| Michael Nunn | |
| Realname: | Michael John Nunn |
| Nickname: | Second To Nunn |
| Weight: | |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in[1] |
| Reach: | 77 in |
| Birth Date: | 14 April 1963 |
| Birth Place: | Davenport, Iowa, U.S. |
| Style: | Southpaw |
| Total: | 62 |
| Wins: | 58 |
| Ko: | 38 |
| Losses: | 4 |
Michael John Nunn (born April 14, 1963) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1984 to 2002. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the IBF middleweight title from 1988 to 1991, and the WBA super middleweight title from 1992 to 1994. During both those reigns, he also held the lineal championship.[2] In 2004, Nunn was sentenced to 24 years in prison for drug trafficking; he was released in February 2019.[3]
Nunn won three Iowa Golden Gloves titles and posted an amateur record of 168-8.[4] At the 1984 Olympic trials, U.S. boxing officials asked Nunn, who was boxing as a 156-pounder, to move up to the 165-pound division. They wanted to clear the way for Frank Tate, the eventual Olympic gold medalist, who was being heralded as America's next great middleweight. Tate's last loss was to Nunn.
After agreeing to move up in weight, Nunn boxed Virgil Hill at the Olympic trials in Fort Worth, Texas. Hill defeated Nunn by a 4-1 decision. Nunn and Hill boxed again at the Olympic box-offs in Las Vegas, Nevada. Nunn won the first box-off by a 5-0 decision. In the second box-off, Hill dropped Nunn and won by a 5-0 decision to make the Olympic team as the U.S. representative in the 165-pound division.[5]
See main article: Michael Nunn vs. Iran Barkley. Nunn turned professional in 1984. After winning his first thirty fights, he fought IBF middleweight title-holder Frank Tate, who was 23-0. The fight took place on July 28, 1988 at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Nunn won the title by a ninth-round knockout.
In his first title defense, he knocked out Juan Roldan in the eighth round. His second defense was a stunning first-round knockout of Sumbu Kalambay to capture the vacant lineal middleweight championship.[6] Nunn's next two title defenses were twelve-round majority decision wins over Iran Barkley and Marlon Starling. For his fifth defense, Nunn went to France and knocked out Donald Curry in ten rounds. On May 10, 1991, in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, Nunn lost his title in a big upset to James Toney. Nunn, well ahead on points after ten rounds, was knocked out after being dropped by a left hook in the eleventh round.[7]
After the loss, Nunn moved up a weight division to super middleweight and won the NABF title with a tenth-round stoppage against Randall Yonker. On September 12, 1992, Nunn won the WBA and lineal super middleweight titles with a controversial twelve-round split decision over Victor Cordoba.[8] The WBA ordered a rematch, which took place on January 30, 1993. Nunn fought much better in the rematch, winning by a one-sided twelve-round unanimous decision.[9]
In his fifth title defense, Nunn lost the title to Steve Little by a twelve-round split decision on February 26, 1994, in another huge upset.[10] On December 17, 1994, Nunn traveled to Ecuador to fight Frankie Liles in an attempt to regain the lineal and WBA super middleweight titles. In a very close fight, Liles, who had defeated Little in his previous fight to win the title, defeated Nunn by a twelve-round unanimous decision.
After nine consecutive wins, Nunn got another title shot. On March 21, 1998, he fought Graciano Rocchigiani for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title in Germany. Nunn lost by a twelve-round split decision, with the judges favouring Rocchigiani's fewer, more solid punches over Nunn's much higher volume of lighter shots.
On January 23, 2002, Nunn defeated Vinson Durhan by a ten-round unanimous decision at Caesars Indiana in Bridgeport, Indiana. It would be his last fight. He finished with a record of 58-4 with 37 knockouts.
On August 6, 2002, at a hotel in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, Nunn was arrested after paying an undercover agent $200 for one kilogram of cocaine, which had a street value of $24,000. In May 2003, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The following January, Nunn was sentenced to 292 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge William Gritzer, who agreed to a higher sentencing guideline after considering Nunn's long history of drug trafficking and the likelihood that he used a firearm during drug deals.
During the three-day sentencing hearing, prosecutors called witnesses who testified about Nunn's drug activity dating back to 1993. Nunn, who accepted responsibility for buying drugs in August 2002, denied his involvement in drug trafficking. He pointed out that several of the witnesses were in prison and could have their sentences reduced for providing testimony.
Nunn, who was defiant throughout the hearing, accused government lawyers of lying and scheming against him. "You guys haven't shown me nothing," Nunn said in his statement to the judge. "Where are your facts, Mr. Prosecutor?"[11]
Nunn was released from federal prison on August 8, 2019.
| Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62 | Win | 58–4 | Vinson Durham | UD | 10 | Jan 23, 2002 | |||
| 61 | Win | 57–4 | Matthew Charleston | TKO | 5 | Dec 8, 2001 | |||
| 60 | Win | 56–4 | Kenny Craven | TKO | 6 (10), | Oct 26, 2001 | |||
| 59 | Win | 55–4 | Carlos Bates | KO | 1 (10), | Sep 29, 2001 | |||
| 58 | Win | 54–4 | William Guthrie | TKO | 7 (10), | May 9, 1999 | |||
| 57 | Win | 53–4 | Glenn Thomas | UD | 10 | Sep 4, 1998 | |||
| 56 | Loss | 52–4 | Graciano Rocchigiani | SD | 12 | Mar 21, 1998 | |||
| 55 | Win | 52–3 | Lonnie Horn | KO | 1 (10), | Jul 5, 1997 | |||
| 54 | Win | 51–3 | Booker T Word | TKO | 7 (10), | May 10, 1997 | |||
| 53 | Win | 50–3 | Rudy Nix | TKO | 2 (12), | Jan 17, 1997 | |||
| 52 | Win | 49–3 | Everardo Armenta Jr. | TKO | 8 (10), | Jun 23, 1996 | |||
| 51 | Win | 48–3 | John Scully | UD | 12 | Dec 8, 1995 | |||
| 50 | Win | 47–3 | Charles Oliver | UD | 10 | Oct 13, 1995 | |||
| 49 | Win | 46–3 | Cecil McKenzie | TKO | 4 (10), | Aug 15, 1995 | |||
| 48 | Win | 45–3 | Terry Bee | TKO | 3 (10), | Jul 14, 1995 | |||
| 47 | Win | 44–3 | Earl Butler | UD | 10 | Jun 13, 1995 | |||
| 46 | Loss | 43–3 | Frankie Liles | UD | 12 | Dec 17, 1994 | |||
| 45 | Win | 43–2 | Salvador Maciel | KO | 1 (10), | Sep 12, 1994 | |||
| 44 | Loss | 42–2 | Steve Little | SD | 12 | Feb 26, 1994 | |||
| 43 | Win | 42–1 | Merqui Sosa | UD | 12 | Dec 18, 1993 | |||
| 42 | Win | 41–1 | Crawford Ashley | TKO | 6 (12), | Apr 23, 1993 | |||
| 41 | Win | 40–1 | Danny Morgan | KO | 1 (12), | Feb 20, 1993 | |||
| 40 | Win | 39–1 | Víctor Córdoba | UD | 12 | Jan 30, 1993 | |||
| 39 | Win | 38–1 | Víctor Córdoba | 12 | Sep 12, 1992 | ||||
| 38 | Win | 37–1 | Randall Yonker | TKO | 10 (12), | Nov 29, 1991 | |||
| 37 | Loss | 36–1 | James Toney | TKO | 11 (12), | May 10, 1991 | |||
| 36 | Win | 36–0 | Donald Curry | KO | 10 (12), | Oct 18, 1990 | |||
| 35 | Win | 35–0 | Marlon Starling | MD | 12 | Apr 14, 1990 | |||
| 34 | Win | 34–0 | Iran Barkley | 12 | Aug 14, 1989 | ||||
| 33 | Win | 33–0 | Sumbu Kalambay | KO | 1 (12), | Mar 25, 1989 | |||
| 32 | Win | 32–0 | Juan Roldán | KO | 8 (12), | Nov 4, 1988 | |||
| 31 | Win | 31–0 | Frank Tate | TKO | 9 (15), | Jul 28, 1988 | |||
| 30 | Win | 30–0 | Ron Daniels | KO | 2 (10), | May 31, 1988 | |||
| 29 | Win | 29–0 | Curtis Parker | KO | 2 (12), | Mar 19, 1988 | |||
| 28 | Win | 28–0 | Kevin Watts | UD | 12 | Jan 2, 1988 | |||
| 27 | Win | 27–0 | Darnell Knox | 4 (12), | Oct 29, 1987 | ||||
| 26 | Win | 26–0 | Dale Jackson | UD | 10 | Sep 11, 1987 | |||
| 25 | Win | 25–0 | Franklin Owens | TKO | 9 (10), | Aug 11, 1987 | |||
| 24 | Win | 24–0 | Jose Duarte | TKO | 2 (10), | Jul 2, 1987 | |||
| 23 | Win | 23–0 | Cecil Pettigrew | TKO | 5 (10), | Apr 24, 1987 | |||
| 22 | Win | 22–0 | Charles Campbell | TKO | 9 (10), | Apr 4, 1987 | |||
| 21 | Win | 21–0 | Willie Harris | TKO | 6 (10) | Feb 6, 1987 | |||
| 20 | Win | 20–0 | Alex Ramos | UD | 12 | Nov 21, 1986 | |||
| 19 | Win | 19–0 | Orlando Paulding | KO | 1 (10), | Oct 28, 1986 | |||
| 18 | Win | 18–0 | Mike Tinley | UD | 10 | Sep 19, 1986 | |||
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | Charles Boston | UD | 10 | Jul 25, 1986 | |||
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Randy Smith | UD | 10 | Jun 25, 1986 | |||
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Felipe Vaca | TKO | 3 (10), | May 19, 1986 | |||
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Carl Jones | UD | 10 | Mar 9, 1986 | |||
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Charles Carter | TKO | 3 (10) | Feb 10, 1986 | |||
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Alvaro Granillo | TKO | 2 (10), | Jan 28, 1986 | |||
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Billy Robertson | UD | 10 | Dec 10, 1985 | |||
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Jorge Amparo | UD | 8 | Nov 13, 1985 | |||
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Charles Campbell | 8 | Sep 25, 1985 | ||||
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Marcos Geraldo | TKO | 5 (8), | Aug 27, 1985 | |||
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | James Waire | TKO | 3 (8), | Jul 29, 1985 | |||
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Larry Davis | TKO | 2 (6), | Jun 27, 1985 | |||
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | J W Johnson | KO | 1 (8), | May 21, 1985 | |||
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Sergio Campos | KO | 1 (6), | Apr 13, 1985 | |||
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Robert Jackson | KO | 1 (8), | Mar 26, 1985 | |||
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Ismael Templos | 4 (6) | Feb 8, 1985 | ||||
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | John Borman | 1 (4), | Dec 20, 1984 |
Nunn's brother in law is Roger Craig, a professional American football player who married Nunn's sister.[12]