MICHAEL Hunter says nothing can stop his bid for a second reign at super bantamweight.
Hartlepool’s former British, European and Commonwealth champion showed flashes of his vintage best
as he outscored Osman Aktas in his comeback bout in Dagenham last month.
Hunter was satisfied with his display against the French and EU featherweight champion, defying a cut temple
and pumping out 700 punches to take a 78-75 win after eight good-paced rounds.
And although he acknowledges it may be the back end of 2009 before he gets another title shot, he is
convinced it is only a matter of time before he rules the division again.
European king Rendall Munroe and British belt holder Matthew Marsh both have mandatory defences in the pipeline, although
Commonwealth champion Anyetei Laryea faces being stripped if he fails to defend by March 31.
Hunter, 30, said: "It was a good all-round performance and it was good to be back - I felt like I’d
never been away.
"I was straight in at the deep end really against a respected international featherweight and I came through
it with flying colours.
"If he was a little bit bigger I would have been able to land a cleaner
shot and get him out of there
- I dipped his legs a few times.
"My timing and distance was back and my jab was awesome and it puts me right back up there.
"I should jump straight to the front of the queue really. Vitali Klitschko was out for four years and came
straight back to fight for the heavyweight title and that’s the way it should be.
"But I'll just keep working my way up and because the current champions have got mandatories coming up,
I probably won’t get a chance until next Christmas and nobody will want to come near me.
"But I’ll fight Rendall Munroe or Bernard Dunne or any of them, they don’t concern me one little
bit. I’m back until I’ve regained my belts."
Hunter, whose ferocious attacking style has made him a firm favourite with British boxing fans, would like
to recapture the European title most.
He tuned in with interest to watch southpaw Munroe’s fifth round stoppage of Fabrizio Trotta in Dublin
a fortnight after his own win and was distinctly unimpressed by what he saw.
"Munroe is a good champion and the European title is the biggest prize of my old belts but I don’t
really rate him - I’ll knock him out," he said.
"The lads who he is boxing wouldn’t be allowed in the same ring as me when I was champion, so I don’t
know how he’s getting away with it.
"I would have brayed the lad (Trotta) in the first couple of rounds.
"Munroe looks big but I’ll batter him. He is probably a nice lad but I don’t like him because
he has got what I want."
Hunter, beaten just once in 31 bouts by Steve Molitor in an IBF world title challenge, defended both the
British and European titles three times.
But he announced his retirement last March after falling out of love with boxing following the sudden
death of his mother.
Yet after realising he missed the game too much to walk away, he was back in the gym just four months after
quitting and has adopted a new, more disciplined focus.
Hunter has given up drinking to pursue his goals and hired sports nutritionist Ian Glass.
"I used to go out drinking and eat crap food, but not any more," said
Hunter.
"I’m doing everything properly now and living the life of a professional
athlete - believe it or
not I even like cooking.
"I didn’t drink over Christmas and I only had a couple of shandies a week after my last fight.
"Boxing News had me at number four in their latest featherweight ratings but I'm definitely sticking at
super bantamweight.
"I’m enjoying every day I go to work and looking forward to the future and becoming a champion again.
"I can't wait to bring Sky Sports back to Hartlepool for big-time boxing again."
Hunter remained in hard training over the festive season - only taking Christmas Day off - as his comeback
is set to continue on February 6.
He is pencilled in to fight on the undercard of stablemate David Dolan's challenge to British cruiserweight
champion Rob Norton at Aston Villa Leisure Centre.
