Michael Hunter Emerges as Anthony Joshua’s Most Likely Opponent

As you may have already heard, Anthony Joshua’s June 1 match with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller at Madison Square Garden is in limbo. Late yesterday (Tuesday, April 16), it was learned that Miller had failed a random drug test administered by representatives of VADA. Big Baby tested positive for GW1516, also known as cardarine and endurobol.

Useful as a weight loss aid, GW1516, among other things, is an endurance enhancer. Users don’t get winded as quickly. It works, notes a report by Australia’s Sports Anti-Doping Agency, by forcing skeletal muscle to use fat rather than carbohydrates as an energy source. In the example sometimes given of a professional cyclist, he or she can become thinner, putting less stress on their conveyance, while maintaining or increasing the leg power required to climb mountains quickly.

Several countries banned GWI516 when it was discovered that it increased the incidence of cancer in laboratory rats. Nonetheless, it is widely available on the Internet.

Anthony Joshua’s promoter Eddie Hearn has reportedly stated that the June 1 date is locked in stone, no matter Joshua’s opponent. The thousands of people that would be inconvenienced by a cancellation include members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The BWAA’s annual awards dinner is always held on the eve of a big fight. This year it’s set for May 31.

Hearn has been in this predicament before. Back in October of 2017, the fight between Joshua and Kubrat Pulev at Cardiff, Wales, evaporated when Pulev was forced to pull out with a torn biceps. By then, 70,000 tickets had been sold. But Hearn had the foresight to have a pinch-hitter in the dugout, so to speak, and the show went off without a hitch with Carlos Takam subbing for Pulev.

With Joshua vs. Miller a shade more than six weeks away, Hearn hadn’t yet formulated a back-up plan. This morning, the Internet was rife with speculation about Joshua’s next opponent, all based on the assumption that Joshua vs. Miller was dead in the water.

One web site reported that there were five potential opponents on Hearn’s short list: Luis Ortiz, Adam Kownacki, Manuel Charr, Kubrat Pulev, and Michael Hunter.

We doubt the veracity of this report. Ortiz and Kownacki are controlled by Al Hayman who hasn’t done business with Eddie Hearn. It’s widely assumed that Kownacki, who trains with Jarrell Miller in Brooklyn, is being groomed for a match with Deontay Wilder. June 1 is presumably too soon for Kubrat Pulev who emerged from his last fight with a bad cut that wouldn’t be fully healed by June 1. Manuel Charr, a 34-year-old German of Syrian and Lebanese descent, holds a second-tier WBA title but is presumably out of the running because of previous PED issues. In September of last year, Charr tested positive for two banned anabolic steroids, scuttling a match with Ossie Oquendo.

That leaves Michael Hunter who recently signed with Hearn’s company, Matchroom Boxing, making him, in our estimation, the overwhelming favorite to step in for Big Baby.

Now 30 years old, Hunter’s lone defeat in 17 pro starts came at the hands of Oleksandr Usyk and Hunter had several good moments in that fight before fading down the stretch. Since then he’s competed as a heavyweight, winning four straight, the last three by stoppage. In his last outing, he was impressive in scoring a ninth round TKO of Alexander Ustinov on an Eddie Hearn promoted show in Monte Carlo. He took that bout on three weeks notice. In his match before that, he upset the previously undefeated Scotch-Congolese prospect Martin Bakole Ilunga in London.

If he were selected to fight Anthony Joshua, Hunter would be at a severe weight disadvantage. However, that would be nothing new. He was outweighed by 43 pounds by Ilunga and by 66 pounds by Ustinov.

Hunter lacks name recognition, but has several “hooks” advantageous to the PR people. A former Olympian, he comes from a fighting family. His late father Mike “The Bounty” Hunter was a heavyweight contender, a noted spoiler with several good wins to his credit. Pop defeated Oliver McCall, among others, and McCall famously went to London and knocked out Lennox Lewis. Michael Hunter, who fights out of Las Vegas, is co-trained by Hasim Rahman who also scored a massive upset over Lennox Lewis.

Conspicuously absent from the dubious short list is Dillian Whyte. If the fans got to vote on Anthony Joshua’s next opponent, Whyte would likely come in third behind Wilder and Tyson Fury. Unlike those two, Whyte doesn’t have a fight scheduled in the near future.

Big Baby Miller is reportedly keeping to his training regimen and there remains a chance, however slim, that Joshua vs. Miller can be salvaged. Tickets for the fight, priced from $106 to $2,506 (plus applicable booking fees), went on sale on Feb. 15 at Ticketmaster and at the Garden Box Office four days later. Advance sales were reportedly so brisk that a sellout is virtually guaranteed.

Joshua, who will be making his U.S. debut, is the big draw, but Miller has a strong following in New York and if he is forced to pull out there will undoubtedly be a clamor for refunds. That may trigger Madison Square Garden lobbyists to put the squeeze on state legislators in Albany to find a solution to let the match go forward.

If that should happen, the lobbyists will be swimming against the tide. The New York State Athletic Commission has come under fire repeatedly for lax practices, most recently in a four-part series by frequent TSS contributor Thomas Hauser for The Ring. It’s doubtful the agency would want to risk more heat. Moreover, this apparently isn’t the first time that Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller has been exposed as a user of banned substances. It’s been reported that he tested positive for two banned anabolic steroids while competing as a kickboxer.

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