By Charles Brun: Highly ranked American heavyweight Michael Hunter says he was surprised at Matchroom and DAZN not renewing his contract after it expired recently. He feels that one of the reasons why he was let go is because he was too much of a threat to the project heavyweights that DAZN and Matchroom are working on trying to build up.
Hunter could get the last laugh on Matchroom by beating Fury, Joshua, or Whyte to become a heavyweight champion.
Hunter mentions Dillian Whyte as one of them, and he says he believes he would make him quit. He rates Alexander Povetkin higher and feels that he’ll beat Whyte when they battle next month on August 22 at the Matchroom Fight Camp in Essex.
The 2012 Olympian Hunter also reveals that he fought Tyson Fury in the amateurs and that he beat him so severely that he didn’t show up for his fight on the next day. Hunter says he wants to fight Fury in the pro game more than he did Anthony Joshua, who he doesn’t feel is as exciting.
Joshua’s career could soon be in tatters if he loses twice to Fury in 2021. Once Joshua and Whyte are out of the picture, then Fury and Hunter could battle it out. That will make Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn upset if Hunter winds up beating Fury at that point.
Hunter says he beat Tyson Fury bad in the amateurs
“I fought Tyson Fury in the amateurs, so we kind of got something there,” said Hunter to Boxing UK. “It’s something that hasn’t been settled. I beat him so badly that he didn’t come back for the next fight. That means I TKO’d him. I put him in check. Anthony Joshua would be new terrain. I’d rather fight Tyson Fury. Anthony Joshua, he poses a threat, but I don’t see him as interesting,” said Hunter.
Michael doesn’t give a date for when he beat Tyson Fury in the amateurs. It had to have been a long time ago because Fury has been in the pro ranks since 2008. Hunter is the same age as Fury, so you can’t give ‘The Gypsy King’ a pass for losing to him years ago.
You can see how Hunter’s fighting style would give a fighter like Fury loads of problems because he throws combinations. Fury does well against opponents that throw single shots like Deontay Wilder and Wladimir Klitschko. Fury was able to pick off or dodge Wladimir and Wilder’s single punches, but he had problems with Hunter’s high volume attack.
Fury and Hunter would be a good fight, but we probably won’t see it happen until 2022 at the earliest. That would also depend on Fury and Hunter, both still winning. If either of them loses, that will throw everything off.
Povetkin and Hunter fought to a controversial 10 round draw last December on the Joshua vs. Andy Ruiz Jr 2 card. Hunter started strong but then struggled with Povetkin’s power. Hunter waited too long before using his boxing skills to dominate the action late in the fight. In the first round, Hunter knocked Povetkin down and had him close to being stopped.
Whyte would quit says Hunter
“I think I’d stop him a lot easier than I’d stop Povetkin, said Hunter abut Dillian Whyte. “I think it would be a much easier task. I think he would quit. I don’t see him as much of a dog as Povetkin. He [Whyte] is durable, and he does have a good chin and is strong.
“I do think Povetkin is probably going to beat him in this fight, and I think I will stop him. I always use stopping them rather than knocking them out because it’s much more valid to me.
“I like the TKO. Sometimes you knock them out, and they think it’s an accident, and they don’t know what happened and stuff like that. I like to make them quit,” said Hunter.
Of all the heavyweights in the division, Hunter would have the best chance of knocking out Whyte due to his combination punching. Whyte has been hurt in the past by guys like Dereck Chisora and Joseph Parker, but he was able to survive because those fighters weren’t able to throw enough shots. Hunter would continue to throw shots until Whyte goes down.
If Povetkin does knockout Whyte, it will mess up his plans to challenge the Fury vs. Deontay Wilder 3 winner in early next year. Whyte is putting his WBC mandatory position on the line when he faces Povetkin.
Typically, a mandatory heavyweight challenger wouldn’t take any risky fights once they earned the mandatory spot. In Whyte’s case, he’s doing it because he fights on Sky Sports Box office. He needs top tier opponents for him to sell his fights on pay-per-view to the British fans. It’s a risky move for Whyte to be fighting Povetkin, and he could pay for that by losing his WBC mandatory spot.
Hunter surprised at Matchroom and DAZN letting him go
“This is very rare that this happens to a heavyweight when you’re ranked this high, and you’re out there,” said Hunter about him being released by Matchroom Boxing. “Luckily, me being with DAZN and giving me the opportunities that they gave me, it’s put me where I need to be to continue my career.
“Maybe I’ll see some of the DAZN fighters down the line. I think it had more to do with the business. This COVID thing hurt everybody. They had the biggest budget, and they were spending the most craziest of all three as well,” said Hunter.
It could be that Matchroom stopped believing in Hunter after he failed to beat Povetkin last December. Hunter, who is small for a heavyweight, had problems with Povetkin’s punching power, and he didn’t look good in the second half. It’s possible that Matchroom decided at that point that Hunter lacked the size, strength, and boxing skills for him to pan out at heavyweight.
What’s strange is Matchroom didn’t dump some of their less talented heavyweights like David Allen and David Price. They kept them, and let the better fighter Hunter go. Is it because Hunter isn’t from the UK?
Hunter feels like he was too big a threat
“Yeah, I said that before,” said Hunter when asked if he was too big of a threat to the Matchroom heavyweights. “They would never throw me in with a DAZN fighter with someone they’re working on or someone they see as a project.
“I never felt like I was a project for them. I was a part of their big project. I’m going to be the heavyweight champion of the world without a doubt. I thought I won the fight, but this game is such a business,” said Povetkin.
It might be the case that Hunter was too big a threat to the Matchroom and DAZN heavyweights. Many boxing fans were already wondering why Hearn wasn’t letting Hunter fight any of his Matchroom fighters.
Hunter beat Martin Bakole and Sergey Kuzmina, and he should have been put in with Whyte, Felip Hrgovic, Dereck Chisora, and Joshua. None of those fights happened, and you have to wonder why. If Hunter keeps winning, he’ll eventually face some of Hearn’s Matchroom fighters.