Veteran promoter Don King has secured promotional rights to Michael Hunter’s mandatory shot at WBA heavyweight titleholder Kubrat Pulev, winning Friday’s purse bid with an offer of $1.1 million. The result all but confirms the 44-year-old Bulgarian’s first defense will come against Hunter, 24-1-2 (17 KOs), who captured the vacant WBA “Gold” belt in June by out-pointing Cassius Chaney.
King, reveling in the victory over Pulev’s representatives at Epic Sports and Entertainment, proclaimed the bout “all systems go,” adding that Hunter is already in the U.K. this week for Usyk-Dubois II and will remain in camp “to knock out Pulev.” While Aleksandr Usyk remains the sport’s undisputed ruler - and the only man to defeat Hunter in the pros - the California contender sees Pulev as the gateway to bigger nights.
A win would not only deliver Hunter a full WBA strap but also keep alive talk of a domestic showdown with interim titleholder Fabio Wardley, whom Hunter has said he would gladly face at Portman Road, Ipswich. For now, though, the focus is on Pulev and a date and site yet to be announced by King, who vowed to “bring boxing back to we the people.”
With purse money settled and both camps on board, the long-shelved Hunter finally appears to have the marquee opportunity he has been chasing—and a chance to move one step closer to the heavyweight summit he still believes is within reach.
Image Credit: Ready To Fight