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Undefeated Middleweight
Michael Oliveira
On 2010 Top Prospect Watch
Undefeated Brazilian middleweight “Chairman of the Board”
Michael Oliveira (11-0, 9 KOs), 8-0 (6 KOs) in 2009,
established himself as one of the top prospects to watch in
2010.
The 19-year-old Oliveira, living in Miami and attending
Miami Dade Community College, went into 2009 with three
first-round knockout wins in his first three pro fights. The
hard-punching teenager fought all over this past year,
starting with another first-round knockout of Michael
Bradley in Indianapolis, followed by a win by 4-round
decision versus Vladmir Laguna in Miami, and then a
second-round technical knockout of Guy Packer in Grand
Rapids (MI).
Back in Indianapolis, Oliveira knocked out Joe Howard in the
opening round and then Michael stepped-up in class to win
the vacant UNBC Latin middleweight title on 9/11, taking an
8-round decision against Robert Kliewer (10-8-2) in Pompano
Beach (FL).
In perhaps his most significant win to date on November 7,
fighting on the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson HBO card in
Hartford (CT), Oliveira pounded Francisco Ruben Osorio
(12-6) until he was unable to answer the bell for the eighth
round.
Oliveira registered another first-round TKO win December 7
against Gustavo De La Cruz and only 11 days later in Haiti,
Michael closed his perfect 2009 campaign by stopping Eduardo
Mercedes (5-2) in the second round.
Oliveira feels that the area of most improvement was in his
maturation process. “I matured a lot this year,” Michael
explained, “training wise and making weight. I keep learning
in every fight and every sparring session. There’s always
something new to learn. I think my best fight was September
11th (vs. Kliewer). I was in great shape and fought my best
fight.”
Michael’s father/promoter, Carlos, agreed with his son. “In
terms of experience,” he said, “Michael grew a lot and
developed better skills. His fights, training and sparring
in 2009 made him wiser and more mature.”
In and out of the ring, Oliveira is refreshing, engaging and
rapidly growing on fans in his native Brazil as well as the
United States and elsewhere. At his last fight in Haiti,
Michael took the opportunity to meet Brazilian peace keeping
troops there and present Christmas presents to children at
an orphanage, resulting in him becoming a hometown favorite
in a foreign country.
“There were a lot of people there cheering for me,” he
noted. “Even the Haitian people liked me. I learned how the
Brazilians operate there with the United Nations. They got
to know me a little and I got to know them.”
“It was unbelievable,” Carlos added. “We all had a
tremendous experience in Haiti, one of the poorest countries
in the world.”
Because Oliveira is being positioned as the heir apparent to
Brazil’s retired great boxer Acelino “Popo” Freitas, his
tentative 2010 schedule includes a return home to fight in
his birthplace, Sao Paulo (Brazil).
“I hope that I’m just as busy in 2010 as I was this year
with eight fights,” Michael concluded. “My goal is to win,
at the very least, a Youth title. But I’m really looking
forward to fighting in Brazil. All of my people will be
there supporting me but, once the fight starts, it will be
like fighting anywhere – Miami, Connecticut, etc. Before and
after the fight it’ll be very exciting, but I’ll be
100-percent focused in the fight.”
“We’d like to have Michael fight in Brazil,” Carlos
remarked. “The Governor of the State of Sao Paulo declared
that, in 2010, Sao Paulo will be the capital of sports in
the world. They’re planning a lot of major sporting events,
including the first Indy 500-type race March 14 and,
hopefully, Michael fighting there April 24.”
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