Michael Hunter Is Now a Free Agent

[Ruthless-RKO]

American heavyweight contender Michael Hunter and Matchroom Boxing are parting ways after the promotional outfit opted not to renew its contract with the fighter.

Hunter was told by Matchroom Boxing CEO Frank Smith on Wednesday that he will no longer be a part of the promotional outfit’s plans moving forward, the fighter told Boxing Scene.

“It’s all good, that’s just how life moves. It was a business move. Nothing is ever promised, and you don’t know what the next move will be,” Hunter told Boxing Scene. “I don’t want to be fighting for someone who doesn’t want me anyway.”

“We did not make him a new offer following the expiration of his contract,” Hearn told Boxing Scene. “There is a lot of heavyweight congestion and with the current issues and backlog I didn’t feel we could deliver him fights with our outstanding obligations within the division.”

The 31-year-old Hunter (18-1-1, 12 KOs) is now looking to begin the next chapter of his career with a new promoter and sponsor.

Hunter said he saw the writing on the wall lately, as Mathcroom was being distant. It became more apparent that he’d be on the outside looking in when the promotional company shared an image on social media of its top American fighters, and he was nowhere to be found.

“I was never fully embraced. I was more like an independent contractor for them,” said Hunter. “They didn’t want me to fight their in-house guys. I’m the boogeyman to them. It was hard for them to find fights for me, but I found that flattering that opponents avoided me. That’s the best badge of honor I could get … I know [not renewing my contract] was a business move, and I have no ill feelings toward them. I was a high risk, low-reward fighter for opponents.”

Hunter is coming off a competitive split draw against Alexander Povetkin last December in Saudi Arabia.

The former American Olympian Hunter fought four times under the Matchroom banner, all wins, but he believes he never was truly backed by the company because they were heavily invested into overseas heavyweights like Anthony Joshua, Dillian Whyte, Oleksandr Usyk, Dereck Chisora and Alexander Povetkin.

The Las Vegas-based fighter now feels he’d be a perfect fit for Top Rank or PBC to show his skills to American fans.

“It doesn’t make sense for rival promoters not to see my potential. I’m a young Black American. I speak well, I come from a boxing family, and I’m growing. We’re going to continue to take over,” said Hunter. “I think I’m still in a good position. I still have aspirations. I want to leave a great legacy for my family. I know what kind of potential I have. I will not settle for anything less.”

Hunter is convinced his stock is still as high as ever because he is ranked by all of the major sanctioning bodies, including No. 4 by the IBF, No. 7 by the WBO, No. 8 by the WBA and No. 10 by the WBC. Hunter is also ranked No. 8 by Ring Magazine.

In a sentimental move, the son of the late professional boxer Mike "The Bounty" Hunter (26-7-2, 8 KOs) wants to also fight for the USBA title, a crown once held by his father.

The lone loss of his career came to the hands of Oleksandr Usyk in 2017 via unanimous decision when Hunter was competing as a cruiserweight.

[margaret thatcher]

Bobfather needs an American hw contender for his stable

[danconnollyeire]

Odd decision. Maybe means hearns focussing less on the states now. Hunters a good fighter who’s not afraid to take a n top guys. Be a good opponent for whyte, Usyk rematch, chisora and maybe AJ somewhere down the line if he keeps winning

[Ruthless-RKO]

Michael Hunter: I Was Never Really Embraced By Matchroom

Michael Hunter never felt like he was part of the family during his tenure under Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing promotional banner.

The American heavyweight from Las Vegas has since signed with boxing upstart Triller. Hunter will headline Triller’s new monthly boxing series – TrillerVerz Boxing – at the Hulu Theatre at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Aug. 3 in a 10-round bout against Mike Wilson. Hunter believes he will be getting the sort of institutional support he lacked while working with Hearn.

Hunter’s deal with Hearn's Matchroom ran for three fights, all in 2019, during which he scored wins over Fabio Maldonado and Sergey Kuzmin, while drawing with Alexander Povetkin, after which Matchroom elected not to re-sign him.

“I peaked at Matchroom Boxing,” Hunter said in an interview on The SI Boxing Podcast.”I kind of knew that. Them letting me go was a tell tale sign that I had outgrown them.

“I just felt like I wasn’t really obviously a fighter like Dillian Whyte or a guy that was really embraced by Matchroom. I was really a guy that just went to work. They called me and I didn’t really have a say so in who or what or when to fight. You know, I fought harder fights than [Matchroom signee] Filip Hrgovic and I was on the undercard. I fought below them, when I easily could have fought him at that point. That’s what I kind of mean that I kind of outgrown it, I had worn out my stock and it came to a point where they were going to have to fully embrace me and give me some type of opportunity.”

Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs) pointed out that Matchroom would not have been able to go ahead with their two matches between Dillian Whyte and Alexander Povetkin, if Hunter had not drawn with Povetkin, in December 2019, on the undercard of Andy Ruiz-Anthony Joshua heavyweight title rematch.

“You know my rankings had gone up there, and they barely got on with the Dillian Whyte and Povetkin fight [because of my draw with Povetkin],” said Hunter. “I basically allowed that fight to happen. Dillian Whyte wouldn’t have had [any] fights if I didn’t [draw with Povetkin]. Yeah, I had outgrown [Matchroom]. It was time to move on.”

Hunter is keen on his new deal with Triller, the music app that has made recent inroads in the sport by promoting the lucrative exhibition match between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr., as well as launching the fight career of YouTube star Jake Paul. For a while, however, it was slim pickings.

“I didn’t really have too many options,” Hunter said of the period after he was cut from Matchroom. “Top Rank, their forté isn’t really heavyweight fighters, especially African-American heavyweight fighters. PBC [Premier Boxing Champions] I had already been with. I didn't have too much of an option. My thing was always to continue to fight as many fights as I can on a solo basis and try to find a way to get these big fights.”

[jameswilson]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

[Ruthless-RKO]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

yeh, Kuzmin, fought the big dodo in Monaco, then Povetkin in Saudi..

The Bakole fight wasn't under Matchroom was it.

[jameswilson]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

yeh, Kuzmin, fought the big dodo in Monaco, then Povetkin in Saudi..

The Bakole fight wasn't under Matchroom was it.

No it was on Channel 5 I think.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

yeh, Kuzmin, fought the big dodo in Monaco, then Povetkin in Saudi..

The Bakole fight wasn't under Matchroom was it.

No it was on Channel 5 I think.

Was Cyclone McGuigans

[maverick23]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

Agreed.

He strikes me as either being dumb or deluded and he really pissed me off with the way he messed around with the Hrgovic fight and then blamed it on Matchroom (despite them winning the bid and being the only bidder).

[Cyclops]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

Agreed.

He strikes me as either being dumb or deluded and he really pissed me off with the way he messed around with the Hrgovic fight and then blamed it on Matchroom (despite them winning the bid and being the only bidder).

Remind me what was on the table with the proposed fight against Hrgovic and why Hunter turned it down? I'm assuming he wasn't happy with the money?

I know he's rated quite highly but I've only ever watched the Usyk fight and that was just a case of an unheralded fighter surprising everyone and making Usyk look human by managing to stay standing until the last bell.

[jameswilson]

Getting fights against Kuzmin and Povetkin back to back. Must have been good money both times there. I think they did well for him personally given he clearly isn’t a draw at all. If they did so shit then why hasn’t he been killing it since?

Agreed.

He strikes me as either being dumb or deluded and he really pissed me off with the way he messed around with the Hrgovic fight and then blamed it on Matchroom (despite them winning the bid and being the only bidder).

Remind me what was on the table with the proposed fight against Hrgovic and why Hunter turned it down? I'm assuming he wasn't happy with the money?

I know he's rated quite highly but I've only ever watched the Usyk fight and that was just a case of an unheralded fighter surprising everyone and making Usyk look human by managing to stay standing until the last bell.

I don’t think the bid was revealed like it sometimes is but had he won the fight he gets the AJ fight. We all know he’d have got in the millions for an AJ fight and even if AJ vacated he gets a title shot.

I think Hearn said he wanted to stick the fight on a Canelo undercard. We can assume that wouldn’t be for chump change.

Hunter took the triller fight as it was easier money. It does sod all for progressing his career tho.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Michael Hunter: Hearn, Sauerland Talked Triller Out Of Hrgovic Purse Bid

Michael Hunter’s one and only experience with purse bids revealed to him the hazards of being a free agent in boxing.

The heavyweight contender was criticized in the spring for turning down an IBF heavyweight eliminator against highly regarded Croatian Filip Hrgovic after the matchup went to a purse bid and was won by Hrgovic’s co-promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, who, incidentally, was Hunter’s former promoter for a brief stretch. Hunter, however, had no promotional backing, thus, no leverage to negotiate a better deal for himself.

“Me being the lone star type of fighter, I was doing my own business when it came to the purse bid,” Hunter, 33, said on the SI Boxing Podcast. “It didn’t have to come to a purse bid. They were supposed to negotiate with me in good faith, which they had a hard time doing.

“Them being silent – meaning [co-promoters] Team Sauerland and Eddie Hearn – [they] didn’t really contact me until the end, when I wouldn’t have much time, much of a choice to pick. I was going to a purse bid, and me not having any backing or [being] under a promotional banner, they knew I wasn’t going to have any backing if it went to a purse bid. Or at least that’s what they thought.”

Hunter, a 2012 Olympian, says that was when Triller stepped into the fray. Triller, the music app that promoted the exhibition match between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. last year, made headlines earlier this February by winning the purse bid for the IBF lightweight title fight between Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos, beating out the established likes of Matchroom and Top Rank.

“Then [Sauerland and Hearn] got wind of Triller being involved,” Hunter continued. “At the time Triller was undefeated when it came to purse bids. I think at first they didn’t realize that anybody [else] was involved but when they found out who it was that’s when we had different extensions. It was extended for another 15, 12 days.”

But Hunter says that Hearn and Sauerland were ultimately able to coax Triller from submitting a bid.

“Eddie Hearn and Team Sauerland were able to reach out to Triller and kind of talk them out of bidding,” Hunter continued. “Eddie was the only one that bid. They said like they knew they were going to be the only ones that bid. Originally they weren’t. Triller was going to kick their butts when it came to that.”

In the end, however, the purse bid boondoggle seemed to have worked out for Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs). Instead of taking on Hearn’s offer, Hunter signed a multi-fight deal with Triller. On Aug. 3 he will headline against Mike Wilson (21-1, 10 KOs) on Triller’s new boxing series at the Hulu Theater of Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“I know that’s not really common to call other people and find out what they’re bidding and to try to talk them out of bidding, which [Hearn and Sauerland] ended up doing and it was a success,” said Hunter. “It just moved and shifted some deals and money my way. Shout out to Eddie Hearn and Team Sauerland.”

[maverick23]

Agreed.

He strikes me as either being dumb or deluded and he really pissed me off with the way he messed around with the Hrgovic fight and then blamed it on Matchroom (despite them winning the bid and being the only bidder).

Remind me what was on the table with the proposed fight against Hrgovic and why Hunter turned it down? I'm assuming he wasn't happy with the money?

I know he's rated quite highly but I've only ever watched the Usyk fight and that was just a case of an unheralded fighter surprising everyone and making Usyk look human by managing to stay standing until the last bell.

I don’t think the bid was revealed like it sometimes is but had he won the fight he gets the AJ fight. We all know he’d have got in the millions for an AJ fight and even if AJ vacated he gets a title shot.

I think Hearn said he wanted to stick the fight on a Canelo undercard. We can assume that wouldn’t be for chump change.

Hunter took the triller fight as it was easier money. It does sod all for progressing his career tho.

It was $600k so not crazy money but pretty good money.

[maverick23]

Michael Hunter: Hearn, Sauerland Talked Triller Out Of Hrgovic Purse Bid

Michael Hunter’s one and only experience with purse bids revealed to him the hazards of being a free agent in boxing.

The heavyweight contender was criticized in the spring for turning down an IBF heavyweight eliminator against highly regarded Croatian Filip Hrgovic after the matchup went to a purse bid and was won by Hrgovic’s co-promoter Eddie Hearn of Matchroom, who, incidentally, was Hunter’s former promoter for a brief stretch. Hunter, however, had no promotional backing, thus, no leverage to negotiate a better deal for himself.

“Me being the lone star type of fighter, I was doing my own business when it came to the purse bid,” Hunter, 33, said on the SI Boxing Podcast. “It didn’t have to come to a purse bid. They were supposed to negotiate with me in good faith, which they had a hard time doing.

“Them being silent – meaning [co-promoters] Team Sauerland and Eddie Hearn – [they] didn’t really contact me until the end, when I wouldn’t have much time, much of a choice to pick. I was going to a purse bid, and me not having any backing or [being] under a promotional banner, they knew I wasn’t going to have any backing if it went to a purse bid. Or at least that’s what they thought.”

Hunter, a 2012 Olympian, says that was when Triller stepped into the fray. Triller, the music app that promoted the exhibition match between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. last year, made headlines earlier this February by winning the purse bid for the IBF lightweight title fight between Teofimo Lopez and George Kambosos, beating out the established likes of Matchroom and Top Rank.

“Then [Sauerland and Hearn] got wind of Triller being involved,” Hunter continued. “At the time Triller was undefeated when it came to purse bids. I think at first they didn’t realize that anybody [else] was involved but when they found out who it was that’s when we had different extensions. It was extended for another 15, 12 days.”

But Hunter says that Hearn and Sauerland were ultimately able to coax Triller from submitting a bid.

“Eddie Hearn and Team Sauerland were able to reach out to Triller and kind of talk them out of bidding,” Hunter continued. “Eddie was the only one that bid. They said like they knew they were going to be the only ones that bid. Originally they weren’t. Triller was going to kick their butts when it came to that.”

In the end, however, the purse bid boondoggle seemed to have worked out for Hunter (19-1-1, 13 KOs). Instead of taking on Hearn’s offer, Hunter signed a multi-fight deal with Triller. On Aug. 3 he will headline against Mike Wilson (21-1, 10 KOs) on Triller’s new boxing series at the Hulu Theater of Madison Square Garden in New York City.

“I know that’s not really common to call other people and find out what they’re bidding and to try to talk them out of bidding, which [Hearn and Sauerland] ended up doing and it was a success,” said Hunter. “It just moved and shifted some deals and money my way. Shout out to Eddie Hearn and Team Sauerland.”

So Hunter thinks Eddie/Kalle stopped Triller from bidding?! Bullshit - if they wanted the fight they’d have bid for it.