Bio

The charismatic 21-year-old with Hollywood leading man-type looks still lives at home in Miami with his mother, Cristina, two brothers, Nicolas and Enrique, and father, Carlos, who serves as Michael’s promoter (MO Productions).

Oliveira has a fan-friendly, entertaining style that combines an aggressive, straight ahead attack featuring an array of powerful punches thrown with mean intentions to the body and head.

He made his pro debut August 21, 2008 in Pleasant, South Carolina, putting Kevin Bartlett to sleep in the opening round. Michael’s first four pro bouts ended in first-round knockouts.

Oliveira won a unanimous 8-round decision (79-72, 78-73, 78-73) Sept. 11, 2009 against veteran Robert Kliewer (10-8-2) in Pompano Beach (FL) for the vacant UNBC Latin middleweight title.

Next up was a spot on the Chad Dawson-Glen Johnson HBO card November 7 in Hartford. Oliveira faced his toughest opponent to date, Francisco Ruben Osorio (12-6), who was broken down by Michael’s effective body punching and was unable to answer the bell for the eighth round.

Oliveira fought December 7, 2009 in the Dominican Republic, stopping Gustavo De La Cruz in the first round, and he came right back 11 days later to register a win by second-round TKO versus Eduardo Mercedes (5-2) in Haiti before a large number of Brazilian peace keepers stationed there with United Nations troops.

Last year, Michael defeated Jessie Davis (11-17) by way of a fourth-round technical knockout in April, and then Oliveira make his much-anticipated Brazilian debut in November, stopping Junior Ramos (10-5) in the third round.

Last March in Sao Paulo – the first of a six-fight two-year deal with Globo TV – with Freitas watching from ringside, Oliveira won a 10 round unanimous decision (98-92, 98-92, 97-93) against previously undefeated Argentinean Abel Nicolas “El Principito” Adriel (10-1-2) to capture the Interim WBC Latino super middleweight title.

This past July 16, Oliveira had a new trainer in his corner, Orlando Cuerllar, and Michael’s improvements were quickly apparent as he effectively used his jab, boxing more than brawling, from the mostly the outside.

At Credicard Hall in Sao Paulo, Oliveira opened the fight cautiously against Jose “Minquito” Soto (24-8-2, 13 KOs), but “Brazilian Rocky” started going to the body in the third round, breaking down his game opponent. In the fourth round, Oliveira’s power advantage became more apparent, when he trapped Soto on the ropes, rocking him with straight rights. Soto came back in the fifth but a wicked left to the body, quickly followed by a devastating right uppercut, ended the fight early in the sixth round.

“I’m quicker when I keep my hands low and I’m loose,” Oliveira commented, “but I had to keep my hands high because of head-butts. We changed strategy three times. He didn’t fade, hit like a mule, and kept coming. I felt my body punching was effective. I followed Orlando’s instructions; when he said to go to the head at the right time, or to go the body at the right time. Victory came easier because I listened to my corner.

“I’ve improved a lot because of my experiences working in the gym. I have a high-quality team that took the time to not only work on my defects, but they saw my offense. I’d give myself a seven grade (on scale of 1-10). My goal is to fight for a world title. My team will evaluate me, help me work to continue improving, and schedule my next fight. They’ll let me know when I’m ready for a world title fight.”

Cueller, who trains two-time world champion Glen Johnson among numerous boxers in Miami, was happy with Michael’s performance in what was their first time working together in a fight. “We had to make adjustments during the fight,” Cueller explained. “His opponent was heavy handed and determined. He was a decent inside fighter, too. Michael used his jab and timed his opponent’s jab well. He used his jab and moved his head more than he ever did in the past. He worked the body and took advantage at the end. Michael executed everything I asked of him. He did a good job.”

Johnson, who trains with Oliveira at Thump Fight Gym in Miami, walked Michael into the ring as a show of friendship and support. “Michael did a good job,” Johnson said. “He knows that he has a lot of stuff to work on, especially defense, but he’s young and still a work in progress. He forced some shots to the head when there were some clean shots to the body, but he continues to get better and he’s heading in the right direction. He has Orlando Cueller in his corner to guide him and all Michael has to do is listen to him and work hard. He is determined.”

Oliveira made his American television debut in his most recent action against veteran Xavier Tolliver (23-7) live on ShoBox from El Paso, Texas. Michael weathered Tolliver’s first-round onslaught, showing tremendous poise for such a young boxer, controlling the remainder of the bout until referee Richard Chapa, who had deducted a point in the fifth from Tolliver for repeated head-butts, disqualified Tolliver for landing a punch after a break. Oliveira led all on the three judges’ cards after seven rounds by identical scores of 69-63.

“This was the hardest fight I’ve ever been in,” the well-spoken Oliveira admitted after the fight. “My conditioning was superior thanks to Orlando (Cuellar, head trainer) and Steve (Arintok, conditioning coach). I’ll be even better the next time.

“Everything happens for a reason. My dedication to training and the help I get from my team are responsible for my improvement. I never had anybody to guide me until Orlando and Steve at Thump Fight Gym (in Miami). All I need to do is work hard and listen to my coaches. I really wanted the knockout and would have had it if the referee hadn’t disqualified my opponent. I was ready to drop him and got robbed of a knockout.”

“Michael is improving fight by fight,” Oliveira’s father/promoter Carlos noted. “We knew he had heart and guts, but I was really impressed by the patience he showed when Tolliver came out swinging in the opening round. Michael didn’t panic, listened to his corner, and executed. We will keep Michael fighting often so he can continue improving.”

Cuellar gave his pupil a 10-grade for his performance against Tolliver. “We took a gamble fighting Tolliver,” Cuellar remarked. “A lot of people said we were making a mistake, stepping up so much, but we knew how impressive Michael had looked in training camp. We wanted a tough opponent for Michael in his first nationally televised test. Michael used three speeds very effectively – lulling, fast and faster. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 the highest, I give him a 10 because he listened, improved his defense and stayed focused. I told him to go after and put pressure on Tolliver. He’s a good listener. He jabbed, feinted and moved his head as I instructed.

“Michael fought a very, very good fight. He may not have much experience having had only two amateur fighters, but he has my experience, as long as he listens and he’s been doing that. He listened and did everything we worked on. I couldn’t be more pleased. Michael’s an aggressive fighter but, defensively, he’s improved a lot and like we prepared, everything came off his good jab.”

Oliveira was selected as the winner of the Brazilian International Press Award’s 2009 and 2010 Athlete of the Year Award. He was the leading vote-getter from a group of 10 nominated Brazilian athletes, including Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, as well as NBA players Nene Hilario and Anderson Varejao.

Michael Oliveira is promoted by MO Productions, managed by his brother, Nicolas, and trained by Orland Cuellar.

Michael's Opinion:
“The fight is the easy part of the box, the training and the high discipline are the hard ones.”

Age: 21
Born: April 26, 1990 in Sao Paulo, Brazil
Pro Record: 17-0 (12 KOs)
WBC South American Middleweight Champion
World Boxing Council Rated No. 14
2009 & 2010 Brazilian Athlete of the Year
Height: 1,75 meters
Weight: 75.5 Kilos
Residency: Miami, Flórida, Estados Unidos
Training Facility: Thump Training Center

FIGHTS: 17 - WINS: 17 - KO's: 12

A EQUIPE DO MICHAEL

Trainer

Orlando Cuellar

Physical Coach

Steve Arlntok

Cut Man

Mark J. Vaz

Manager

M.O. Productions

Health Consultant

Universidade de Miami - Dr.Clifton

Nutritionist

Dr. Lista Dorfman

Public Relations/Brazil

Marcelo Ramia

Publicist

Bob Trieger

Photographer

Jade Matarazzo

Date	Opponent	Opponent`s Weight	Opponents Rank	Location	Results
2012-02-11	Sergei Melis	162	18 - 7 - 0	Hershey Centre, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada	UD 8 .8
2011-11-11	Xavier Toliver	157	23 - 7 - 0	Cohen Stadium, El Paso, Texas, United States	KO 8 .8
2011-07-16	Jose Soto	159	24 - 7 - 2	Credicard Hall, Sao Paulo, Brazil	KO 6 .10
2011-03-25	Abel Adriel	163	10 - 0 - 2	Ginasio Mauro Pinheiro Sao Paulo, Brazil	UD 10 .10
2010-11-20	Junior Ramos	-	11 - 17 - 0	Espaco das Americas, Sao Paulo, Brazil	TKO 3 .10
2010-04-30	Jessie Davis	164	11 - 17 - 0	Miami, Florida, E.U.A	TKO 4 .6
2009-12-18	Eduardo Mercedes	164 1/4	5 - 2 - 0	Petionville, Haiti	TKO 2 .8
2009-12-07	Gustavo De la Cruz	160	0 - 2 - 0	Bruno Car Wash, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republica	TKO 1 6
2009-11-07	Francisco Ruben Osório	160	12 - 6 - 0	XL Center, Hartford, Connecticut	RTD 7 8
2009-09-11	Robert Kliewer	-	10 - 8 - 2	Club Cinema, Pompano Beach, Florida, E.U.A	DEC 8 8
2009-05-16	Joe Howard	160	1 - 9 - 1	Farm Bureau Building, Indianapolis, Indiana, E.U.A	TKO 1 4
2009-04-24	Guy Packer	164	3 - 22 - 2	Orbit Room, Grand Rapids, Michigan, E.U.A	TKO 2 4
2009-03-20	Vladimir Laguna	165 1/4	1 - 0 - 0	Doubletree Miamimart Hotel, Miami, Florida, E.U.A	DEC 4 4
2009-03-03	Michael Bradley	165	0 - 1 - 0	Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana, E.U.A	KO 1 4
2008-11-25	David Deangelo Foster	161	0 - 0 - 0	Pepsi Coliseum, Indianapolis, Indiana, E.U.A	TKO 1 4
2008-11-01	Carlos Harris	165	0 - 1 - 0	West Junior High School, West Memphis, AR, E.U.A	TKO 1 4
2008-08-21	Kevin Bartlett	-	0 - 3 - 0	Omar Shrine Temple, Mount Pleasant, SC, E.U.A	TKO 1 4