# Mikael Lawal

Mikael Lawal is a British professional boxer who held the British cruiserweight title from 27 November 2022 until October 2023.

## Early life

Lawal was born in Lagos, Nigeria but moved to the UK at age 1. He lived in the UK until the age of 13 when he moved back to Nigeria with his mother, who died a short while later. Lawal, then aged 14, moved in with his birth father and his stepmother. He claims he did not get along with his stepmother, who he has said told his father lies about him so that he would be beaten. Eventually Lawal says he ran away from home, where he lived on the streets for a short period before visiting the British High Commission, after which he was placed in an orphanage, before eventually receiving a temporary passport and returning to the UK at age 16.
Lawal began living in a hostel, where his key worker referred him to boxing as a means to deal with his behaviour and anger issues. He immediately took an interest to the sport but after a while began to struggle with the financial commitments to pay for training and finding a suitable amateur club. After a recommendation from one of his cousins, he visited Stonebridge Amateur Boxing Club where he rekindled his love for boxing and was eventually offered access to the gym free of charge by Aamir Ali, the clubs Director, as he saw the potential in Lawal. He then had a short amateur career of 9 fights before turning pro.

## Professional career

Lawal made his professional debut in April 2017, defeating Jindrich Velecky via a 1st-round TKO win.
On 14 October 2017, he was featured on the undercard of George Groves versus Jamie Cox, at Wembley Arena defeating Tomislav Rudan in two rounds.
After signing with Sauerland Promotions, he got another fight on the undercard of a major fight, featuring on the undercard of the WBC and WBO title fight between Mairis Briedis and Oleksandr Usyk in Arena Riga,Latvia.

## Professional boxing record

| 19 fights | 17 wins | 2 losses |
| By knockout | 11 | 0 |
| By decision | 6 | 2 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 19 | Loss | 17–2 | Viddal Riley | UD | 10 | 31 Mar 2024 | The O2 Arena, London, England | For English cruiserweight title |
| 18 | Loss | 17–1 | Isaac Chamberlain | UD | 12 | 21 Oct 2023 | York Hall, London, England | Lost British and for vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight titles |
| 17 | Win | 17–0 | David Jamieson | RTD | 8 | 27 Nov 2022 | Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, London, England | Won vacant British cruiserweight title |
| 16 | Win | 16–0 | Javier Andino | KO | 2 | 30 July 2022 | Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth, England | |
| 15 | Win | 15–0 | Leonardo Damian Bruzzese | TKO | 5 | 20 Nov 2021 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 14 | Win | 14–0 | Benoit Huber | TKO | 3 | 2 Oct 2021 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 13 | Win | 13–0 | Ossie Jervier | UD | 6 | 10 Nov 2020 | BT Sports Studio, London, England | |
| 12 | Win | 12–0 | Damian Chambers | TKO | 1 | 19 Jul 2019 | Planet Ice, Cheshire, England | |
| 11 | Win | 11–0 | David Jamieson | UD | 3 | 19 Jul 2019 | Planet Ice, Altrincham, England | |
| 10 | Win | 10–0 | Antony Woolery | MD | 3 | 19 July 2019 | Planet Ice, Altrincham, England | |
| 9 | Win | 9–0 | Kent Kauppinen | PTS | 6 | 19 July 2019 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 8 | Win | 8–0 | Tamas Kozma | KO | 3 | 28 Sep 2018 | King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia | |
| 7 | Win | 7–0 | Istvan Kun | TKO | 3 | 14 Jul 2018 | Baden-Arena, Offenburg, Germany | |
| 6 | Win | 6–0 | Adam Williams | TKO | 5 | 17 Feb 2018 | Manchester Arena, Manchester, England | |
| 5 | Win | 5–0 | Istvan Orsos | UD | 6 | 27 Jan 2018 | Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia | |
| 4 | Win | 4–0 | Tomislav Rudan | TKO | 2 | 14 Oct 2017 | Wembley Arena, London, England | |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Jakub Wojcik | PTS | 4 | 16 Sep 2017 | Echo Arena, Liverpool, England | |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Florians Strupits | TKO | 1 | 9 Jul 2017 | York Hall, London, England | |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Jindrich Velecky | TKO | 1 | 22 Apr 2017 | York Hall, London, England | |