Tag: Michael Hunter

Ohio State football hires defensive assistant who reunites with Jim Knowles

The coaching in the Buckeye secondary gets stronger

This news may have gone under-the-radar after the huge offseason that Ohio State football has had, but on Tuesday, it was reported that [autotag]Michael Hunter[/autotag] would join the staff as a defensive back graduate assistant.

After playing for Indiana and Oklahoma State, Hunter bounced around the NFL for a few years before moving onto the coaching profession. He was on staff with current Buckeye defensive coordinator Jim Knowles in 2021 as an assistant defensive secondary coach, then left for Tulsa in 2023.

Hunter will reunite with Knowles in Columbus, giving the current Ohio State DC another voice that he trusts to lean on.

An already stacked defensive backs coaches room gets even deeper as Tim Walton will have another former collegiate and NFL player to lean on this season.

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Who will be Tyson Fury’s opponent on Dec. 5?

Promoter Bob Arum threw out five names as potential opponents for Tyson Fury’s projected fight on Dec. 5 in London.

The search is on.

Bob Arum, the heavyweight titleholder’s co-promoter, threw out a list of five potential opponents for Tyson Fury for a projected fight on Dec. 5 in London (in alphabetical order): Efe Ajagba, Michael Hunter, Agit Kabayel, Charles Martin and Oscar Rivas.

Fury was expected to face Deontay Wilder in third fight before the end of the year but a rematch clause from the second fight reportedly expired before they could reach a deal.

‘Five guys who are possible,” Arum told  IFL TV. “There’s Efe, the African is there. There’s Agit. Rivas is there and there are two others that are there. We’ll have to pick out, see who’s available and pick it out.”

Fury-Wilder III was supposed to happen in July but was pushed back to October amid the coronavirus pandemic and a biceps injury Wilder said he suffered his knockout loss to Fury in February. The fight was then moved to December.

When the sides still couldn’t make the fight, Fury moved on. His U.K.-based co-promoter Frank Warren said his client got fed up.

And Arum, expecting protests from the Wilder camp, told BoxingScene.com that Wilder has no legal recourse that would force Fury to fight him next.

“There’s definitely no legal recourse for them,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “Are they gonna complain? Sure. You’ve gotta understand, the reason there was this very certain window for the rematch, that some people might say was a small window, is that it was negotiated by both sides.

“And as I recall it, they thought they were gonna win, so they wanted as small a window as possible to get rid of the third fight, so they would go on and not be burdened. So, it wasn’t like we insisted that the window be very small to do the third fight, because we didn’t know we were gonna win the fight.”

It’s not clear when or even if Fury will fight Wilder again. Fury’s plan is to fight on Dec. 5 and then face Anthony Joshua in a massive all-U.K. title-unification, assuming Joshua beats Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12.

Fury’s handlers obviously are seeking a second-tier opponent based on the names Arum mentioned.

  • Ajagba (14-0, 11 KOs) is a promising young heavyweight but probably doesn’t have the experience to tangle with Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), although at 6-foot-6 he wouldn’t be dwarfed by the 6-9 Fury.
  • Hunter (18-1-1, 12 KOs) lost a wide decision to then-cruiserweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk in 2017 and then moved up to heavyweight, at which he’s 6-0-1. He is coming off a split draw with Alexander Povetkin last December. At 6-foot-2, he’s seven inches shorter than Fury.
  • Kabayel (20-0, 13 KOs) is the European heavyweight titleholder and has a majority-decision victory over Dereck Chisora on his record. He’s 6-3.
  • The 6-5 Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) won a vacant heavyweight title by beating Vyacheslav Glazkov in 2016 but looked horrible in his first defense against Joshua, losing by a second-round knockout. He’s 5-1 since, including a six-round KO of Gerald Washington in February.
  • And Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs), a short (6-0½), but thick Colombian, was on a nice roll but lost a unanimous decision against Dillian Whyte on July 20.

Who will be Tyson Fury’s opponent on Dec. 5?

Promoter Bob Arum threw out five names as potential opponents for Tyson Fury’s projected fight on Dec. 5 in London.

The search is on.

Bob Arum, the heavyweight titleholder’s co-promoter, threw out a list of five potential opponents for Tyson Fury for a projected fight on Dec. 5 in London (in alphabetical order): Efe Ajagba, Michael Hunter, Agit Kabayel, Charles Martin and Oscar Rivas.

Fury was expected to face Deontay Wilder in third fight before the end of the year but a rematch clause from the second fight reportedly expired before they could reach a deal.

‘Five guys who are possible,” Arum told  IFL TV. “There’s Efe, the African is there. There’s Agit. Rivas is there and there are two others that are there. We’ll have to pick out, see who’s available and pick it out.”

Fury-Wilder III was supposed to happen in July but was pushed back to October amid the coronavirus pandemic and a biceps injury Wilder said he suffered his knockout loss to Fury in February. The fight was then moved to December.

When the sides still couldn’t make the fight, Fury moved on. His U.K.-based co-promoter Frank Warren said his client got fed up.

And Arum, expecting protests from the Wilder camp, told BoxingScene.com that Wilder has no legal recourse that would force Fury to fight him next.

“There’s definitely no legal recourse for them,” Arum told BoxingScene.com. “Are they gonna complain? Sure. You’ve gotta understand, the reason there was this very certain window for the rematch, that some people might say was a small window, is that it was negotiated by both sides.

“And as I recall it, they thought they were gonna win, so they wanted as small a window as possible to get rid of the third fight, so they would go on and not be burdened. So, it wasn’t like we insisted that the window be very small to do the third fight, because we didn’t know we were gonna win the fight.”

It’s not clear when or even if Fury will fight Wilder again. Fury’s plan is to fight on Dec. 5 and then face Anthony Joshua in a massive all-U.K. title-unification, assuming Joshua beats Kubrat Pulev on Dec. 12.

Fury’s handlers obviously are seeking a second-tier opponent based on the names Arum mentioned.

  • Ajagba (14-0, 11 KOs) is a promising young heavyweight but probably doesn’t have the experience to tangle with Fury (30-0-1, 21 KOs), although at 6-foot-6 he wouldn’t be dwarfed by the 6-9 Fury.
  • Hunter (18-1-1, 12 KOs) lost a wide decision to then-cruiserweight titleholder Oleksandr Usyk in 2017 and then moved up to heavyweight, at which he’s 6-0-1. He is coming off a split draw with Alexander Povetkin last December. At 6-foot-2, he’s seven inches shorter than Fury.
  • Kabayel (20-0, 13 KOs) is the European heavyweight titleholder and has a majority-decision victory over Dereck Chisora on his record. He’s 6-3.
  • The 6-5 Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs) won a vacant heavyweight title by beating Vyacheslav Glazkov in 2016 but looked horrible in his first defense against Joshua, losing by a second-round knockout. He’s 5-1 since, including a six-round KO of Gerald Washington in February.
  • And Rivas (26-1, 18 KOs), a short (6-0½), but thick Colombian, was on a nice roll but lost a unanimous decision against Dillian Whyte on July 20.

Povetkin, Hunter fight to draw; Whyte outpoints Wach on Ruiz-Joshua card

Alexander Povetkin and Michael Hunter fought to a draw on the Andy Ruiz Jr.-Anthony Joshua card. Dillian Whyte won his comeback fight.

Other heavyweights on the Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. card Saturday in Saudi Arabia tried to put their best foot forward. Dillian Whyte succeeded, Alexander Povetkin and Michael Hunter not as much.

Povetkin (35-2-1, 24 knockouts) and Hunter (18-1-1, 12 KOs) fought to a draw in the co-feature, which would’ve put the winner in the mandatory position for one of Joshua’s heavyweight titles. They both had their moments in a fiercely fought bout but neither could separate from the other.

The scores were 115-113, 113-115 and 114-114.

Povetkin, a former Olympic champion who is now 40, is hoping for one more shot at a world title.

Hunter, 31, is a former cruiserweight contender trying to make his mark in the sport’s glamour division. A solid performance against a veteran like Povetkin was a positive step even though he didn’t have his hand raised.

Hunter’s only loss was a wide decision to Oleksandr Usyk in 2017, his last 200-pound fight.

Whyte, a late addition to the card, weighed a career-high 271 but it didn’t matter against Mariusz Wach, who was outpointed 98-93, 97-93, 97-93 in a 10-rounder.

Whyte has been mired in controversy. He failed a pre-fight drug test but, for unknown reasons, was allowed to fight Oscar Rivas on July 20. On Friday, U.K. Anti-doping dropped its case against Whyte.

And, in another heavyweight fight, prospect Filip Hrgovic (10-0, 8 KOs) of Croatia stopped veteran Eric Molina (27-6, 19 KOs) in the third round.