Michael Holden

Michael Holden (born 13 March 1968) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1994 to 2012. He held the British heavyweight title in 2000.

Professional career Born in Ashton-under-Lyne and based in Manchester, Holden began his professional career in October 1994 with a 4th round stoppage of Gary Williams. After a win and two defeats from his next three fights he fought Julius Francis in July 1996, losing on points. He also did some acting work, including as an extra in Coronation Street.

He won five of his next six fights, earning him a shot at the British title in March 2000 that was then held by Francis; Holden won on points to become British champion. Only two months earlier Holden had acted as bodyguard for Francis during the latter's fight against Mike Tyson and acted as a sparring partner for Francis. This time Francis got the points decision. In September Holden fought Keith Long in another eliminator for the British title but again lost on points. Holden won only two more fights and lost three of his last five fights, including defeats to Michael Sprott and Matt Skelton, the latter a fight for the vacant English title in 2003, after which he retired.

In 2008 he began training for a comeback and sparred with Tyson Fury. Holden returned again in 2012 to fight the undefeated Dillian Whyte, with Whyte winning by a TKO in the third round after putting Holden down three times.

Post career After retiring from boxing, Holden joined the police force.

Professional boxing record 21 Loss 10–10–1 Dillian Whyte TKO 3 (6), 15 Sep 2012 20 Draw 10–9–1 Tomas Mrazek 4 4 Sep 2009 19 Loss 10–9 Matt Skelton TKO 6 (10), 19 Sep 2003 18 Loss 10–8 Albert Sosnowski PTS 6 12 Apr 2003 17 Loss 10–7 Michael Sprott TKO 4 (8), 24 Jan 2003 16 Win 10–6 Antoine Palatis PTS 6 15 Oct 2002 15 Win 9–6 Luke Simpkin PTS 6 15 Mar 2002 14 Loss 8–6 Keith Long PTS 10 13 Sep 2001 13 Loss 8–5 Julius Francis PTS 12 3 Apr 2001 12 Win 8–4 Julius Francis PTS 12 13 Mar 2000 11 Win 7–4 Derek McCafferty TKO 1 (6), 15 Jul 1999 10 Loss 6–4 Harry Senior PTS 8 8 May 1999 9 Win 6–3

RTD 2 (6), 12 Dec 1998 8 Win 5–3

TKO 1 (10), 2 Sep 1997 7 Win 4–3 Israel Ajose TKO 1 (6), 26 Jun 1997 6 Win 3–3 Mikael Lindblad PTS 6 28 Sep 1996 5 Loss 2–3 Julius Francis PTS 10 9 Jul 1996 4 Loss 2–2

6 14 Nov 1995 3 Win 2–1 Roger McKenzie TKO 2 (6) 7 Oct 1995 2 Loss 1–1

3 (6), 20 Dec 1994 1 Win 1–0 Gary Williams 4 (6) 4 Oct 1994