Sometimes when a fighter goes a year or two without a fight, we tend to assume he is either retired or at least taking a sabbatical from the sport. However, that is not always the case. When we last saw former prospect Lafarrell Bunting it was during his early exit from season three of The Contender series in 2007. Bunting will return to the ring for the first time in over three years this Saturday night at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington. However, it is not a comeback, because Bunting has been active in those three years, we just did not know it.
Bunting (16-3-1, 16 KOs) of Memphis, Tennessee was eliminated from the reality series in the first episode without getting the chance to fight. “On the show I actually got headbutted,” says Bunting. “That kind of put a dent in my career. That was a great big opportunity with The Contender show. I know if I would have made The Contender show I would have won the tournament.”
Though a precious opportunity had slipped through his grasp, another would come months later for Bunting. “What a lot of people in boxing don’t know is that I got the opportunity with to work a lot of great fighters and champions – Sebastian Sylvester, Arthur Abraham, Marco Huck, Alexander Frenkel,” recounts Bunting. “And I was on a journey.”
Bunting’s journey would turn into an invaluable learning experience as he was able to hone his craft, even though he did not compete in a sanctioned bout. “I had the luxury of getting the opportunity to spar with these guys to help them win these title fights, as well as help myself. At the same time, I was making decent money so therefore I went on that journey for a while. I went without a fight, but I could call over to Europe and get the opportunity to travel overseas and make good money. But to call it a return, or a retirement or something like that, I never did retire.”
His experiences against some of the top fighters in the world have only invigorated the competitive fires in Bunting, a former amateur star and professional prospect. “I think my travels and my experience against top opposition in the those champions has motivated me more so than anything else,” says Bunting. “I went by myself, without a team, held my own and did not come out punch-drunk or hurt. I would rather have did what I did than fight, because I had made many mistakes in training and fights and I think I am at point now where I have corrected a lot of my mistakes from the past and I am ready to show the world what Lafarrell Bunting, “the Memphis Fairway” is all about now.”
Bunting’s first opportunity to show the world takes place this Saturday when he takes on reigning Canadian Light Heavyweight Champion Junior Moar (8-2, 2 KOs) in a bout billed as a WBO NABO title eliminator. “I don’t know anything about him, but I don’t take anybody lightly,” said Bunting. “With my experience, with all of the sparring, and it goes beyond sparring because some of those sparring sessions were like fights, so I don’t worry too much about what he brings to the table. I worry about what I bring to the table, most importantly that I am a major puncher in the game. But it’s a good fight. The guy has a good record. He is not a slouch with an upside down record, so he is coming to win as much as I am.”
When we last saw Bunting he was campaigning at super middleweight, but Saturday’s fight takes place at light heavyweight. Bunting, who fought at light heavy and even cruiserweight early in his career, feels his power will be the difference in his fights at any weight. “I take it one fight at a time,” says Bunting. “Super middleweight, light heavyweight – whatever opportunity comes my way. Most importantly I know I can punch with power either way, so therefore it doesn’t matter which weight at which I get an opportunity. Win this fight, and then we move onto the next. Whenever that opportunity comes down the line, we will be ready for it.”
Although he boasted a stellar amateur background and won 16 of his first 18 fights, opportunities have been hard to come by in the career of Bunting, such as hooking on with a promoter. Now a more experienced veteran, Bunting has decided to take control of his future and make his own opportunity. “Instead of taking a bulldozer and knocking a wall down, sometimes you have get down with your hands,” says Bunting. “And I think where I’m at with my career right now, I am going to get down with the two hands that I have, beginning with the fight on Saturday night.”
NOTES
-The last time Bunting claimed victory, in August of 2006, he took on then once-beaten Jose Luis Herrera on a few days notice in the first round of the Shobox Super Middleweight Tournament and scored a fifth-round knockout. Bunting, who reportedly dropped fourteen pounds on the short notice, came in as a replacement for Sakio Bika. The season of The Contender reality series which Bunting had to exit from, without getting the chance to fight, ended being won by Bika. In two weeks, three years after winning The Contender, Bika will challenge Andre Ward for the WBA Super Middleweight title.
-Saturday’s fight between Bunting and Junior Moar, which is scheduled for eight-rounds, is billed as a WBO NABO Light Heavyweight Title Eliminator. It is not clear what that actually will mean for the victor, since the title is currently vacant.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at [email protected].
