
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, he was eliminated in the first round by
Artur Beterbiyev
Artur Asilbekovich Beterbiev ( ce, Арту́р Асильбе́кович Бетерби́ев russian: Артур Асильбекович Бетербиев; born 21 January 1985) is a Russian-Canadian professional boxer. He is a unified l ...
.
Professional career
In March 2013 Hunter made his professional debut defeating Chad Davis by third-round TKO in a bout held in Phoenix, Arizona. He then scored another KO on August 30.
On April 8, 2017, Hunter fought his first career title fight, against
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 ...
for the
WBO cruiserweight title. Hunter boxed well in the beginning, but couldn't manage to land effectively on Usyk. Usyk, on the other hand, managed to hurt Hunter multiple times, almost knocking him out towards the end of the fight. Despite a courageous effort from Hunter, Usyk was declared the winner via unanimous decision.
On October 13, 2018, Hunter fought
Martin Bakole, his biggest test at heavyweight up to that point. Bakole was visibly the bigger man of the two, but Hunter managed to outbox and hurt him during the fight, eventually stopping it in the final seconds of the tenth, and last, round.
In his next fight, Hunter fought veteran heavyweight
Alexander Ustinov
Alexander "Sasha" Ustinov (russian: Александр Устинов; born 7 December 1976) is a Russian professional boxer,. Retrieved 1 October 2016. former kickboxer and mixed martial artist. In boxing, he has challenged once for the WBA (Re ...
. Hunter wore Ustinov down by scoring two knockdowns, one in the eighth round and one in the ninth round, after which Ustinov's corner threw in the towel.
On September 13, 2019, Hunter, ranked #9 by the WBA, #10 by the IBF, #12 by the WBO and #14 by the WBC at heavyweight, fought
Sergey Kuzmin, ranked #5 by the WBA and #7 by the IBF. Hunter got his sixth win in a row in convincing fashion, scoring 117-110 and all three judges' scorecards.
On December 7, 2019, on the undercard of
Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II
Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua II, billed as Clash On The Dunes, was a heavyweight professional boxing rematch between the Mexican-American champion Andy Ruiz Jr. and British former champion Anthony Joshua, for the Unified champion, unified WB ...
, Hunter faced former WBA (Regular) heavyweight champion
Alexander Povetkin
Alexander Vladimirovich "Sasha" Povetkin (russian: Алекса́ндр Влади́мирович Пове́ткин; born 2 September 1979) is a Russian former professional boxer who competed from 2005 to 2021. He held the WBA (Regular) heavyw ...
. Povetkin was ranked #6 by the WBA and WBC and #10 by the IBF at heavyweight, while Hunter was ranked #7 by the WBA and IBF, #8 by the WBO and #14 by the WBA. Both fighters fought well and were aggressive at given points of the fight, making for a very entertaining bout. The fight would end up being a draw, one judge scoring the fight 115-113 in favor of Povetkin, one scoring it 115-113 for Hunter, while the third judge had it even, 114-114.
Professional boxing record
References
External links
*
ArticleMichael Hunter Amateur Boxing RecordMichael Hunter - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankingsa
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Michael
1988 births
Living people
Heavyweight boxers
Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers
Boxers at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Olympic boxers of the United States
National Golden Gloves champions
Boxers from California
American male boxers