By Terence Dooley
Michael Sprott’s four round decision win over Serdar Uysal in Germany last Saturday night was his fifth triumph on foreign soil. The Reading-based boxer has never been afraid to travel – 13 of his 51 fights have taken place outside of the UK. Indeed, Michael believes that this away-day experience was key during last October’s Prizefighter: The Heavyweights. His tournament win saw him pick up a revenge victory over former foe Matt Skelton en route to the prize money, leaving Sprott in the unique position of having had the last word in heavyweight rivalries against Skelton and Danny Williams.
“Skelton is such a nice guy, he hasn't got the best boxing ability but he was very strong and had conditioning. He came through K1 and was used to fighting heavy kids and he brought a lot of strength into his boxing. Matt can drag you into fighting his fight but I beat him at it last time,” recalled Sprott when looking back on his split-decision success over Skelton.
“The first time I fought him [a 2004 British and Commonwealth title scrap] it was so tough. It was very hot on the night. I would definitely say that it was his physical strength that brought him through so many fights.”
“I don't know”, he mused when asked if Matt’s age, 43 at the time of the third contest, had played a part, “as you get older it gets harder but I think it was more down to the fact that he'd come through tough fights to get to where he had been.”
Danny Williams had served notice of his own decline when losing to Carl Baker in the first round of 2009’s heavyweight Prizefighter tournament, which was won by Audley Harrison; Michael went 1-2 with Williams before signing off the rivalry with a decision win in January 2004.
“In the first fight I had to come back from a holiday in Barbados straight into a British title fight. I had three days notice but it was a good chance and I couldn’t turn it down. I was beating him in the second fight and was too clever a boxer but he caught me when I was turning to the ref. Danny is a very talented and very good fighter who on his day could have beaten anyone,” admitted the 36-year-old.
Sprott is currently 1-1 with Big Audley. Both fights ended in spectacular KO finishes. With Harrison’s come-from-behind win over Sprott in April of last year the launchpad for an unlikely world title opportunity. “Yes I can” Audley had declared ahead of his November WBA challenge to David Haye. Sprott, though, had always had his doubts when it came to ‘A Force’.
“Yeah, I was very confident,” said Sprott when asked about his focussed ring walk ahead of his 2007 third round KO win over the former gold medallist. “We'd had very good spars in the past but I knew I had the skill and the spirit to beat the Olympian, I've sparred allsorts all through my career. I was a veteran by that point and there was nothing he could have done to deter me so I was very confident of winning.
“I didn't expect it to be so quick, though, I expected it to go to the late rounds. When I did catch him it was great. I threw the shot so naturally and without putting all my effort into it. I put it over the top and it knocked him spark out, he didn't even try to get up.
“Ian John Lewis waved him out and I was celebrating like crazy because I was so pleased but you forget that there is another man on the canvas in a bad way. I felt bad after that but at the time it is happening you are just so happy to have won and be back in the title running. I've always got on well with Audley. We never had any reason not to get on. It was just that we had to fight and our paths had to cross. It was business at the end of the day.”
Hostilities were resumed in last year’s vacant EBU title encounter; Sprott boxed the fight of his life only to be undone by a winging left hand. Ironically, the blow that did for Michael was not a million miles removed from the left hook that had laid Audley out three years prior.
“I tell you, I was gutted. I rocked him, I thought I was going to win it big but he caught me with the left just as I was throwing. I find it amazing that he did to me what I did to him. We might need a third fight just to tie it all up,” insisted the 36-15 (17) fighter.
“I dropped my hands at the wrong time. I should have just held my hands up and kept away to see out that round. I was focussed in that fight, it was my night. I fought my fight but got caught. People though that my career was finished going into that fight because you wasn't hearing my name in the British scene – I was fighting abroad a lot. What people didn't realise is that I was getting sparring with the likes of the Klitschkos and other big guys in Europe. It improves you and you saw that when I came back for Prizefighter.
“I went to a Lennox Lewis camp when I was a teenager. I sparred with some good heavyweights back then. I was there for ten days, since that experience I've felt comfortable travelling away to places like Germany and South Africa.”
Sprott travelled to Africa in 2001 for a clash with Corrie Sanders, then 36-2. The two duked it out, a move that proved costly for the visitor, he was stopped at 1:25 of the opener after falling to a series of clubbing swings yet still protests the stoppage, claiming that he was willing and able to see the session out.
He said, “I was over in South Africa for a whole month before the Sanders fight. I think it should have gone longer. He caught me with some good body shots and he hurt me. I went down under pressure, listened to the count, got up and was fine to continue. I took my time to get up but the ref didn't even look at me before waving it off. I was so unhappy because I'd trained over there and really wanted to carry on.”
Such is the life of the away fighter, many of whom are an inexperienced ref away from a quick stoppage or three easily swayed judges removed from a contentious points defeat. Sprott felt the sting of iniquitous officiating in 2005 when dropping a unanimous decision to Volodymyr Vyrchys in Austria.
“I don't, no”, was Sprott’s response to my question of whether he considers these things when fighting away from home, “because a ring is supposed to be a ring and the best man should win. If the decision goes against me when I felt I won then I get upset, anyone would. Against Vyrchys, I felt I won that fight hands down but they gave it to him. I love fighting abroad but things like that upset me. It pushes you right down to the bottom again and you have to fight your way back.
“I won a [2005 EBU-EU] fight against Cengiz Koc by a mile and they nearly took it away. It was a good fight but there was no way that it was only a split-decision win for me. I had seen Koch from sparring sessions back in the day so I was confident going into that one. They gave it to me based on my cleaner boxing.
“Rene Dettweiller [in 2006], I won literally every round but they only gave it to me on a split and took some points away. I was in no shape at all because I was blowing by the second – my heart and determination got me through.”
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