Michael Sprott - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Michael Sprott is a professional heavyweight

Heavyweight

Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...

boxer

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

from Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

, Berkshire

Berkshire

Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Sprott briefly held the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles, and was a European heavyweight title contender. He was the winner of the 14th Prizefighter series

Prizefighter series

The Prizefighter series is a knock out boxing tournament created by boxing promoter Barry Hearn and aired on Sky Sports. The format has an initial eight fighters, who compete in four quarter-finals of 3 x 3 minute rounds followed by two semi-finals and one final all on the same night...

.
Boxing out of Jim Evans' gym in Maidenhead, Berkshire

Berkshire

, England

England

, Sprott is a regular sparring partner of Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko is a Ukrainian heavyweight boxer. Klitschko is the WBA , IBF, WBO Super, IBO & Ring Magazine Champion. His older brother Vitali Klitschko is the current WBC champion...

and Vitali Klitschko

Vitali Klitschko

Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Klychko is a Ukrainian professional heavyweight boxer and the current WBC heavyweight champion. He is a leader of the political party Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform and a member of the Ukrainian delegation to the Congress of the Council of Europe. He previously...

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

Timo Hoffmann

Timo Hoffmann is a professional boxer who fights in the heavyweight division. He is probably best known as being the only fighter for nearly a decade who went to the distance with Vitali Klitschko...

, who had lost only to Vitali Klitschko

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

Corrie Sanders

Cornelius "Corrie" Johannes Sanders is a South African former professional boxer. In 2003 he became the WBO heavyweight champion by defeating Wladimir Klitschko via a second-round knock out that is considered one of the biggest upsets in heavyweight boxing history and won Ring Magazine upset of...

. In a brief and entertaining fight, Sprott rocked the southpaw before being decked himself, and suffering a controversial stoppage by the referee when it appeared he wanted to continue.

In February 2002 Keith Long pulled out from a British and Commonwealth title fight with Danny Williams

Danny Williams (boxer)

Daniel "Danny" Williams is an English professional heavyweight boxer.-Amateur:As an amateur boxing out of the famous Lynn AC boxing gym in SE London, Williams learned his trade quickly, often sparring with the likes of clubmates Henry Akinwande and Derek Angol...

, 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 7 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

Frank Bruno

Franklin Roy Bruno MBE is an English former boxer whose career highlight was winning the WBC Heavyweight championship in 1995. Altogether, he won 40 of his 45 contests...

.

After this challenge, Sprott went on a successful run of form, winning 8 fights, including knockouts of hard hitting Pele Reid

Pelé Reid

Pelé Reid is an English heavyweight boxer. He currently resides in Birmingham, West Midlands and is a personal trainer.Reid is a former WBO Inter-Continental heavyweight champion and World Kick Boxing Champion....

(KO7), ex-British champ Michael Holden (KO4), puncher Mark Potter (KO3), and Colin Kenna

Colin Kenna

Colin Kenna is an Irish boxer, formerly a holder of the BBofC Southern Area heavyweight title belt. Kenna currently resides in Southampton, England.-Career:...

(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

Mike Tyson

Michael Gerard "Mike" Tyson is a retired American boxer. Tyson is a former undisputed heavyweight champion of the world and holds the record as the youngest boxer to win the WBC, WBA and IBF world heavyweight titles, he was 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old...

, however Sprott would lose his titles in his first defense, matched with fast undefeated Matt Skelton

Matt Skelton

Matt Skelton is an English boxer who changed sports from kickboxing. He is a former English, British, Commonwealth and European Heavyweight champion. He has also held the lightly regarded WBU "World" Heavyweight title....

(12-0), Sprott was mauled and stopped in the 12th. His last fight of 2004 was a win against Czech heavyweight champ Robert Šulgan

Robert Šulgan

Robert Šulgan is a Czech professional heavyweight boxer and a holder of the Czech Heavyweight title.-Early career:Šulgan started boxing at the age of sixteen for an amateur club in the nearby town, Frýdek-Místek...

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

Cengiz Koç

Cengiz Koç is a German heavyweight boxer of Turkish descent who won the bronze medal at the 2000 European amateur championships...

, but in October was outpointed by Olympian Paolo Vidoz

Paolo Vidoz

Paolo Vidoz is a boxer from Italy, who won the Olympic bronze medal, twice won the bronze medal at the World Amateur Boxing Championships: 1997 and 1999 and also won a silver medal at the European Championships....

in a European title fight, both fights in Germany. In December he fought future European champ Vladimir Virchis

Vladimir Virchis

Volodymyr Virchis is a Ukrainian boxer and is a touted prospect in the heavyweight division.Virchis is known as "The Hunter", the large and powerful Virchis turned professional in 1999 and won his first 20 bouts with 17 knockouts, including victories over clubfighters Julius Francis, Cliff Couser,...

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

Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Chagaev born October 19, 1978 in Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is an Uzbekistani former WBA heavyweight boxing champion of Tatar ethnicity...

. 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

Audley Harrison

Audley Harrison is a British professional boxer from Harlesden, England who fights in the heavyweight division. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney he became the first British fighter to win an Olympic gold medal in the superheavyweight division. He stands and usually weighs around .Harrison turned...

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

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

Taras Bidenko

Taras Bidenko is a German based professional boxer who fights in the heavyweight division.-Professional career:...

. Sprott was outpointed in a 10 round unanimous decision, with 2 judges scoring the bout 97-93, and the other seeing it 97-94.

Sprott recently fought former WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster

Lamon Brewster

"Relentless" Lamon Tajuan Brewster is a retired American professional heavyweight boxer, and former WBO heavyweight champion. He won the silver medal as an amateur at the 1995 Pan American Games in Mar del Plata....

and lost a unanimous decision on 14 March 2009.

He fought Alexander Ustinov

Alexander Ustinov

Alexander "The Great" Ustinov is a Russian super heavyweight kickboxer, boxer and mixed martial artist.- Career :In 2003 after winning K-1 Moscow Grand Pix with three consecutive KO's Alexander Ustinov earned his spot at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2003 in Paris. In quarter finals he met Gregory Tony...

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

European Boxing Union

The European Boxing Union is an organization that oversees competition in that sport over the continent of Europe.-History:The EBU started life as the International Boxing Union in Paris in 1910...

title against old foe Audley Harrison

Audley Harrison

at Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a building in North London, England. It stands in Alexandra Park, in an area between Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Wood Green...

in April 2010. Sprott was leading the bout on all three scorecards before Harrison knocked out Sprott with seconds remaining of round 12.

On October 9, 2010, a 35 year old Sprott competed in Sky's 'PrizeFighter' series (Heavyweights), reaching the final where he fought Matt Skelton

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

Alexander Dimitrenko

Alexander Dimitrenko is a German professional heavyweight boxer. He was born on July 5, 1982 in Crimea, Ukraine. He began boxing at the age of 14 and at the age of 18 won the world junior boxing championship in the Unlimited weight division. He was immediately offered a deal by German promoter...

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

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

and the Wimbledon Championships. His favourite football teams are Reading FC and Arsenal FC.

Professional boxing record

Alexander Dimitrenko

|UD
|12
|24/09/2011
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Tye Fields

Tye "Big Sky" Fields is an American heavyweight boxer.-Career:Tye Fields grew up in Beaverton, Oregon. Fields played college basketball and was a starter at forward for San Diego State University. Fields never was an amateur...

|SD
|3
|27/05/2011
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Serdar Uysal
|UD
|4
|19/03/2011
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Matt Skelton

|SD
|3
|09/10/2010
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Shane McPhilbin
|UD
|3
|09/10/2010
|align=left|

Danny Hughes
|UD
|3
|09/10/2010
|align=left|

Audley Harrison

|KO
|12
|09/04/2010
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Werner Kreiskott
|TKO
|1
|20/03/2010
|align=left|

Alexander Ustinov

|UD
|10
|20/06/2009
|align=left|

Lamon Brewster

|UD
|8
|14/03/2009
|align=left|

Zack Page
|PTS
|6
|19/11/2008
|align=left|

Taras Bydenko

Taras Bidenko

Taras Bidenko is a German based professional boxer who fights in the heavyweight division.-Professional career:...

|UD
|10
|31/05/2008
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Matt Skelton

|MD
|12
|14/07/2007
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Audley Harrison

|KO
|3
|17/02/2007
|align=left|

Rene Dettweiler
|SD
|12
|04/11/2006
|align=left|

Ruslan Chagaev

Ruslan Chagaev born October 19, 1978 in Andijan, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union) is an Uzbekistani former WBA heavyweight boxing champion of Tatar ethnicity...

|TKO
|8
|15/07/2006
|align=left|

Antoine Palatis
|UD
|10
|18/02/2006
|align=left|

Volodymyr Vyrchys

Vladimir Virchis

|UD
|12
|13/12/2005
|align=left|

Paolo Vidoz

|UD
|12
|01/10/2005
|align=left|

Cengiz Koc

Cengiz Koç

Cengiz Koç is a German heavyweight boxer of Turkish descent who won the bronze medal at the 2000 European amateur championships...

|SD
|10
|23/04/2005
|align=left|

Robert Sulgan

Robert Šulgan

|TKO
|1
|10/09/2004
|align=left|

Matt Skelton

|KO
|12
|24/04/2004
|align=left|

Danny Williams

Danny Williams (boxer)

|PTS
|12
|24/01/2004
|align=left|

Danny Williams

Danny Williams (boxer)

|TKO
|5
|26/09/2003
|align=left|

Colin Kenna

Colin Kenna is an Irish boxer, formerly a holder of the BBofC Southern Area heavyweight title belt. Kenna currently resides in Southampton, England.-Career:...

|TKO
|1
|01/08/2003
|align=left|

Petr Horacek
|KO
|1
|10/06/2003
|align=left|

Mark Potter
|TKO
|3
|18/03/2003
|align=left|

Mike Holden
|TKO
|4
|24/01/2003
|align=left|

Tamas Feheri
|TKO
|2
|12/12/2002
|align=left|

Derek McCafferty
|PTS
|8
|17/09/2002
|align=left|

Garing Lane
|PTS
|6
|10/07/2002
|align=left|

Pele Reid

Pelé Reid

|TKO
|7
|09/05/2002
|align=left|

Danny Williams

Danny Williams (boxer)

|RTD
|7
|12/02/2002
|align=left|

Jermell Barnes
|PTS
|8
|20/12/2001
|align=left|

Corrie Sanders

|TKO
|1
|03/11/2001
|align=left|

Timo Hoffmann

Timo Hoffmann is a professional boxer who fights in the heavyweight division. He is probably best known as being the only fighter for nearly a decade who went to the distance with Vitali Klitschko...

|UD
|8
|24/03/2001
|align=left|

|align=left|
|-align=center

External links

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