Mike Perez (boxer)

Background

Perez was a successful amateur boxer in Cuba. In 2005, while competing with the Cuban team at a tournament in Liverpool, he caught the eye of Irish boxing promoter Gary Hyde. Hyde later expressed his desire to turn Perez professional, and to do that he had to arrange his defection from Cuba. In December 2007, under cover of darkness, Perez swam offshore from Cuba, to a boat manned by a Mexican cartel. After transferring through two other boats, enduring storms and depleted food and water supplies, Perez eventually reached Mexican soil nine days later. The Cartel then held him there, until they secured final payment from organizer, Gary Hyde. Upon receiving it, Perez was released, allowing him to board a flight to his new home. On January 10, 2008, Perez touched down in Ireland, where he settled in Cork along with fellow Cubans Alexei Acosta and Luis Garcia. Today, he fights under the nickname Mike "The Rebel" Perez, in reference to Cork which is known as the "The Rebel County".

Amateur career

Perez had over 400 amateur bouts. In 2004, he won gold at the World Junior Championships in Jeju City, South Korea. The southpaw beat Englishman Danny Price in the semifinals, before defeating Russian fighter Nikolay Pavlyukov 38-16 in the final. Perez later beat fighters such as Kenneth Egan and Constantin Bejenaru, but moved up to 201 lbs and initially struggled against world class competition like Luis Ortiz, who beat him in 2006 to become the Cuban national champion. Perez avenged that loss in the 2007 championships, but lost to Osmay Acosta in that year's final.

Professional career

In 2008, Perez turned professional under Cuban coach Nicholas Cruz Hernández, who had also moved to Ireland in 1988.

On 7 May 2011, Perez won the International Prizefighter tournament, held in London, England. Perez faced Kertson Manswell and Gregory Tony, before defeating American fighter Tye Fields in the final to take home the £32,000 prize. After the fight, Perez stated the victory would earn him a world title shot in the near future.

He then fought and won against American journeyman Zack Page in a rematch on November 9, 2011, in York Hall, Bethnal Green, London.

Perez made his United States debut on 30 December 2011, against the Nigerian heavyweight boxer Friday Ahunanya. The location for the fight was Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California. Perez won a unanimous decision, by winning all of the rounds, on the judges' scorecards.

After a hiatus through 2012, Perez returned to the ring in May 2013. On the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko vs. Francesco Pianeta, he met American fighter Travis Walker. After 10 rounds, he took the win by way of unanimous decision.

On November 2, 2013, he made his HBO debut by defeating undefeated Russian Magomed Abdusalomov at Madison Square Garden. He won by unanimous decision after a brutally-fought 10 rounds, that left Abdusalamov permanently and severely injured. Mike Perez returned on January 18, 2014 to fight Carlos Takam at the Bell Centre in Montreal for a MD Draw. The fight was shown on HBO on the Pascal vs Bute under card.

On May 22, 2015 Perez was knocked out by Alexander Povetkin 91 seconds into a WBC heavyweight title eliminator.

Personal life

Perez resides in Cork, Ireland.