Michael Sprott was blasted out by Anthony Joshua inside the opening round but it wasn’t the hardest he was ever hit.
During a punishing 71-fight (42-29) professional boxing career stretching from 1996 to 2018, Sprott took on all comers.
In 2007, Sprott – a former British and Commonwealth champion – handed Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist Audley Harrison the first knockout loss of his career.
However, he wasn’t able to produce the same heroics against Harrison’s successor, Joshua, eight years later.
By this point, Sprott was fast approaching 40 and his punch resistance was all-but completely shot.
The first meaningful shot AJ landed buckled Sprott’s knees and as the veteran sunk back into the ropes, Joshua followed up with a ferocious flurry that left the referee with no choice but to step in.
To his credit, Sprott remained on his feet, which is more than can be said for his fight with Corrie Sanders in 2001.
The heavy-handed South African sent Sprott tumbling to the canvas in the first round with a monstrous left straight and despite regaining his footing, the fight was waved off.
Sprott protested the decision at the time but years later in an interview with Through The Ropes, he admitted to having never felt a shot quite like it.
“When it comes to the hardest puncher, it would have to be Corrie Sanders, the South African,” he said.
“I was like, ‘Wow’ and I asked [Vitali] Klitschko when I was at the Klitschko camp, ‘What do you think of Corrie Sanders’ power?’ and he just went, ‘Wow’ so he must have had the same experience.
“That’s what Vitali said and Wladimir said, ‘They put me in with this guy Corrie Sanders, I didn’t know much about him and he did me over’.”
Sanders is best known for knocking out the younger Klitschko brother in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history in 2003.
Klitschko had held the WBO heavyweight title for three years at the time while Sanders had been widely written off after suffering KO losses to Nate Tubbs and Hasim Rahman.
But Sanders’ power proved too much for the young Ukrainian as he dropped him four times en route to a stunning second-round KO win.
Vitali would avenge his brother’s loss a year later when he stopped Sanders against the ropes in the eighth round.
Yet Sanders would leaving a lasting impression on Wladimir, who later called him the hardest puncher he ever faced in a December 2014 interview with Ring Magazine.
“I’ve been in boxing for 25 years and I never fought anybody in this game that punched like Corrie Sanders,” he said.
