Former middleweight king Michael Nunn, who also won a version of the super-iddleweight title during a career that once saw him come close to greatness (trained by Angelo Dundee, beating such fine fighters as Sumbu Kalambay, Don Curry, Iran Barkley, Frank Tate, Marlon Starling and others) is scheduled to fight again this coming Saturday night – at the age of 57.
Southpaw Nunn, who was finally released from prison last year, having served over 16 years for drug trafficking offences (his sentence far too severe in the opinion of many), is to engage in a kickboxing bout with former MMA star Pat Miletich, aged 52 (and inactive since 2008). The fight will go down in Nunn’s hometown of Davenport, Iowa, with a crowd of anywhere fron 2,000 to 10,000 expected to show up (this having some officials worried, what with the coronavirus still raging).
Nunn, who finished his boxing career at 58-4(38) in 2002 before being jailed, has supposedly kept himself in shape, his weight down. But he has never fought a kickboxing fight before – and neither has Miletich. Judging by some recent videos of Nunn on social media, the former champ looks to be in pretty good shape, although there are reports of Nunn having knee trouble. Who knows what we can expect from Saturday’s fight? Apparently ticket sales have been pretty good ($100 for a table seat).
Nunn was kind enough to briefly converse with this writer via FaceBook, and he confirmed the fight:
“Yes, I will be boxing on the 18th of July. I hope you and your family are safe and well,” Nunn, ever classy, wrote back.
Is it boxing, or kickboxing, I asked Nunn.
“It’s both.”
Back in the day you beat some excellent fighters. I recall the talk back then of you maybe fighting Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn.
“Yeah, they (wins over Kalambay, Barkley, Starling, etc) were great fights. Thanks for the support. Benn and Eubank were good champions as well. Those two fights could have been great match-ups if they happened. I wanted one fight to be held in London, the other in Las Vegas.”
Again, who knows what we can expect from Nunn Vs. Miletich? Above all, let’s hope everyone goes home safe.
