Michael Hunter needed to make a statement on Tuesday night in his main event tilt against Mike Wilson. A definitive victory would put him in the conversation for a significant fight at heavyweight.
Hunter did just that, destroying Wilson from start to finish and punctuating things with a scintillating right hand to bend Wilson backwards to win via TKO at the 2:49 mark of the fourth round at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The 2012 United States Olympian knew he had to put on a show to let the heavyweight division know that he's a force to be reckoned with. He did precisely that. Hunter came right out, pumping the jab, pounding Wilson's body, and throwing heavy power shots. When the fight got to the halfway mark of the second round, the body work was taking its toll as Wilson was breathing heavily while Hunter was fresh as a daisy and bouncing around in the corner in between rounds.
The end came near the third round when Hunter rocked and stunned Wilson with a hard right hand followed by a left. When the fourth began, Wilson was just leaning on Hunter and not doing much else. Hunter connected on a three-punch combination that was punctuated by a left uppercut that backed Wilson up.
Hunter sealed the deal when he connected on a jab, Wilson attempted a slow jab, and Hunter detonated Wilson with a vicious overhand right to run his record to 20-1-1 with 14 knockouts.
Hunter now puts himself in the conversation to take on top heavyweights like Dillian Whyte, Andy Ruiz Jr., and Joseph Parker in his next time out. At the same time, Anthony Joshua faces Oleksander Usyk on Sept. 25, and Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder settle their score on Oct. 9.
It's an exciting time to be a fan of the heavyweight division.