Sparring Partners

[Superheavy]

It's mentioned on another thread that Michael Sprott has served as Vitali's principal sparring partner in prep for the Solis fight. Sprott himself is on the card so I guess he's used Vitali's camp to get himself in shape.

I wonder why Vitali uses Sprott as his main sparring partner and, more generally, how sparring partners are chosen by established champs. What's intriguing is that in a real bout, Vitali vs Sprott would be one sided, yet Vitali clearly gets a lot out of sparring Sprott. Of course sparring is different from a real bout - there are numerous other objectives besides KOing the opponent. And perhaps Vitali values Sprott's durability and speed (in the same way that Wlad likes to spar Ola Afolabi). But I find it hard to believe that Sprott, as solid a pro as he is, really pushes Vitali.

As a side issue, the sparring with Vitali must do a lot for Sprott - idea preparation for a bout with one of the several tall British HW prospects.

[Asterix]

Sprott seems to have been sparring the Klitschkos for a long time. I'm not sure how long, but I've heard of him sparring them for a few previous fights.

[1southpaw]

Garry Delaney Used To Be Chief Sparring Partner For Ruslan Chagaev For A Long Time, The Reason They Had Garry Over There All the Time Was Ruslan Used To Be Lazy In Sparring And His Camp Loved It Because Garry Would Realy Make Him Work In Sparring, Garry Was Also Herbie Hide's Sparring Partner All The Way Until The Riddick Bowe Fight.

[Superheavy]

I heard an interesting story about Maskaev (who at the time was champ) sparring Danny Williams at Gleeson's gym. Apparently Danny took him apart. On several occasions. People say that Danny was amazing in sparring and didn't quite do himself justice in the ring.

There's some footage on youtube of Holyfield and Tua sparring in 1996.