By Ian S Palmer
Michael Hunter of Van Nuys, California returns to the ring this Tuesday, August 3rd when he takes on Mike Wilson of Anaheim, California in what’s being billed as a WBA heavyweight eliminator. The 12-round bout, which is also for the vacant WBA Continental Americas Heavyweight Title, can be seen live on Triller TV and FITE TV from the theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Hunter last fought in December when he stopped Shawn Laughery in the fourth round. Wilson last saw action in September, 2019 when he stopped Gary Kopas in the fourth round.
The 33-year-old Hunter, who fights out of Las Vegas, climbs through the ropes with a record of 19-1-1 with 13 Kos. He’s boxed 123 rounds since making his pro debut in 2013 after a fine amateur career. Hunter is the son of former pro heavyweight Mike ‘The Bounty Hunter’ Hunter. Michael fought at the Olympic Games in London in 2012 where he lost to current light heavyweight titleholder Artur Beterbiev.
He also fought at the 2007 World Championships in Chicago where he beat Andy Ruiz Jr. on his way to the quarterfinals. Hunter was a 2007 US National Champion in the Super Heavyweight division and also was the US Olympic Trials Gold medalist the same year. In 2008 he was an Olympic Trials silver and bronze medalist and beat Oscar Rivas on the way and also fought at the World Cup in Russian but failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2008.
Hunter was the US National Super Heavyweight Champ in 2009 and US National Golden Gloves Heavyweight Champion in 2011. He was the 2012 US National Heavyweight Champion while competing at the Olympics. As a pro, Hunter has captured the WBO NABO Cruiserweight Title as well as the IBO Inter-Continental, WBA Inter-Continental, and WBA International Heavyweight Belts.
Hunter’s lone pro defeat came at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk by way of unanimous decision in 2017 in a shot at the WBO Cruiserweight Title. His biggest wins have been against Jason Douglas, Isiah Thomas, Iago Kiladze, Alexander Ustinov, Fabio Maldonado and Sergey Kuzmin while his lone draw came against Alexander Povetkin over 12 rounds in 2019. Hunter stands 6-feet-2-inches with a wingspan of 79.5 inches and also has decent power with a knockout ratio of 62 per cent.
Wilson is now 38 years old and has basically fought most of his career as a cruiserweight. He made his pro debut in 2009 and has boxed 104 rounds since. He climbs through the ropes with an impressive record of 21-1 with 10 Kos and also enjoyed a fine amateur career. He was the 2004 and 2005 United States Super Heavyweight Champion and competed in the 2005 AIBA World Amateur Championships.
Wilson also captured the silver medal at the 2007 United States Super Heavyweight tournament as he was edged 25-24 by Hunter in the final. He stands 6-feet-3-inches tall with an unlisted reach son has an inch height advantage on Hunter. He doesn’t have as much power in his fists though with a current knockout ratio of 45.5 per cent.
His lone pro loss came at the hands of Denis Lebedev by a 12-round unanimous decision in November, 2018. his biggest wins have been against the likes of German Perez, Mario Aguilar and Melvin Russell. He won the vacant NABA Cruiserweight Title in March, 2018 with his 10-round unanimous decision over Aguilar.
Prediction…
Wilson is 38 years old, has been inactive since 2019, is more or less a cruiserweight and was beaten by Hunter as an amateur, so he doesn’t really enter this fight with any advantages other than his one-inch edge in height. Hunter also has more experience against upper-class opposition and I’m expecting him to have his hand raised on Tuesday night.
