Mikael Lawal

Last updated

Mikael Lawal
Portrait of Mikael Lawal.jpg
Born
Lagos, Nigeria
NationalityBritish
Other namesLethal
Statistics
Weight(s) Cruiserweight
Height6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights19
Wins17
Wins by KO11
Losses2

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

Contents

Professional career

Lawal made his professional debut in April 2017, defeating Jindrich Velecky via a 1st-round TKO win.

He got his first big break on 14 October 2017 featuring on the undercard of George Groves versus Jamie Cox, at Wembley Arena defeating Tomislav Rudan in two rounds. [1]

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. [2]

Early life

Lawal was born in Lagos, Nigeria but moved to the UK aged 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 did not get along with his stepmother, who used to tell his father lies about him so that he would be beaten. Eventually Lawal ran away from home, where he lived on the streets for a short period before visiting the British High Commission where he was able to be placed in an orphanage, before eventually receiving a temporary passport and returning to the UK aged 16.

After living with friends despite having family in London, 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, Lawal 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. [3]

Professional boxing record

19 fights17 wins2 losses
By knockout110
By decision62
No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
19Loss17–2 Viddal Riley UD1031 Mar 2024 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandFor English cruiserweight title
18Loss17–1 Isaac Chamberlain UD1221 Oct 2023York Hall, London, EnglandLost British and for vacant Commonwealth cruiserweight titles
17Win17–0David JamiesonRTD827 Nov 2022 Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill, London, EnglandWon vacant British cruiserweight title
16Win16–0Javier AndinoKO230 July 2022 Bournemouth International Centre, Bournemouth, England
15Win15–0Leonardo Damian BruzzeseTKO520 Nov 2021Wembley Arena, London, England
14Win14–0Benoit HuberTKO32 Oct 2021Wembley Arena, London, England
13Win13–0Ossie JervierUD610 Nov 2020BT Sports Studio, London, England
12Win12–0Damian ChambersTKO119 Jul 2019Planet Ice, Cheshire, England
11Win11–0David JamiesonUD319 Jul 2019Planet Ice, Altrincham, England
10Win10–0Antony WooleryMD319 July 2019Planet Ice, Altrincham, England
9Win9–0Kent KauppinenPTS619 July 2019York Hall, London, England
8Win8–0Tamas KozmaKO3 28 Sep 2018 King Abdullah Sports City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
7Win7–0Istvan KunTKO314 Jul 2018Baden-Arena, Offenburg, Germany
6Win6–0Adam WilliamsTKO5 17 Feb 2018 Manchester Arena, Manchester, England
5Win5–0Istvan OrsosUD627 Jan 2018 Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia
4Win4–0Tomislav RudanTKO2 14 Oct 2017 Wembley Arena, London, England
3Win3–0Jakub WojcikPTS4 16 Sep 2017 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
2Win2–0Florians StrupitsTKO19 Jul 2017York Hall, London, England
1Win1–0Jindrich VeleckyTKO122 Apr 2017 York Hall, London, England

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ossie Ocasio</span> Puerto Rican boxer

Osvaldo "Ossie" Ocasio is a Puerto Rican former boxer who held the World Cruiserweight Championship from 1982 to 1984. He was also a Top Contender and Heavyweight Challenger in 1979. He scored notable wins against Former Cruiserweight Champion Dwight Muhammad Qawi as well as beating Top Heavyweight Contender Jimmy Young and Heavyweight Contender Pierre Coetzer, as well as drawing with Future Heavyweight Champion Michael Dokes. Nicknamed "Jaws", his peculiar nickname was the result of him accidentally biting another boxer during a sparring session.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vassiliy Jirov</span> Kazakhstani boxer

Vassiliy Valeryevich Jirov, sometimes known as Vasily Zhirov, is a Kazakhstani former professional boxer who competed from 1997 to 2009, and held the IBF cruiserweight title from 1999 to 2003. As an amateur he won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics, as well as consecutive bronzes at the 1993 and 1995 World Championships, all in the light heavyweight division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Smith (boxer)</span> American boxer

James "Bonecrusher" Smith is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1981 to 1999 and held the WBA heavyweight title from 1986 to 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Haye</span> British boxer

David Deron Haye is a British former professional boxer who competed between 2002 and 2018. He held multiple world championships in two weight classes, and was the first British boxer to reach the final of the World Amateur Boxing Championships, where he won a silver medal in 2001.

Herbie Hide is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2010. He held the WBO heavyweight title twice between 1994 and 1999, as well as the British heavyweight title in 1993. Hide was known for his formidable punching power and killer instinct in the ring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enzo Maccarinelli</span> Welsh boxer (born 1980)

Enzo Maccarinelli is a retired Welsh former professional boxing world champion who competed from 1999 to 2016. He held the WBO cruiserweight title from 2006 to 2008. At regional level, he held the European and British cruiserweight titles between 2010 and 2012, and the Commonwealth light-heavyweight title in 2013.

Ismaikel "Mike" Perez is a Cuban-Irish professional boxer who holds the WBA Intercontinental Cruiserweight title and challenged once for the WBC cruiserweight title in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Bellew</span> English boxer (born 1982)

Anthony Lewis Bellew is an English former professional boxer who competed from 2007 to 2018, and has since worked as a boxing analyst and commentator. He held the WBC cruiserweight title from 2016 to 2017. At regional level, he held the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles between 2010 and 2014, the European cruiserweight title from 2015 to 2016. As an amateur, he is a three-time ABA heavyweight champion. He portrayed antagonist boxer Ricky Conlan in the films Creed and Creed III.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan Cleverly</span> Welsh boxer (born 1987)

Nathan Cleverly is a retired Welsh former professional boxing world champion who competed from 2005 to 2017. He is a two-time light-heavyweight world champion, having held the WBO title from 2011 to 2013, and the WBA (Regular) title from 2016 to 2017. Additionally he held multiple regional light-heavyweight championships, including the European, British, and Commonwealth titles between 2008 and 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Savannah Marshall</span> British boxer (born 1991)

Savannah Rose Marshall is a British professional boxer. She has held world championships in two weight classes: the undisputed and Ring magazine female super-middleweight title since July 2023; and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) female middleweight title from 2020 to 2022. As an amateur, she became the first British female world champion after securing gold at the 2012 World Championships. She has been nicknamed as the 'Silent Assassin' due to a combination of her shyness and her multiple knockout wins. As of October 2022, she was ranked the world's second best active female middleweight by BoxRec and by The Ring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oleksandr Gvozdyk</span> Ukrainian boxer

Oleksandr Serhiyovych Gvozdyk is a Ukrainian professional boxer. He held the WBC and lineal light-heavyweight titles from 2018 to 2019. As an amateur, Gvozdyk won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics and a gold at the 2013 Summer Universiade.

Krzysztof Głowacki is a Polish professional boxer who has held the WBO junior-heavyweight title twice; from 2015 to 2016 and again in 2019. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal in the super-heavyweight division at the 2008 EU Championships. As of June 2020, he is ranked as the world's fourth best active cruiserweight by The Ring magazine and third by the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Joyce (boxer)</span> English boxer (born 1985)

Joe Joyce is a British professional boxer. He held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) interim heavyweight title from 2022 to 2023. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the Commonwealth title twice between 2018 and 2021; the British title from 2020 to 2022; and the European title from 2020 to 2021.

Lawrence Okolie is a British professional boxer who held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight title from 2021 to May 2023. At regional level, he held the Commonwealth title twice between 2018 and 2019; the British title from 2018 to 2019; and the European title in 2019.

Joshua Buatsi is a British professional boxer. He has held the British and Commonwealth light-heavyweight titles since February 2024 and previously held the British title in 2019. As an amateur, he won a bronze medal at the 2015 European Championships and the 2016 Olympics.

Joe Fournier is a British businessman and professional boxer. He started a fitness business, before selling it and then subsequently moved into the nightclub industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viddal Riley</span> British boxer

Viddal Ethan Danso Riley is an English professional boxer, rapper and internet personality. He is the current English cruiserweight champion.

Chris Billam-Smith is an English professional boxer who has held the World Boxing Organization (WBO) cruiserweight title since 2023. At regional level, he held the European, British, and Commonwealth cruiserweight titles between 2019 and 2022.

Richard Riakporhe is a professional boxer who held the British cruiserweight title from 2019 to 2020.

David Bankole Adeleye is a British professional boxer. As an amateur, he competed at the 2013 English National Junior Championships in the heavyweight event.

References

  1. "Mikael Lawal - Getting Back On Track". British Vintage Boxing. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  2. "Boxing: Shepherds Bush cruiserweight Mikael Lawal to have busy start to 2018". Brent & Kirkburn Times. 8 January 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  3. "Mikael Lawal - Getting Back On Track". British Vintage Boxing. 6 September 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2023.