Mike Hunter (boxer)

Mike Hunter
Mike Hunter
Born	September 14, 1959
Died	February 8, 2006 (aged 46)
Nationality	American
Other names	The Bounty Hunter
	Statistics
Weight(s)	Cruiserweight; Heavyweight
Stance	Orthodox
	Boxing record
Total fights	36
Wins	26
Wins by KO	8
Losses	7
Draws	2
No contests	1

Mike Hunter (born September 14, 1959 – died February 8, 2006) was an American professional boxer who won the USBA Heavyweight title and the WBC Continental Americas Cruiserweight title.

Professional career[edit]

Known as "The Bounty Hunter", Hunter was a colourful and erratic Heavyweight fringe contender during the early-to-mid 1990s, and was known for his unique boxing style, boxing skills, and good defense. Hunter's boxing career began in Maryland, after a seven-year stint in prison for armed robbery. Hunter's skills caught the attention of actor James Caan, who would manage Hunter for three years, before selling his contract to Bill Slayton. Hunter first became ranked by the major sanctioning bodies in 1990, and would defeat many notable boxers like Dwight Qawi, Pinklon Thomas, Tyrell Biggs, Oliver McCall, Jimmy Thunder, and Alexander Zolkin. During this long respectable run of results he lost a highly criticized points decision to fellow contender Francois Botha, after dropping Botha in the first round.

Although he was a very talented fighter and had a promising run during the 90s, he largely squandered his talent. By the mid-1990s, drug problems had begun to catch up to Hunter, evident to all after his victory over Buster Mathis, Jr., which was turned to a No-Contest following a positive drug test.

Hunter would lose three fights in the last year and a half of his career, before retiring following a loss to Danish Heavyweight Brian Nielsen for the IBO version of the heavyweight title.

Professional boxing record[edit]

26 Wins (8 knockouts, 18 decisions), 7 Losses (1 knockout, 6 decisions), 2 Draws, 1 No Contest [1]
Result	Record	Opponent	Type	Round	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	26–7–2 (1)	Brian Nielsen	TKO	5	31/05/1996	Copenhagen, Denmark	IBO Heavyweight Title.
Win	26–6–2 (1)	Arthur Weathers	PTS	10	03/11/1995	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Loss	25–6–2 (1)	Marion Wilson	SD	10	06/10/1995	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	25–5–2 (1)	Will Hinton	PTS	10	06/05/1995	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Loss	24–5–2 (1)	Aurelio Perez	UD	10	24/03/1995	Sao Paulo, Brazil
Loss	24–4–2 (1)	Alexander Zolkin	SD	10	16/12/1994	Chester, West Virginia, U.S.
Win	24–3–2 (1)	Keith McMurray	SD	10	01/09/1994	Albuquerque, New Mexico, U.S.
Win	23–3–2 (1)	Craig Payne	PTS	10	19/05/1994	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
NC	22–3–2 (1)	Buster Mathis Jr.	NC	12	04/12/1993	Corpus Christi, Texas, U.S.	Retained USBA Heavyweight Title MD for Hunter overturned due to positive drug tests.
Win	22–3–2	Cecil Coffee	UD	10	06/11/1993	Sun City, South Africa
Win	21–3–2	Alexander Zolkin	SD	12	05/08/1993	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Retained USBA Heavyweight Title
Win	20–3–2	Tyrell Biggs	UD	12	17/01/1993	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.	Won USBA Heavyweight Title
Loss	19–3–2	Francois Botha	MD	8	22/09/1992	El Paso, Texas, U.S.
Win	19–2–2	David Jaco	TKO	3	14/02/1992	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	18–2–2	Ossie Ocasio	UD	10	14/12/1990	Sydney, Australia
Win	17–2–2	Jose Maria Flores Burlon	TKO	1	31/10/1990	Melbourne, Australia
Win	16–2–2	Jimmy Thunder	KO	4	14/08/1990	Melbourne, Australia
Win	15–2–2	Pinklon Thomas	UD	10	12/06/1990	Fort Bragg, North Carolina, U.S.
Win	14–2–2	Dwight Muhammad Qawi	UD	12	16/03/1990	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.	WBC Continental Americas Cruiserweight Title.
Win	13–2–2	Donald Coats	KO	3	31/01/1989	Irvine, California, U.S.
Win	12–2–2	Wade Parsons	UD	8	06/12/1988	Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Win	11–2–2	Dino Homsey	KO	4	26/07/1988	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Win	10–2–2	Oliver McCall	UD	10	22/01/1988	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Loss	9–2–2	Andre Smith	UD	8	05/11/1987	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Win	9–1–2	Rodney Stockton	TKO	1	29/09/1987	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Win	8–1–2	Gary Lightbourne	KO	1	25/08/1987	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Loss	7–1–2	Levi Billups	SD	8	18/05/1987	Inglewood, California, U.S.
Win	7–0–2	Mike Gans	UD	8	28/04/1987	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Draw	6–0–2	James Pritchard	PTS	6	20/02/1987	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	6–0–1	Kelvin Beatty	UD	6	02/01/1987	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Win	5–0–1	Ken Crosby	TKO	5	02/10/1986	Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
Draw	4–0–1	Woody Clark	PTS	6	23/08/1986	Fayetteville, North Carolina, U.S.
Win	4–0	Avery Rawls	UD	8	11/04/1986	Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Win	3–0	Dominic Parker	UD	6	02/03/1986	Lancaster, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Win	2–0	Donald Vance	PTS	4	18/01/1986	Staunton, Virginia, U.S.
Win	1–0	Warren Thompson	SD	4	14/12/1985	Largo, Maryland, U.S.

Life after boxing[edit]

Hunter returned to the sport in September 2005, working as an instructor and trainer at the Tru Boxing Gym in Hollywood.

Death[edit]

On February 8, 2006, Hunter was on the roof of the St. Moritz Hotel in Los Angeles, when he encountered two Los Angeles police officers, who had set up a buy/bust sting operation surveillance. The officers reported that Hunter, who was unprovoked, hit an officer on the head with a gun. The other officer tackled Hunter, with the previous officer eventually joining in the struggle. Hunter broke free, and pointed his gun at the officers, who promptly shot him twice, in the chest and the arm. Hunter was taken to Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where he died. The two officers involved stated that they did not feel that Hunter was aware that they were police officers.

Personal[edit]

His son Michael Hunter, Jr. became US amateur champ in 2007.

Links and sources[edit]

The Knockout Shot [2] (L.A. Weekly)

External links[edit]

Boxing record for Mike Hunter from BoxRec (registration required)