This colorful character had some really good skills and could have progressed further if not for drug problems and other problems with the law. I first saw him on ESPN when he easily decisioned Avery Rawls, a young fighter that was being pushed as a prospect by Top Rank. Hunter went on to defeat a young Oliver McCall, a faded Pinklon Thomas and a young Jimmy Thunder. He moved down to Cruiserweight and easily decisioned a past his prime but still competent Dwight Qawi and blew out the well connected, but mediocre Jose Burlon. Later, he jumped back to Heavyweight and beat prospect Alexander Zolkin, fading Tyrell Biggs and decisioned Buster Mathis, Jr. but failed the post fight drug test and it was changed to a NC. He also lost a disputed decision to Frans Botha. Hunter had great hand and foot speed and his style made him very tough to fight. He lost some questionable decisions in other guys hometowns and had trouble getting big fights. He never had a defining fight that solidified him as a heavyweight contender. He did reach the Cruiserweight top 10 but never got a world title shot. He is rarely mentioned and largely forgotten. But, the guy could fight and really was an entertaining character. I think with a little luck he could have become a Cruiserweight champion.
First time I saw him was against Pinklon Thomas around 1990. I had initially watched that evening's card hoping to see good things from a comeback trail Thomas as well as a young olympic light heavyweight named Anthony Hembrick. Both were beaten.. The next time I saw Hunter, he lost to Francois Botha in a snooze fest. A good fighter and a man that most people would rather visit the proctologist than to fight. He was a spoiler more than anything else. Tricky and hard to hit flush.
I think at heavyweight, yes, he was mostly a spoiler. But, at cruiserweight he carried pop. He kod Burlon in one round, and kod Jimmy Thunder, putting him down face first. I think he was avoided by the Cruiserweight champs. Not enough risk reward to fight him.
Kind of the Jimmy Young of his day, but with drug problems. A really good fighter who probably could've won a cruiserweight title with a slight change of fortune.
Yeah, that's it! He was a sort of lower case Jimmy Young...and I liked this guy a lot. He was able to flummox the guys he fought..I really enjoyed watching him.
