Career
Perez was a successful amateur boxer in Cuba. In 2005, while competing with the Cuban team at a tournament in Liverpool, he caught the eye of Irish boxing promoter Gary Hyde. Hyde later expressed his desire to turn Perez professional, and to do that he had to arrange his defection from Cuba.
In December 2007, under cover of darkness, Perez swam offshore from Cuba, to a boat manned by a Mexican cartel.
After transferring through two other boats, enduring storms and depleted food and water supplies, Perez eventually reached Mexican soil nine days later. The Cartel then held him there, until they secured final payment from organizer, Gary Hyde.
Upon receiving it, Perez was released, allowing him to board a flight to his new home. On January 10, 2008, Perez touched down in Ireland, where he settled in Cork along with fellow Cubans Alexei Acosta and Luis Garcia.
Today, he fights under the nickname Mike "The Rebel" Perez, in reference to Cork which is known as the "The Rebel County".
Perez had over 400 amateur bouts. The southpaw beat Englishman Danny Price in the semifinals, before defeating Russian fighter Nikolay Pavlyukov 38-16 in the final. Perez avenged that loss in the 2007 championships, but lost to Osmay Acosta in that year"s final.
In 2008, Perez turned professional under Cuban coach Nicholas Cruz Hernández, who had also moved to Ireland in 1988.
Perez faced Kertson Manswell and Gregory Tony, before defeating American fighter Tye Fields in the final to take home the £32,000 prize. After the fight, Perez stated the victory would earn him a world title shot in the near future.
Perez made his United States debut on 30 December 2011, against the Nigerian heavyweight boxer Friday Ahunanya. The location for the fight was Morongo Casino, Resort & Spa, Cabazon, California.
After a hiatus through 2012, Perez returned to the ring in May 2013.
On the undercard of Wladimir Klitschko versus Francesco Pianeta, he met American fighter Travis Walker. On November 2, 2013, he made his Home Box Office debut by defeating undefeated Russian Magomed Abdusalomov at Madison Square Garden.
Mike Perez returned on January 18, 2014 to fight Carlos Takam at the Bell Centre in Montreal for a Doctor of Medicine Draw.
The fight was shown on Home Box Office on the Pascal vs Bute under card. On May 22, 2015 Perez was knocked out by Alexander Povetkin 91 seconds into a WBC heavyweight title eliminator.
Perez lives in Cork, Ireland.
