Michael Nunn

 ( 1963 Births ) 

Michael John Nunn (born April 14, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF /ref>

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Amateur career Nunn won three Iowa Golden Gloves titles and posted an amateur record of 168-8. At the 1984 Olympic trials, U.S. boxing officials asked Nunn, who was boxing as a 156-pounder, to move up to the 165-pound division. They wanted to clear the way for Frank Tate, the eventual Olympic gold medalist, who was being heralded as America's next great middleweight. Tate's last loss was to Nunn.

After agreeing to move up in weight, Nunn boxed Virgil Hill at the Olympic trials in Fort Worth, Texas. Hill defeated Nunn by a 4-1 decision. Nunn and Hill boxed again at the Olympic box-offs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nunn won the first box-off by a 5-0 decision. In the second box-off, Hill dropped Nunn and won by a 5-0 decision to make the Olympic team as the U.S. representative in the 165-pound division.

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Professional career

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Middleweight Nunn turned professional in 1984. After winning his first thirty fights, he fought IBF middleweight title-holder Frank Tate, who was 23-0. The fight took place on July 28, 1988 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Nunn won the title by a ninth-round knockout.

In his first title defense, he knocked out Juan Roldan in the eighth round. His second defense was a stunning first-round knockout of Sumbu Kalambay to capture the vacant lineal middleweight championship. Nunn's next two title defenses were twelve-round majority decision wins over Iran Barkley and Marlon Starling. For his fifth defense, Nunn went to France and knocked out Donald Curry in ten rounds. On May 10, 1991, in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, Nunn lost his title in a big upset to James Toney. Nunn, well ahead on points after ten rounds, was knocked out after being dropped by a left hook in the eleventh round.

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Super middleweight After the loss, Nunn moved up a weight division to super middleweight and won the NABF title with a tenth-round stoppage against Randall Yonker. On September 12, 1992, Nunn won the WBA and lineal super middleweight titles with a controversial twelve-round split decision over Victor Cordoba. The WBA ordered a rematch, which took place on January 30, 1993. Nunn fought much better in the rematch, winning by a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision. Lakeland (FL) Ledger February 2, 1993

In his fifth title defense, Nunn lost the title to Steve Little by a twelve-round split decision on February 26, 1994, in another huge upset. Reading (PA) Eagle March 3, 1994 On December 17, 1994, Nunn traveled to Ecuador to fight Frankie Liles in an attempt to regain the lineal and WBA super middleweight titles. In a very close fight, Liles, who had defeated Little in his previous fight to win the title, defeated Nunn by a twelve-round unanimous decision.

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Light heavyweight After nine consecutive wins, Nunn got another title shot. On March 21, 1998, he fought Graciano Rocchigiani for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title in Germany. Nunn lost by a twelve-round split decision, with the judges favouring Rocchigiani's fewer, more solid punches over Nunn's much higher volume of lighter shots.

On January 23, 2002, Nunn defeated Vinson Durhan by a ten-round unanimous decision at Caesars Indiana in Bridgeport, Indiana. It would be his last fight. He finished with a record of 58-4 with 37 knockouts.

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Arrest and sentencing On August 6, 2002, at a hotel in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, Nunn was arrested after paying an undercover agent $200 for one kilogram of cocaine, which had a street value of $24,000. In May 2003, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The following January, Nunn was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge William Gritzer, who agreed to a higher sentencing guideline after considering Nunn's long history of drug trafficking and the likelihood that he used a firearm during drug deals.

During the three-day sentencing hearing, prosecutors called witnesses who testified about Nunn's drug activity dating back to 1993. Nunn, who accepted responsibility for buying drugs in August 2002, denied his involvement in drug trafficking. He pointed out that several of the witnesses were in prison and could have their sentences reduced for providing testimony.

Nunn, who was defiant throughout the hearing, accused government lawyers of lying and scheming against him. "You guys haven't shown me nothing," Nunn said in his statement to the judge. "Where are your facts, Mr. Prosecutor?"

Nunn was released from federal prison on August 8, 2019.

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Professional boxing record

62	Win	58–4	Vinson Durham	UD	10	Jan 23, 2002
61	Win	57–4	Matthew Charleston	TKO	5	Dec 8, 2001
60	Win	56–4	Kenny Craven	TKO	6 (10),	Oct 26, 2001
59	Win	55–4	Carlos Bates	KO	1 (10),	Sep 29, 2001
58	Win	54–4	William Guthrie	TKO	7 (10),	May 9, 1999
57	Win	53–4	Glenn Thomas	UD	10	Sep 4, 1998
56	Loss	52–4	Graciano Rocchigiani	SD	12	Mar 21, 1998
55	Win	52–3	Lonnie Horn	KO	1 (10),	Jul 5, 1997
54	Win	51–3	Booker T Word	TKO	7 (10),	May 10, 1997
53	Win	50–3	Rudy Nix	TKO	2 (12),	Jan 17, 1997
52	Win	49–3	Everardo Armenta Jr.	TKO	8 (10),	Jun 23, 1996
51	Win	48–3	John Scully	UD	12	Dec 8, 1995
50	Win	47–3	Charles Oliver	UD	10	Oct 13, 1995
49	Win	46–3	Cecil McKenzie	TKO	4 (10),	Aug 15, 1995
48	Win	45–3	Terry Bee	TKO	3 (10),	Jul 14, 1995
47	Win	44–3	Earl Butler	UD	10	Jun 13, 1995
46	Loss	43–3	Frankie Liles	UD	12	Dec 17, 1994
45	Win	43–2	Salvador Maciel	KO	1 (10),	Sep 12, 1994
44	Loss	42–2	Steve Little	SD	12	Feb 26, 1994
43	Win	42–1	Merqui Sosa	UD	12	Dec 18, 1993
42	Win	41–1	Crawford Ashley	TKO	6 (12),	Apr 23, 1993
41	Win	40–1	Danny Morgan	KO	1 (12),	Feb 20, 1993
40	Win	39–1	Víctor Córdoba	UD	12	Jan 30, 1993
39	Win	38–1	Víctor Córdoba		12	Sep 12, 1992
38	Win	37–1	Randall Yonker	TKO	10 (12),	Nov 29, 1991
37	Loss	36–1	James Toney	TKO	11 (12),	May 10, 1991
36	Win	36–0	Donald Curry	KO	10 (12),	Oct 18, 1990
35	Win	35–0	Marlon Starling	MD	12	Apr 14, 1990
34	Win	34–0	Iran Barkley		12	Aug 14, 1989
33	Win	33–0	Sumbu Kalambay	KO	1 (12),	Mar 25, 1989
32	Win	32–0	Juan Roldán	KO	8 (12),	Nov 4, 1988
31	Win	31–0	Frank Tate	TKO	9 (15),	Jul 28, 1988
30	Win	30–0	Ron Daniels	KO	2 (10),	May 31, 1988
29	Win	29–0	Curtis Parker	KO	2 (12),	Mar 19, 1988
28	Win	28–0	Kevin Watts	UD	12	Jan 2, 1988
27	Win	27–0	Darnell Knox		4 (12),	Oct 29, 1987
26	Win	26–0	Dale Jackson	UD	10	Sep 11, 1987
25	Win	25–0	Franklin Owens	TKO	9 (10),	Aug 11, 1987
24	Win	24–0	Jose Duarte	TKO	2 (10),	Jul 2, 1987
23	Win	23–0	Cecil Pettigrew	TKO	5 (10),	Apr 24, 1987
22	Win	22–0	Charles Campbell	TKO	9 (10),	Apr 4, 1987
21	Win	21–0	Willie Harris	TKO	6 (10)	Feb 6, 1987
20	Win	20–0	Alex Ramos	UD	12	Nov 21, 1986
19	Win	19–0	Orlando Paulding	KO	1 (10),	Oct 28, 1986
18	Win	18–0	Mike Tinley	UD	10	Sep 19, 1986
17	Win	17–0	Charles Boston	UD	10	Jul 25, 1986
16	Win	16–0	Randy Smith	UD	10	Jun 25, 1986
15	Win	15–0	Felipe Vaca	TKO	3 (10),	May 19, 1986
14	Win	14–0	Carl Jones	UD	10	Mar 9, 1986
13	Win	13–0	Charles Carter	TKO	3 (10)	Feb 10, 1986
12	Win	12–0	Alvaro Granillo	TKO	2 (10),	Jan 28, 1986
11	Win	11–0	Billy Robertson	UD	10	Dec 10, 1985
10	Win	10–0	Jorge Amparo	UD	8	Nov 13, 1985
9	Win	9–0	Charles Campbell		8	Sep 25, 1985
8	Win	8–0	Marcos Geraldo	TKO	5 (8),	Aug 27, 1985
7	Win	7–0	James Waire	TKO	3 (8),	Jul 29, 1985
6	Win	6–0	Larry Davis	TKO	2 (6),	Jun 27, 1985
5	Win	5–0	J W Johnson	KO	1 (8),	May 21, 1985
4	Win	4–0	Sergio Campos	KO	1 (6),	Apr 13, 1985
3	Win	3–0	Robert Jackson	KO	1 (8),	Mar 26, 1985
2	Win	2–0	Ismael Templos		4 (6)	Feb 8, 1985
1	Win	1–0	John Borman		1 (4),	Dec 20, 1984

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Personal Nunn's brother in law is Roger Craig, a professional American football player who married Nunn's sister.

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See also

• List of middleweight boxing champions
• List of super middleweight boxing champions
• List of WBA world champions
• List of IBF world champions

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External links

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