Heavyweight contender crashes out of two potential title fights

Heavyweight Michael Hunter cannot seem to catch a break after being removed from two major fights this week.

Hunter, 24-1-2 (17), had been scheduled to face both Jarrell Miller and Kubrat Pulev in fights in Las Vegas, but it now seems that he has been pulled from both shows.

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Recent weeks have seen legal mudslinging take place from legendary promoter Don King, who has issued at least one cease-and-desist order to prevent Hunter from taking the Miller fight. Hunter had been scheduled to face Miller in Las Vegas in the runup to Canelo-Crawford.

Hunter had said openly on Instagram that he was no longer contracted to King, a position that King refuted.

King, in response, announced a fight to take place between Hunter and Kubrat Pulev, 32-3 (14), that was to take place in Miami.

Now, Epic Sports & Entertainment, which guides the career of Pulev, has managed to get Hunter pulled from fighting the Bulgarian former ‘champion’.

In a statement released by the firm, it said: “However, prior to the purse bid, Epic Sports objected to Pulev being ordered to fight Hunter because Hunter was in a legal dispute with Don King Productions and had committed to fight on September 11, 2025.”

It added: “Following the recent confirmation of Hunter’s fight on September 11, 2025, against Jarrell Miller, as well as the continuing public disclosure of the legal dispute between Hunter and Don King Productions, the WBA has now agreed to rescind the purse bid award.”

This means that Hunter-Pulev, for the WBA title, is now dead. It now seems that Pulev will get to make a voluntary defence of his title against an opponent of his choosing. Pulev earned the WBA belt by beating Mahmoud Charr in Sofia in December. A purse bid for Pulev-Hunter was ordered back in May. It was subsequently won by Don King for $1.1m.

After Hunter signed to fight Miller as part of the Canelo-Crawford fight week, King issued a cease-and-desist letter to SELA and TKO Group. He then announced Hunter-Pulev would take place in Miami on 4 October, citing a three-year contract he says Hunter signed with him in February 2024.

In response, on a comment Instagram account on King’s post, Hunter said: “Fake news.”

Hunter also posted on another of King’s post regarding the situation in recent days. When King posted about the cease-and-desist order, Hunter responded by telling people to watch him face Miller on 11 September. He also intimated that he would stop Miller in five rounds.

Now Jarrell Miller has posted on X to say that HIS proposed bout with Hunter is also off.

As we wrote back then, this is a situation that is set to run.

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