The nineteen-year-old Hunter, who must place in the top four of his weight class in order to secure a berth to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, will represent the United States in the super heavyweight (91+ kg/201+ lb.) division.

Hunter has already achieved considerable success despite only five years of boxing training. In 2006, he advanced to the finals of the Golden Gloves Championships with only five bouts of experience prior to winning the bronze at the Junior World Championships. He followed up his 2006 Under-19 National Championship title with a gold-medal finish at the 2007 U.S. Championships.

Hunter draws inspiration from his father, former professional world champion boxer Michael Hunter, Sr., nicknamed “The Bounty,” and has fond childhood memories of watching his father serve as a sparring partner for the likes of Mike Tyson.

“Just watching him sparr with the older professionals like Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe – that was really cool,” Michael recalls. “He was a ‘people person,’ so he always liked to mess around with the little kids in the gym!”

Ironically, it was his father who initially discouraged him from taking on the sport.

“He always wanted me to play basketball or football, that’s why I started a little later,” Michael says wryly. “But I was always in the gym.”

As the elder Hunter began to realize his son’s apparent talent, the two got closer. Prior to his father’s unexpected death in 2006, the two forged a bond through their mutual love of boxing.

“If I was shadowboxing in the mirror and he saw me doing something wrong, of course he’d come over and fix it,” Michael says. “We would always watch tapes together – we were very close.”

Since then, Hunter has pushed himself even harder to succeed in amateur boxing; even when there are days he needs a little extra motivation from someone close to home.

“My mom keeps me focused – she’s like my second trainer,” he jokes. “She pushed me when I didn’t really want go to the gym; she got me up and made me go.”

No longer living at home or training at his original club in Las Vegas, Genesis Boxing Gym, Michael now has 10 teammates on his heels, pushing him every day. For almost five weeks now, he has been training six days a week in Colorado Springs as a member of the newly-created resident boxing program at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, where the entire U.S. Olympic Boxing team will live and train through the 2008 Olympic Games.

Looking forward to the World Boxing Championships – the first major international competition since the Olympic Team was chosen – Hunter feels prepared to walk out onto the world’s stage, despite going up against other heavily-favored boxers. He stands to box both 2005 World Championships bronze medalists, Kubrat Pulev of Bulgaria and Italy’s Roberto Cammarelle, and could possibly face 2000 Olympic and 2003 World Championships bronze medalist Rustam Saidov of Uzbekistan. Depending on the draw, his first bout could be as early as Oct. 23.

“[Our whole team] has worked really hard,” he says. “It was a little bumpy at the beginning, but we got it together at the end. All I can do now is to do my best this week and next.”

When asked what he’s learned most about himself through boxing, he is quick to reply.

“I’ve learned that everybody makes mistakes, and you have to keep pushing,” Michael says. “I just know I have to stay focused on my goal – and that’s to get the gold medal.”

Like father, like son.

For more information, please contact Julie Goldsticker of USA Boxing at (719) 330-4072, or the USOC Communications Division at (719) 866-4529.