# Michael Sprott

Michael Sprott (born 16 January 1975) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2018. At regional level, he held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Commonwealth titles in 2004; and challenged three times for the European title in 2005, 2010 and 2011; and won the Prizefighter series in 2010 and 2013.

## Career

After a quiet amateur career, Sprott turned pro in November 1996 under the old Frank Bruno trainer, Terry Lawless. He won 11 fights, including a points win over veteran Michael Murray before taking on Harry Senior in September 1998 for the Southern Area Heavyweight title. Senior, a respected sparring partner, had recently dedicated himself to being a full-time professional, and took Sprott out in 6 rounds with body shots. Sprott came back with 3 wins before falling apart in 3 rounds versus British contender Wayne Llewelyn in October 2000.
Seemingly relegated to journeyman status, In February 2001 in London, Sprott scored an upset when he outpointed the once-beaten German Timo Hoffmann, who had lost only to Vitali Klitschko. He travelled to Germany for the rematch, controversially outpointed by Hoffmann in a result that was jeered loudly by the German crowd.
In November 2001, he travelled to South Africa to face hard hitting fringe contender Corrie Sanders. In a brief and entertaining fight, Sprott rocked the southpaw before being decked himself, and suffering a controversial stoppage by the referee, with even the South African commentators deploring the stoppage.
In February 2002, Keith Long pulled out from a British and Commonwealth title fight with Danny Williams, and Sprott flew in from a holiday in Jamaica on only a few days notice. After a few rounds he ran out of gas and was stopped in the seventh round, but showed he could compete at national level. It was around this time that Sprott brought in trainer John Bloomfield, who spent six years with Frank Bruno.
After this challenge, Sprott went on a successful run of form, winning 8 fights, including knockouts of Pele Reid (KO7), ex-British champ Michael Holden (KO4), Mark Potter (KO3), and Colin Kenna (KO1), setting up a rematch with Williams.
In September 2003, Sprott qualified for another shot at Williams and his titles, but after a far more competitive fight, Sprott was the victim of several low blows. When he complained to the referee he was controversially knocked out by a Williams left hook.
In January 2004, Sprott narrowly outpointed Williams in their third and final fight (115-114), lifting the British and Commonwealth titles. A few months later Williams would knockout Mike Tyson, however Sprott would lose his titles in his first defense, matched with fast undefeated Matt Skelton (12-0), Sprott was mauled and stopped in the 12th. His last fight of 2004 was a win against Czech heavyweight champ Robert Šulgan in Bethnal Green.
In 2005, Sprott would take the first of many trips abroad fighting top prospects, usually at short notice. In April he beat the German amateur star Cengiz Koc, but in October was beaten on points by Olympian Paolo Vidoz in a European title fight, both fights in Germany. In December he fought future European champ Vladimir Virchis in Austria, but was once-again the victim of a controversial decision loss.
In February 2006, he outboxed veteran Antoine Palatis in Scotland, but in a WBA Eliminator in July was hammered in 8 one-sided rounds by undefeated Ruslan Chagaev. Despite the loss he went back to Germany and beat a third German prospect when he upset undefeated southpaw Rene Dettweiller in November.
During his travels in Germany, Sprott had picked up the second-tier European Heavyweight title, the "EU" title, which he defended against 2000 Olympic Gold medallist Audley Harrison in London, February 2007. Harrison had demolished Danny Williams in his last fight and was on course to face Matt Skelton in a world title eliminator. A 9/2 underdog with most bookies, Sprott came off the floor in the 1st round to score a rare stoppage win by knocking Harrison clean out in the 3rd with a left hook; and seemingly ending his career.
On 14 July 2007, Sprott lost to Matt Skelton in a 12-round contest. The fight was of a very poor standard with Skelton winning on points.
On 31 May 2008, Sprott travelled to Germany to face hot prospect, and the WBA's #4 ranked contender Taras Bidenko. Sprott was outpointed in a 10-round unanimous decision, with 2 judges scoring the bout 97–93, and the other seeing it 97–94.
On 14 March 2009, Sprott fought former WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster and lost a unanimous decision.
He fought Alexander Ustinov on 20 June 2009, but lost by unanimous decision after ten rounds. However he beat German Werner Kreiskott by round 1 TKO in March 2010 and this earned him a shot at the vacant European Boxing Union title against old foe Audley Harrison at Alexandra Palace in April 2010. Sprott was leading the bout on all three scorecards before Harrison knocked out Sprott with seconds remaining of round 12.
On 9 October 2010, a 35-year-old Sprott competed in Sky's 'PrizeFighter' series (Heavyweights), reaching the final where he fought Matt Skelton. It was third time lucky for Sprott, who had lost his previous 2 contests with the 43-year-old Skelton, Winning on a split decision (29-28 Skelton 29-28 sprott 29-28 sprott) after the 3 round contest and winning £32,000 in 'winner take all' prize money. In September 2011, he suffered a third defeat in a European heavyweight title bout when he lost a unanimous points decision to Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko in Hamburg.

## Outside the ring

Michael Sprott has a son called Darnell born around 2001. Darnell's name is stitched on the shorts Sprott wears for his professional contests. In recent contests Sprott's shorts have also displayed the name of his late sister Ginette, who took her own life in September 2009 after a long battle with depression.
He lists his hobbies as weights, travelling and meeting new people. Outside boxing, Sprott enjoys rugby and the Wimbledon Championships. His favourite football teams are Reading FC and Arsenal F.C.

## Professional boxing record

| 71 fights | 42 wins | 29 losses |
| By knockout | 17 | 18 |
| By decision | 25 | 11 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 71 | Loss | 42–29 | Lukasz Rozanski | TKO | 2 (6), 0:24 | 2 Jun 2018 | G2A Arena, Jasionka 953, Rzeszów, Poland | |
| 70 | Loss | 42–28 | Ali Eren Demirezen | TKO | 5 (8), 2:59 | 23 Dec 2017 | Silence Hotel, Istanbul, Turkey | |
| 69 | Loss | 42–27 | Marcin Siwy | UD | 6 | 5 Nov 2016 | Hala ICDS, ul. Staszica 2, Lomianki, Poland | |
| 68 | Loss | 42–26 | Christian Hammer | KO | 1 (10), 1:51 | 18 Mar 2016 | Circus, Bucharest, Romania | |
| 67 | Loss | 42–25 | Adrian Granat | KO | 1 (8), 2:55 | 5 Dec 2015 | Inselparkhalle, Hamburg, Germany | |
| 66 | Loss | 42–24 | Carlos Takam | KO | 5 (8) | 13 Jun 2015 | Cirque d'Hiver, Paris, France | |
| 65 | Loss | 42–23 | Anthony Joshua | TKO | 1 (10), 1:26 | 22 Nov 2014 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | |
| 64 | Loss | 42–22 | Kali Meehan | KO | 1 (3) | 4 Jun 2014 | The Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand | Super 8 Heavyweight Tournament - Final |
| 63 | Win | 42–21 | Anthony Nansen | UD | 3 | 4 Jun 2014 | The Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand | Super 8 Heavyweight Tournament - Semi-final |
| 62 | Win | 41–21 | Martin Rogan | MD | 3 | 4 Jun 2014 | The Trusts Arena, Auckland, New Zealand | Super 8 Heavyweight Tournament - Quarter-final |
| 61 | Win | 40–21 | Jason Gavern | UD | 3 | 14 Nov 2013 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 32: UK vs. USA International Heavyweights - Final |
| 60 | Win | 39–21 | Brian Minto | UD | 3 | 14 Nov 2013 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 32: UK vs. USA International Heavyweights - Semi-final |
| 59 | Win | 38–21 | Damian Wills | UD | 3 | 14 Nov 2013 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 32: UK vs. USA International Heavyweights - Quarter-final |
| 58 | Loss | 37–21 | Erkan Teper | TKO | 1 (10), 2:41 | 31 Aug 2013 | Münsterplatz, Basel, Switzerland | |
| 57 | Loss | 37–20 | Robert Helenius | UD | 10 | 23 Mar 2013 | GETEC Arena, Magdeburg, Germany | |
| 56 | Win | 37–19 | Edmund Gerber | MD | 10 | 15 Dec 2012 | Arena Nürnberger Versicherung, Nuremberg, Germany | |
| 55 | Loss | 36–19 | Edmund Gerber | TKO | 4 (8), 2:41 | 15 Sep 2012 | Baden-Arena, Offenburg, Germany | |
| 54 | Loss | 36–18 | Kubrat Pulev | RTD | 9 (12), 3:00 | 14 Jan 2012 | Baden-Arena, Offenburg, Germany | For IBF International heavyweight title |
| 53 | Loss | 36–17 | Alexander Dimitrenko | UD | 12 | 24 Sep 2011 | Dima-Sportcenter, Hamburg, Germany | For European heavyweight title |
| 52 | Loss | 36–16 | Tye Fields | SD | 3 | 7 May 2011 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | Prizefighter 18: The International Heavyweights - Quarter-final |
| 51 | Win | 36–15 | Serdar Uysal | UD | 4 | 19 Mar 2011 | Lanxess-Arena, Cologne, Germany | |
| 50 | Win | 35–15 | Matt Skelton | SD | 3 | 9 Oct 2010 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 14: The Heavyweights IV - Final |
| 49 | Win | 34–15 | Shane McPhilbin | UD | 3 | 9 Oct 2010 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 14: The Heavyweights IV - Semi-final |
| 48 | Win | 33–15 | Danny Hughes | UD | 3 | 9 Oct 2010 | York Hall, London, England | Prizefighter 14: The Heavyweights IV - Quarter-final |
| 47 | Loss | 32–15 | Audley Harrison | KO | 12 (12), 1:05 | 9 Apr 2010 | Alexandra Palace, London, England | For vacant European heavyweight title |
| 46 | Win | 32–14 | Werner Kreiskott | TKO | 1 (4) | 20 Mar 2010 | Esprit Arena, Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 45 | Loss | 31–14 | Alexander Ustinov | UD | 10 | 20 Jun 2006 | Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany | |
| 44 | Loss | 31–13 | Lamon Brewster | UD | 8 | 14 Mar 2009 | Ostseehalle, Kiel, Germany | |
| 43 | Win | 31–12 | Zack Page | PTS | 6 | 19 Nov 2008 | Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, England | |
| 42 | Loss | 30–12 | Taras Bydenko | UD | 10 | 31 May 2008 | Burg-Waechter Castello, Düsseldorf, Germany | |
| 41 | Loss | 30–11 | Matt Skelton | MD | 12 | 14 Jul 2007 | O2 Arena (Millennium Dome), London, England | For Commonwealth heavyweight title |
| 40 | Win | 30–10 | Audley Harrison | KO | 3 (12), 3:00 | 17 Feb 2007 | The Arena, London, England | Retained European Union heavyweight title; Won vacant English heavyweight title |
| 39 | Win | 29–10 | Rene Dettweiler | SD | 12 | 4 Nov 2006 | RWE Rhein-Ruhr Sporthalle, Mülheim, Germany | Retained European Union heavyweight title |
| 38 | Loss | 28–10 | Ruslan Chagaev | TKO | 8 (12), 2:54 | 15 Jul 2006 | Color Line Arena, Hamburg, Germany | For WBA Inter-Continental, and vacant WBO Asia Pacific heavyweight titles |
| 37 | Win | 28–9 | Antoine Palatis | UD | 10 | 18 Feb 2006 | Meadowbank Sports Centre, Edinburgh, Scotland | Won vacant European Union heavyweight title |
| 36 | Loss | 27–9 | Volodymyr Vyrchys | UD | 12 | 13 Dec 2005 | Freizeit Arena, Soelden, Austria | For WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight title |
| 35 | Loss | 27–8 | Paolo Vidoz | UD | 12 | 1 Oct 2005 | EWE-Arena, Oldenburg, Germany | For European heavyweight title |
| 34 | Win | 27–7 | Cengiz Koc | SD | 10 | 23 Apr 2005 | Arena Westfalenhalle, Dortmund, Germany | Won vacant European Union heavyweight title |
| 33 | Win | 26–7 | Robert Sulgan | TKO | 1 (8), 0:52 | 10 Sep 2004 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 32 | Loss | 25–7 | Matt Skelton | KO | 12 (12), 0:56 | 24 Apr 2004 | Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England | Lost British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles |
| 31 | Win | 25–6 | Danny Williams | PTS | 12 | 24 Jan 2004 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | Won British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles |
| 30 | Loss | 24–6 | Danny Williams | TKO | 5 (12), 0:19 | 26 Sep 2003 | Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England | For British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles |
| 29 | Win | 24–5 | Colin Kenna | TKO | 1 (10), 1:28 | 1 Aug 2003 | York Hall, London, England | Retained Southern Area heavyweight title |
| 28 | Win | 23–5 | Petr Horacek | KO | 1 (6), 2:14 | 10 Jun 2003 | Ponds Forge Arena, Sheffield, England | |
| 27 | Win | 22–5 | Mark Potter | TKO | 3 (10), 1:25 | 18 Mar 2003 | Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England | Won vacant Southern Area heavyweight title |
| 26 | Win | 21–5 | Mike Holden | TKO | 4 (8), 0:50 | 24 Jan 2003 | Ponds Forge Arena, Sheffield, England | |
| 25 | Win | 20–5 | Tamas Feheri | TKO | 2 (6), 0:26 | 12 Dec 2002 | Equinox Nightclub, London, England | |
| 24 | Win | 19–5 | Derek McCafferty | PTS | 8 | 17 Sep 2007 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 23 | Win | 18–5 | Garing Lane | PTS | 6 | 10 Jul 2002 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | |
| 22 | Win | 17–5 | Pele Reid | TKO | 7 (10), 2:53 | 9 May 2002 | Equinox Nightclub, London, England | Won vacant WBF European heavyweight title |
| 21 | Loss | 16–5 | Danny Williams | RTD | 7 (12), 0:26 | 12 Feb 2002 | York Hall, London, England | For British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles |
| 20 | Win | 16–4 | Jermell Barnes | PTS | 8 | 20 Dec 2001 | Topsportcentrum, Rotterdam, Netherlands | |
| 19 | Loss | 15–4 | Corrie Sanders | KO | 1 (8), 1:25 | 3 Nov 2001 | Carnival City, Brakpan, South Africa | |
| 18 | Loss | 15–3 | Timo Hoffmann | UD | 8 | 24 Mar 2001 | Bordelandhalle, Magdeburg, Germany | |
| 17 | Win | 15–2 | Timo Hoffmann | PTS | 8 | 17 Feb 2001 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 16 | Loss | 14–2 | Wayne Llewellyn | TKO | 3 (6) | 14 Oct 2000 | Conference Centre, London, England | |
| 15 | Win | 14–1 | Tony Booth | PTS | 6 | 18 Jan 2000 | Leisure Centre, Mansfield, England | |
| 14 | Win | 13–1 | Chris Woollas | RTD | 4 (6), 0:52 | 10 Jul 1999 | Elephant and Castle Centre, London, England | |
| 13 | Win | 12–1 | Gary Williams | PTS | 6 | 16 Jan 1999 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 12 | Loss | 11–1 | Harry Senior | TKO | 6 (10), 1:40 | 12 Sep 1998 | York Hall, London, England | Won vacant Southern Area heavyweight title |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | Michael Murray | PTS | 6 | 14 Mar 1998 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Ray Kane | RTD | 1 (6), 3:00 | 14 Feb 1998 | Elephant and Castle Centre, London, England | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Johnny Davison | TKO | 2 (6), 1:45 | 10 Jan 1998 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Nick Howard | TKO | 1 (4), 1:58 | 6 Dec 1997 | The Arena, London, England | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Darren Fearn | PTS | 6 | 8 Nov 1997 | Elephant and Castle Centre, London, England | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Gary Williams | PTS | 6 | 2 Sep 1997 | Elephant and Castle Centre, London, England | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Wladek Framas | PTS | 6 | 20 May 1997 | Picketts Lock Stadium, London, England | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Tim Redman | KO | 2 (4), 2:41 | 16 Apr 1997 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Alvin Miller | KO | 1 (4), 2:00 | 17 Mar 1997 | Marriott Hotel, London, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Johnny Davison | KO | 2 (6), 3:00 | 19 Feb 1997 | Acton Town Hall, London, England | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Geoff Hunter | TKO | 1 (6) | 20 Nov 1996 | Wembley Conference Centre, London, England | |