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

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

Early life

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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.[1]

Professional career

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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.[2]

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.[3]

Professional boxing record

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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

References

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