Heavyweight Hunter captures gold at Trials, nears Olympic berth

Michael Hunter of Las Vegas took an important step in his pursuit of an Olympic boxing bid when the heavyweight won the gold medal Friday at the U.S. Olympic Trials at Mobile, Ala.

Hunter, 23, easily defeated Joseph Williams of New York, 28-17, to win the Trials for the second time. He went 4-0 in the tournament to add the 201-pound title to the super heavyweight gold he won in 2007 at Colorado Springs.

"I knew (dropping to 201) was the right move," Hunter said by phone from Mobile. "I was in better shape than in 2007, and I'm older and stronger. This is my natural weight."

Hunter still has another step to punch his ticket to the 2012 London Olympics. To qualify he must finish among the top six heavyweights at the AIBA World Championships to be held in Baku, Azerbaijan, from Sept. 22 to Oct. 10.

In 2007, Hunter lost at the World Championships and then in the Olympic qualifier tournament, and was denied a chance to compete at Beijing in 2008.

"This is nice, but I'm not going to do any real celebrating until I win the gold at the Worlds and know that I'm in (the Olympics)," Hunter said. "I expected to win (at the Trials), but it's just another step. The job's not over."

Hunter overwhelmed Williams, who needed to beat Hunter twice to take the gold. Hunter built a 13-3 lead after the first round and extended it to 21-10 after two. Hunter's jab, effective throughout the tournament, continued to be a weapon his opponent had no answer for.

"I think my experience was the key," Hunter said. "I wanted to jump on him, and when I did, he didn't really know how to respond."

Another Nevadan, Santos Vasquez of Sparks, was unable to come all the way back after losing his opening-round match at 108 pounds. Vasquez was beaten in the finals by Eros Correa of San Jose, Calif., 22-18.