Michael Nunn had a successful career as a professional boxer. He competed from 1984 to 2002. Nunn was considered as one of the best boxers during his career, and he won multiple titles.

Nunn got into some trouble after his boxing career and had to spend a good amount of time behind bars. Just like that, Nunn’s career took a turn for the worse.

Michael Nunn’s boxing career

As an amateur, Nunn won three Iowa Golden Gloves titles and had an amateur record of 168-8. He was a southpaw, and in 1984 he turned pro in the sport. Nunn got off to a hot start winning his first 30 fights. He then went on to battle IBF middleweight title-holder Frank Tate who was 23-0 at the time. The fight took place on July 28, 1988, and Nunn won the fight in a ninth-round knockout.

Nunn held the IBF middleweight title from 1988 to 1991. He lost the title in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, to James Toney. Nunn’s loss was a big upset, and throughout the fight, Nunn had a nice lead until he was knocked out in the 11th round.

After losing his title, Nunn decided to move up a weight division to super middleweight. He would win the NABF title defeating Randall Yonker. He held the WBA super-middleweight title from 1992 to 1994, and he also held the lineal championship. Nunn had success in both weight classes and decided to move up another class to light heavyweight.

The end of Michael Nunn’s boxing career

When Nunn moved up to light heavyweight, he won nine consecutive fights. He then got a shot to win another title. In 1998, he fought for the vacant WBC light heavyweight title in Germany and lost by a split-decision in the 12th round. His last fight was on January 23, 2002, and he defeated Vinson Durhan by a 10-round unanimous decision.

He finished his boxing career with a record of 58-4 with 37 knockouts. Not too long after his boxing career was over, Nunn was arrested in his hometown. Things went downhill for the former world champion.

Michael Nunn arrested and sentenced to jail

Nunn was arrested for paying an undercover agent $200 for one kilogram of cocaine. In 2003 he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute cocaine. He was originally sentenced to 24 years in 2004 for drug trafficking. But his original sentence was cut short due to legislation passed a few years ago regarding federal drug offenders.

In February 2019, he was released to a halfway house in his hometown of Davenport, Iowa, and he was released from there in August of 2019. An article from qctimes.com stated that Nunn had been told that he would be inducted into the California Boxing Hall of Fame in October of 2020. During his boxing career, Nunn was a household name, and he worked hard to become a world champion. Boxing is not an easy sport, and people don’t see what goes on behind the scenes when boxers have to train for fights. The amount of work they put in shows how bad they want it. Even though Nunn made mistakes during and after his career, he still is one of the best boxers in the history of the sport.