verballistic wrote:NYboxing wrote:Super heavyweight Michael Hunter (Las Vegas, Nev.) suffered a devastating loss in his semifinal bout with Venezuela?s Jose Payares at the Americas Qualifier in Guatemala City, Guatemala. The defeat eliminates Hunter from Olympic contention.
Hunter, who had been battling an illness throughout his time in Guatemala, fell behind by one point after the opening two minutes before the Venezuelan extended his lead to a 5-2 margin after two rounds of boxing. Payares moved out to a four-point advantage in the third before winning a 10-3 decision over Hunter.
(source USA BOXING)
that's terrible news!! :(
this kid would have been a fan favorite at beijing & with his dad's untimely death you really gotta feel bad for michael...hope he rebounds and goes onto greatness, since at age 19 he DOES have time on his side!!

I agree with that.
Poor Hunter really had some bad luck during the qualifications.
In WC (the 1st qualifier) everyone who reached the semi got a ticket, Hunter ran into the best super heavy in the world Timurziev in the quarterfinal and lost a rather close bout.
In the 2nd qualifier only the winner got a ticket and Hunter reached the final and lost to cuban Robert Alfonso. Alfonso would probably have been qualified already if Cuba hadn't boycotted the WC.
In the 3rd qualifier Hunter got ill and a tough draw. He beat Bence, but lost to Payares in the last hurdle between him and Beijing. The Colombian Oscar Rivas took the other ticket here and he was outclassed by Hunter in the 2nd qualifier.
I hope that he will recover after this cause I really think that he's one of the most talented american heavyweights out there.