Michael Nunn Gets Ready to Step Into Prime Time

To Michael Nunn, the best compliment he received after winning the International Boxing Federation middleweight title from Frank Tate was that he fought like a young Sugar Ray Leonard.

Nunn enjoyed hearing that because Leonard and, to a lesser degree, Muhammad Ali, were his idols growing up.

“I caught Ali at the end of his career and caught Leonard at the beginning,” Nunn said Thursday. “I think I remind people of them because of head movement, foot speed and hand speed. A year-and-a-half ago, people said I was a boring fighter. Now I won the title and I’m an exciting fighter.

“I just want to fight the best fighters out there.”

Nunn, 25, is hardly a carbon copy of Leonard. At 6-foot-2, he is much taller than Leonard, and Nunn is left-handed. He won the championship with a ninth-round knockout over Tate July 28, and is scheduled to defend it Nov. 7 against Juan Domingo Roldan at the Las Vegas (Nev.) Hilton.

After that, Nunn said he would like to match his skills with Leonard, Thomas Hearns or any middleweight in the world.

“I would love to fight Leonard,” Nunn said. “If me and Ray Leonard fight, I’m happy. If we don’t fight, I’m still happy. He’s my idol. There’s enough middleweights out there for me to fight.

“But I’ll go up to 168 pounds to fight either Leonard or Hearns.”

Leonard and Hearns will chase 168-pound super middleweight championships in November. Hearns challenges IBF champion Fulgencio Obelmejias to headline a triple header that includes Nunn-Roldan. On Nov. 7, Leonard challenges World Boxing Council light heavyweight champion Donny Lalonde for the 175-pound crown and the WBC’s new 168-pound championship.

If Nunn fails to land a fight with Leonard or Hearns, there are fellow middleweight champions Iran Barkley and Sumbu Kalambay to battle. Nunn would especially like a shot at Barkley, who stopped Hearns to win the WBC championship in June. Nunn says Barkley spent the week before the Nunn-Tate fight putting down the challenger.

“I want to beat him up in the worst way,” said Nunn, who is 31-0 with 21 knockouts. “I don’t like the guy. Kalambay’s trickier and a good counter-puncher, but I’d beat Kalambay, too.”

Nunn, who was raised in Davenport, Iowa, and moved to North Hollywood, Calif., after turning pro in 1984, came to New York to watch the Los Angeles Dodgers play a three-game series against the Mets. Nunn is among the lesser-known celebrities who often watch Los Angeles teams like the Dodgers and Lakers. And Hollywood actors Michael J. Fox, Kevin Dobson, Mr. T and Richard Moll are regulars at Nunn bouts.