Cassius Chaney Looks To Throw His Name Into The Heavyweight Mix

After Saturday’s heavyweight card in Saudi Arabia, the division continues to remain relevant as ever, with contenders from all over the world keeping busy in hopes of landing a big-name opponent. One of those heavyweights is 36-year-old Cassius Chaney (23-1, 16 KOs) as he faces Michael Hunter (22-1-2, 16 KOs) on Friday night live from the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The fight will be part of a card hosted by Don King Productions and will stream live on PPV. Chaney looks to put behind his frustrations with boxing politics and inactivity while focusing on the future, which is landing a fight with one of the prominent names of the division.

Chaney from Baltimore, MD, was with promoter Main Events for years, but things never seemed to quite take off. In December 2021, he suffered his first loss via a split decision against George Arias on a Dibella Entertainment card where he was facing the “house fighter.” Chaney would fight once in 2022, where he scored a first-round TKO over Matthew McKinney, and then he followed it 14 months later with a seventh-round knockout of Trevor Bryan in Miami, FL under Don King Productions. Chaney shared his frustrations with FightsATW as he watched his peers get fight after fight while he remained out of the ring.

“I don’t even know (concerning his inactivity),” said Chaney. “To be out this long after the Trevor (Bryan) fight, I don’t understand it. I know the (Martin) Bakole thing (Bakole is ranked #1 by the WBA) was on the rise but I also know that in boxing, it’s just a phone call. The pushback was that the WBA wouldn’t allow me to take a fight if I had a mandatory (from them). Inactivity is a killer for all fighters. It doesn’t make sense to me to be out of the ring for eight months after a knockout victory in November.”

Chaney continued, “I’ve learned that you have to invest in yourself, and whatever the pushback is, you deal with that later. You have to stay in the ring and stay busy. I’m willing to fight for less money just to stay busy.”

Although he hasn’t fought in eight months, that doesn’t mean Chaney hasn’t stayed active in the gym. An opportunity came to work with undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk after the Trevor Bryan fight, so he jumped on it. Chaney spoke on the experience he summed it up as Usyk’s team being “super professionals.”

“One thing about Usyk’s camp is that they are super professionals. They’ll let you work out in the gym but they aren’t trying to see you sharp and then spar the next day. They ain’t none of that. Usyk’s camp was detailed, and I can see where the discipline factor comes in.”

Chaney can undoubtedly use that experience against Hunter on Friday. In this training camp, he has Head Coach, Freddie Weaver, and added retired super middleweight, Demond Nicholson. He admits to getting more tailor-made sparring for this fight, which wasn’t the case in his previous fights. Chaney said he was able to find a good amateur who could move along with some pros, which gave him the quality sparring he desperately needed.

The fight on Friday was first advertised as a WBA interim heavyweight title fight, and then a follow-up press release removed that language. Some advertisements for the fight had the WBA interim title back on them, so there is some confusion about what is at stake on fight night. When you ask Chaney, he’s also not sure but feels that at this point, all that matters is finally getting in the ring and “punching someone.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Cassius Chaney (@cassiuscogchaney)

Whether the title is at stake or not, Chaney understands that this fight is vital to what happens next with his career. “I’ve been through so much in this boxing game that there isn’t much that will rattle me. I’m just happy that I’m able to fight and make some income. It’s a big fight, but there is no pressure on me.”

As far as a prediction, Chaney confidently smiled and said “If I had to say, I would probably say a knockout. The way I’m feeling right now, yeah, it’ll be a knockout. We’ll see. He’s a smart guy, but I am too.”

Abraham Gonzalez

Abraham Gonzalez is a 2x award-winning writer, International Boxing Hall of Fame voter, founder and publisher of FightsATW. His journalistic work has been published and used across several platforms, including online, network TV, and promotional companies. He is an alumnus of an American Public University and a full member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA). Abraham was the Managing Editor for NYFights, Big Fight Weekend, and contributed to The Ring Magazine, FanSidedMMA, and ProBoxTV.

See author's posts