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 Dettweiler 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 Sports' Prizefighter series (Heavyweights), reaching the final where he fought Matt Skelton in a three round contest. It was third time lucky for Sprott, who had lost his previous 2 fights with the 43-year-old Skelton, as Sprott won via split decision. One judge scored the fight 29–28 in favour of Skelton, while the other two judges both scored it 29–28 to Sprott, with Sprott 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
ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes71Loss42–29Lukasz RozanskiTKO2 (6), 2 Jun 201870Loss42–28Ali Eren DemirezenTKO5 (8), 23 Dec 201769Loss42–27Marcin SiwyUD65 Nov 201668Loss42–26Christian HammerKO1 (10), 18 Mar 201667Loss42–25Adrian GranatKO1 (8), 5 Dec 201566Loss42–24Carlos TakamKO5 (8)13 Jun 201565Loss42–23Anthony JoshuaTKO1 (10), 22 Nov 201464Loss42–22Kali MeehanKO1 (3)4 Jun 201463Win42–21Anthony NansenUD34 Jun 201462Win41–21Martin RoganMD34 Jun 201461Win40–21Jason GavernUD314 Nov 201360Win39–21Brian MintoUD314 Nov 201359Win38–21Damian WillsUD314 Nov 201358Loss37–21Erkan TeperTKO1 (10), 31 Aug 201357Loss37–20Robert HeleniusUD1023 Mar 201356Win37–19Edmund GerberMD1015 Dec 201255Loss36–19Edmund GerberTKO4 (8), 15 Sep 201254Loss36–18Kubrat PulevRTD9 (12), 14 Jan 201253Loss36–17Alexander DimitrenkoUD1224 Sep 201152Loss36–16Tye FieldsSD37 May 201151Win36–15Serdar UysalUD419 Mar 201150Win35–15Matt SkeltonSD39 Oct 201049Win34–15Shane McPhilbinUD39 Oct 201048Win33–15Danny HughesUD39 Oct 201047Loss32–15Audley HarrisonKO12 (12), 9 Apr 201046Win32–14Werner KreiskottTKO1 (4)20 Mar 201045Loss31–14Alexander UstinovUD1020 Jun 200644Loss31–13Lamon BrewsterUD814 Mar 200943Win31–12Zack PagePTS619 Nov 200842Loss30–12Taras BydenkoUD1031 May 200841Loss30–11Matt Skelton1214 Jul 200740Win30–10Audley HarrisonKO3 (12), 17 Feb 200739Win29–10Rene DettweilerSD124 Nov 200638Loss28–10Ruslan ChagaevTKO8 (12), 15 Jul 200637Win28–9Antoine PalatisUD1018 Feb 200636Loss27–9Volodymyr VyrchysUD1213 Dec 200535Loss27–8Paolo VidozUD121 Oct 200534Win27–7Cengiz Koc1023 Apr 200533Win26–7Robert SulganTKO1 (8), 10 Sep 200432Loss25–7Matt SkeltonKO12 (12), 24 Apr 200431Win25–6Danny WilliamsPTS1224 Jan 200430Loss24–6Danny WilliamsTKO5 (12), 26 Sep 200329Win24–5Colin KennaTKO1 (10), 1 Aug 200328Win23–5Petr HoracekKO1 (6), 10 Jun 200327Win22–5Mark PotterTKO3 (10), 18 Mar 200326Win21–5Mike HoldenTKO4 (8), 24 Jan 200325Win20–5Tamas FeheriTKO2 (6), 12 Dec 200224Win19–5Derek McCaffertyPTS817 Sep 200723Win18–5Garing LanePTS610 Jul 200222Win17–5Pele ReidTKO7 (10), 9 May 200221Loss16–5Danny WilliamsRTD7 (12), 12 Feb 200220Win16–4Jermell BarnesPTS820 Dec 200119Loss15–4Corrie SandersKO1 (8), 3 Nov 200118Loss15–3Timo Hoffmann824 Mar 200117Win15–2Timo HoffmannPTS817 Feb 200116Loss14–2Wayne LlewellynTKO3 (6)14 Oct 200015Win14–1Tony BoothPTS618 Jan 200014Win13–1Chris WoollasRTD4 (6), 10 Jul 199913Win12–1Gary WilliamsPTS616 Jan 199912Loss11–1Harry SeniorTKO6 (10), 12 Sep 199811Win11–0Michael MurrayPTS614 Mar 199810Win10–0Ray Kane1 (6), 14 Feb 19989Win9–0Johnny DavisonTKO2 (6), 10 Jan 19988Win8–0Nick HowardTKO1 (4), 6 Dec 19977Win7–0Darren FearnPTS6 8 Nov 19976Win6–0Gary WilliamsPTS6 2 Sep 19975Win5–0Wladek Framas620 May 19974Win4–0Tim RedmanKO2 (4), 16 Apr 19973Win3–0Alvin MillerKO1 (4), 17 Mar 19972Win2–0Johnny Davison2 (6), 19 Feb 19971Win1–0Geoff Hunter1 (6)20 Nov 1996
References
External links
Danny Williams-Michael Sprott II In pictures: Audley Harrison vs Michael Sprott