Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter will step back into the ring at London’s York Hall on December 5, though the matchup hardly lives up to the level he might have hoped for.
The 37-year-old’s career trajectory has been puzzling in recent years, marked by a series of questionable fights that seem to have distanced him further from the heavyweight spotlight. Since his 2021 draw with Jerry Forrest, Hunter (24–1–2, 17 KOs) appears to have been stuck in a cycle of increasingly uninspiring bouts.
Earlier this year, Hunter was poised to challenge Kubrat Pulev for the WBA ‘regular’ heavyweight title—a potential stepping stone to bigger fights. However, prolonged negotiations stalled, and Hunter shifted focus to a possible showdown with Jarrell ‘Big Baby’ Miller. That fight, scheduled during the week of Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford, never materialized.
With limited options left, Hunter briefly revisited the idea of facing Pulev again, only to be informed his mandatory status for the WBA title was no longer valid.
Related News
Now, Hunter is set to headline a card at Bethnal Green’s York Hall, a venue where he earned a memorable 10th-round stoppage of Martin Bakole in 2018.
His opponent will be Eli Frankham, a British heavyweight whose recent fights have all been sanctioned by the British & Irish Boxing Authority (BIBA). Frankham’s professional license with the British Boxing Board of Control was suspended after he served a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence ending in 2018. He later served time again in 2020 for firearm possession.
Frankham, who is considered undersized for the heavyweight division, has yet to prove he matches Hunter’s caliber inside the ring. Despite this, the two will headline a Rich Energy and Rx Sports co-promoted event, sanctioned by BIBA, on December 5.
