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 The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...

junior heavyweight Junior heavyweight is an alternate name for cruiserweight used in multiple combat sports: *Cruiserweight (boxing), a weight class in boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. The current weight limit for the division is 200lbs (14st 4lbs/90 ...

title in 2017. As an amateur 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, i ...

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 ...

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 W ...

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 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 ...

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 Kurban Günebakan (born September 13, 1978 in Kars), nicknamed ''Kaplan'' ( en, Tiger), is a Turkish amateur boxer best known to win the bronze medal in the super heavyweight division at the 2006 European Amateur Boxing Championships held in Plovd ...

30:7 and Jasem Delavari and lost only 15:22 to world #1 and European champion Islam Timurziev. At the first qualifier he beat Oscar Rivas but lost to Cuban Robert Alfonso 1:9, at the second he beat Didier Bence but lost to Jose Payares 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 Amat ...

, 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 Ame ...

. 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.

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 ...

for the

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 Martin Bakole Ilunga (born 1 June 1993) is a Congolese professional boxer. He is the younger brother of former cruiserweight world champion of boxing, Ilunga Makabu. Professional career Bakole made his professional debut on 25 March 2014, scor ...

, 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. 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, 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) heav ...

. 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

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ArticleMichael Hunter Amateur Boxing RecordMichael Hunter - Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
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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