Ringside Report Looks Back at Former World Champion Michael “Second To” Nunn

By Donald “Braveheart” Stewart

Imprisoned for a crime that he was accused of having committed frequently and for some time, the story of Michael “Second To” Nunn, 58-4, 38 KOs, is a cautionary one – he denied that he had been a frequent felon. Competing at middle, super middle and light heavyweight he was a southpaw who was a lineal world champion in two weight divisions with two different sanctioning bodies – the IBF as middleweight champion from 1988 to1991 and the WBA as light middleweight champion from 1992 to 1994. He also fought for a world title at light heavyweight with the WBC so his fighting in the ring is more than notable.

But 10 years after he held a world championship belt, he was in prison for drug trafficking, where he languished for 15 years.

Born into a poor Iowa family, he was one of four, raised by a single parent. He was to reflect on his upbringing in an interview with Ring Magazine of his time as a child, ““I grew up on the streets; I was a street tough. I was always fighting. It was tough for me. I had a mother who did everything to take care of me, lead, teach and guide me, but growing up in the neighborhood, I was hanging out with a lot of street toughs. That’s why I was a tough guy – the way I was raised and came up.” Like so many born into difficulty he had a loving family who had limited opportunity but no limit on the love they had for their kith and kin.

When he entered a boxing gym, he found himself being guided at the tender age of 11, by Alvino Pena. As Nunn himself said, “I loved boxing. I was so talented. I was born to box.”

And he proved it as he became a 3-time Iowa Golden Gloves champion as an amateur, he had quite the record at a reported 168 amateur wins out of 176. It led to him being in contention for the 1984 Olympics. Campaigning at 156 pounds he was asked to move up to 165. He did. It allowed the 1984 gold medal winner, Frank Tate, who fought Nunn three times winning twice, to compete at that weight at the Olympics. At 165 pounds Nunn faced Virgil Hill at the Olympic Trials. He lost. They boxed again at the Olympic box-offs. Nunn won the first bout but lost the second. The Olympic dream was over.

In 1984 he moved to Los Angeles, got in toe with the Goossen brothers and turned professional. His debut came on the 20th of December 1984, in the Showboat Hotel and Casino where he stopped John Borman in the 1st round. Nunn never looked back for the next 29 fights, winning every single one of them. He was clearly THAT good.

On the way he won the Californian State Middleweight title against Alex Ramos in 1986, the NABF middleweight title in 1987, against Darnell Knox before, in 1988, defending it successfully twice against Kevin Watts and then Curtis Parker.

It was only natural now that he would be considered for a world title. That happened on the 28th of July 1988, at Caesar’s Palace. And who did he fight for their IBF world title? Frank Tate. Who won? Nunn by stopping Tate in the 9th round. Tate was the reigning champion, and Nunn had told his mother previously, that good woman trying her best to put him on the right pathways he would become world champion one day. As he told the Ring Magazine, “I wanted to perform for my mother; I always told her I was going to be a world champion. I used to tell her I’m going to fight at Caesars Palace and I’m going to win. That was always one of my goals. To knock Frank Tate out July 28, 1988, in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace, that was like my crowning achievement for me and my mother.” It has to be remembered that Tate was the 1984 Olympic champion.

Defenses followed against Juan Roldan on the 4th of November in Las Vegas, when he knocked Roldan out in the 8th, then a 1st round knockout of Sumbu Kalambay on the 25th of March in Las Vegas – it became the Ring magazine knockout of the year for 1989! That fight would have been for the WBA title as well as the IBF belt held by Nunn but, as he had chosen to fight Nunn instead of the mandatory challenger, Errol Graham, the WBA stripped Kalambay. Nunn knocked him out in 88 seconds.

Names we all know in the UK, Iran Barkley and Marlon Sterling came next where he beat both on points. Barkley, on the 14th of August in Reno, was a majority decision Nunn was to comment that Barkely was, “very physical, very strong and a tremendous puncher, probably one of the hardest punchers I ever fought.”

Of course, Nunn always believed he should have been in the mix with Hearns and Leonard and Duran, and that politics played their part, stopping him getting his due recognition and opportunities. The Sterling fight saw him, again win on a majority decision, back in Las Vegas on the 14th of April 1990. Sterling was a welterweight, coming up in weight to face Nunn and Nunn struggled to put him away – was the writing on the wall?

He then travelled to France and knocked out Donald Curry in 10 on the 18th of October 1990, in Paris. If he could not get the Hearns, Leonards or Durans of this world there were other opportunities and going to Europe to box seemed like an opportunity to show people what they could get. Nunn reflected on that in his interview with the Ring Magazine, “I got the opportunity to fight in front of the Europeans; it was beautiful. The people in Paris treated me and my team so well. It was a phenomenal night. Jean-Claude Bouttier, who fought Carlos Monzon in the 1970s, took care of us when we were in France. He was a true gentleman. He took care of us for the two weeks we were in Paris. It was kind of weird, but to get some European exposure … to create some firestorm to maybe have a fight in London, I think Bob Arum and Dan Goossen were trying to get me a fight with Nigel Benn, Chris Eubank.”

He was at the top of his game, and nobody looked likely to touch him. Then in the 11th round of his next defense on the 10th of May 1991 in Davenport James Toney caught him with a left hook and Nunn touched canvass and lost his title. Nunn was well ahead on points at the time he got clipped. It was called the Rumble on the Riverbank and Toney was the 20-1 underdog. If ever the saying, it takes one punch means something, here it is. Nunn was devastated, not just because he lost. “I had a contract for $7 million to fight Roberto Duran, but Duran chose not to fight me. That’s not on me. I respect him and Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. I just wanted to test my skills against those legendary fighters. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to do that.” But he was never bitter, “That was probably the most devastating defeat … I got a little careless and he took advantage of it, and I give him all the props in the world. James was able to do what champions do and capitalize. It was his night.”

Nunn moved up to super middleweight straight afterwards and took the NABF title on the 29th of November 1991 in Las Vegas when he stopped Randall Yonker in the 10th.
On the 12th of September 1992, he won the WBA and lineal titles when he got a 12 round split decision over Victor Cordoba in Vegas. It was a controversial win and a rematch happened on the 30th of January in Memphis where Nunn was a better fighter and won well to retain his title.

Successful defenses followed against Dan Morgan in Mexico City on the 2th of February 1993, when he knocked him out in the 1st round, then he stopped Crawford Ashley in the 6th round on the 23rd of April in Memphis, before on the 18th of December in Puebla Merqui Sosa was beaten on points. 1993 was a good year.

1994 was a disaster. He went to London to set up a possible unification fight against the ASBC champion, Nigel Benn. Whilst there he defended against Steve Little. Knocked to the ground in the 1st round, Nunn never got into the fight and according to him, “It was a pretty bad performance from me. I wasn’t at my best, but there’s no excuses.
Little didn’t hold the belt for long, losing it in his first defense against Frankie Liles. Nunn got the chance to get his belt back when he faced him in December 1994 in Ecuador. He lost on points.
He then moved up in weight again and he campaigned at light heavyweight winning the NABF title on the 17th of January 1997, by stopping Rudy Nix in the 2nd round of a scheduled 12.

As an active fighter he as soon looking at another world title fight and on the 21st of March 1998 in Germany, he faced Graciano Rocchigiani for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title, but it was not to be, and Nunn lost a split decision though Nunn was the busier of the two – a feature of his career, split decisions were!

He fought on until, on the 23rd of January 2002, he beat Vinson Durham on points in Bridgeport on points – a shut-out – and then he hung up his gloves.

What was next, given his success in the ring?

An opportunity to put his feet up, relax, spend some of his hard fought for cash?

7 months after leaving a ring for the last time he was arrested in his hometown – Davenport, Iowa – for drug trafficking. At the trial, in January 2003, a story emerged of a man deep in the grip of criminality. His sentence was to reflect the evidence given that Nunn had been active in the business of drug trafficking since 1993. Nunn denied this. Interestingly when this was broached in his interview with Ring Magazine, he responded, “I don’t really want to discuss that.” It is his right not to and given that he has served his time, understandable.

Why?

Because the witnesses against him were convicted felons and he argued that they had traded lighter sentences for testimony against him. He was defiant throughout his trial but served 16 1/2 years in prison, being released a few short years ago on the 8th of August 2019. He admitted the one count of supplying cocaine in the sting operation which led to his arrest in 2002 but denied the rest. 24 years and 4 months was his sentence. Depending on who you believe, it is either overly harsh or just the right amount of deterrent.

There is of course one thing we all can agree on and that is that his legacy in the ring is far easier to measure.