By Edward Chaykovsky
Cuban heavyweight contender Mike Perez (21-2-1, 13KOs) is scheduled to make his return to the ring on December 8th at the Orange County Fairgrounds, Costa Mesa, California.
Perez, who was previously trained by Abel Sanchez, is now being handled by Virgil Hunter, who is best known for his work with Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward. He will face Avery Gibson (8-5-4) in an eight round contest.
This is Perez's first fight since getting knockout out in one round by Alexander Povetkin last May in Russia. Not long after that fight, Perez announced his retirement, but as the case with most boxers - retirements don't last that long.
The loss to Povetkin came after two round TKO over Darnell Wilson three months earlier. That was his only win since 2013. He lost a twelve round decision to Bryant Jennings in July of 2014 and in January of that year he fought to a draw with Carlos Takam.
At that time, Abel Sanchez told reporters that Perez wasn't performing to the best of his ability due to the tragedy of his big win in 2013. In that contest, he battered unbeaten Magomed Abdusalamov over ten brutal rounds.
Magomed, 32-years-old at the time, fell into a coma after the fight and he's never been the same since. He suffered brain damage, memory loss and is still unable to properly talk or function three years later. There was controversy over the handling of Magomed's injuries by the New York State Athletic Commission. Several NYSAC employees were fired, investigations began and there are still multi-million dollar lawsuits pending from Magomed's family members to secure the necessary funds to obtain the resources to properly care for the retired fighter.
