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By
John Howard:
He's
inmate number 11772-030. His address has changed from the San
Fernando Valley in Southern California to the United States
Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. His release date is
scheduled for June 16, 2024. This wasn't the way Michael Nunn
dreamed it would be after capturing the middleweight title on
July 28, 1988 by totally outclassing former Olympic gold
medalist Frank Tate with a shocking TKO in the ninth round at
Caesar's Palace Pavilion in Las Vegas. I can still remember the
buzz from the boxing fans in attendance that night. I was
sitting in an elevated section of seats a few rows behind
ringside.
At that point in his life, Michael was a good looking,
articulate athlete who was on top of his game, and it appeared,
the world. "Michael Nunn's a class act." I remember that quote
from Sugar Ray Leonard when asked about Nunn during an
interview.
After his win over Tate, Michael went on to defend his title
against Juan Roldan, Sumbu Kalambay (Michael's first million
dollar payday and 88 second first round KO! It was Ring
Magazine's Knockout of the Year for 1989), Iran Barkley, Marlon
Starling, and Donald Curry, all former world champions.
Then, on that fateful night of May 10, 1991, in his hometown of
Davenport, Iowa, in front of 10,000 fans, he was caught with a
left hook by James Toney and TKO'd in the eleventh round. Up
until that round, Michael was dominating the fight and giving
Toney a boxing lesson. It appeared he was going to cruise to an
easy victory and retain his title. Toney put an end to that plan
quickly with one of the biggest left hooks you'll ever see in
boxing (see You Tube - Toney vs. Nunn Round 11). It's ranked
right up there with Joe Frazier's classic left hook that caught
Muhammad Ali in the fifteenth round of their epic battle "The
Fight of the Century."
After the Toney defeat, the Cinderella story of Michael's life
began to unravel. Although he did capture a super-middleweight
title against Victor Cordoba in 1992, all was not right with
Nunn. He was involved with drugs and charged with various
offenses dating back to 1983. These included drug possession,
traffic violations, unlawful use of weapons, driving with a
suspended license, assaulting a police officer and interfering
with official acts (see ESB's "Michael Nunn Given 24 year Prison
Sentence," 1-31-04).
But the offense that landed Michael in the Leavenworth Federal
Penitentiary was the conviction of conspiracy to distribute
cocaine. He was convicted of buying one kilogram of cocaine from
an undercover FBI agent, at a Davenport hotel, that had an
estimated street value of $24,000. He was given the 24 year
sentence because of his past history.
I have no hidden agenda regarding Michael Nunn. I've seen
several of his fights, met him briefly at the weigh-in prior to
the Tate fight, and whatever happens to him has no bearing on my
life whatsoever. Having said that, I do feel a need to share an
observation I have on Michael's sentence. It's mind-boggling to
see a fighter currently out of prison that committed rape and
served, what, three years? Another, along with his crew, took a
nine-iron to an unlucky soul and got 100 hours of community
service and three years probation.
There's no way I'm condoning the past behavior of Michael Nunn.
Drugs have destroyed the lives of the addicted and their
families, and have created a major problem in the U.S.
However, if you compare a sentence of 24 years for $24,000 worth
of perceived drugs, verses the violence committed and the light
sentences received with the two prior cases I've mentioned
above, in my opinion, the sentencing doesn't add up.
One last comment. I've followed Michael's career since he turned
pro and fought at the Reseda Country Club in the San Fernando
Valley. I've heard comments from boxing fans throughout his
career. "He has a pity-pat, tap-tap, move, unexciting style of
boxing." I've also heard "He can't punch." They're mistaken. The
name of the game is boxing and Michael did it well.
For those of you who never saw him fight, he was a tall, rangy
left handed boxer who was both quick and slick. His style
reminded me of a cross between current fighters Winky Wright and
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. As far as the knock on his punching power,
let's compare Michael's power stats with some other great
fighters of his era. Michael's career KO percentage ranks above
that of a couple of the greats.
Before you jump on the comments section about what I've just
said, let me share something with you. Michael Nunn's career KO
percentage of 60% is greater than the career 56% for James
Toney, and also tops Roberto Duran's career 58%, respectively.
Both Toney and Duran's stats are beyond reproach, and both
fighters are thought of as being godlike by many boxing fans on
this site!
I don't know what happened to send Michael down the wrong path,
but for his sake, I hope he gets paroled one day so he can
salvage what's left of his life and put this behind him. I found
him to be one of the good guys in the sport. |
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