Artur Szpilka (; born 12 April 1989) is a Polish

professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional bouts are supervised by a regulatory autho ...

and

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

. He has challenged once for the WBC heavyweight title in 2016. He holds a notable win over former two-weight world champion

Tomasz Adamek Tomasz "Tomek" Adamek (; born 1 December 1976) is a Polish former professional boxer who competed from 1999 to 2018. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBC light heavyweight title from 2005 to 2007, and the IBF an ...

Professional career

On 30 June 2012, Szpilka fought

Jameel McCline Jameel McCline (born May 20, 1970) is an American former professional boxer. He challenged for the world heavyweight title on an unprecedented four occasions, losing all four attempts to Wladimir Klitschko, Chris Byrd, Nikolai Valuev and Samuel ...

in Lodz, Poland, which he won by

unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...

(UD). Szpilka's winning secured the fight with

Mike Mollo Mike Mollo (born February 11, 1980) is an American former professional boxer. A fan favorite for his aggressive style in Chicago, Mollo is perhaps best known for his bouts with Polish fighters Art Binkowski, Artur Szpilka, Andrew Golota, and Kr ...

in 2013, the winning by knock out resulted in consequent revenge. Both bouts Szpilka won by an early knock out, despite that in bout he was knocked down and counted. The first fight was over in the sixth round, the second in the fifth, Mollo became grounded unable to rise. On 25 January 2014 Szpilka was defeated by Bryant Jennings. Jennings initially was to face

Mariusz Wach Mariusz Wach (; born 14 December 1979) is a Polish professional boxer. He challenged once for the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight titles against Wladimir Klitschko in 2012. Early life Mariusz Wach was born 14 December 1 ...

, however Wach pulled out of the fight and Szpilka stepped in as he called out Jennings on Twitter and the fight was arranged shortly afterwards. The fight took place on 25 January 2014 in Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. Szpilka lost the fight by referee stoppage in the final round. Later that year, on 8 November 2014, Szpilka scored his most significant win following a ten-round UD over former light-heavyweight and cruiserweight world champion

. On 16 January 2016 he fought for the WBC heavyweight title against defending champion Deontay Wilder. Szpilka proved an awkward opponent for Wilder with his elusive style, making the champion miss on many occasions. Unfortunately for Szpilka, while advancing closer to Wilder in round nine, he was caught by a hard right hook on the chin which knocked him out cold. He remained on the canvas for several minutes and needed to be stretchered out of the ring. About a year and a half after the Wilder fight, Szpilka made his comeback in New York against compatriot Adam Kownacki. Kownacki was in control for most of the fight, dropping Szpilka and subsequently getting a TKO victory in the fourth round. His next fight was another all-Polish main event, this time against former heavyweight world title challenger

. Szpilka was visibly smaller and was hit flush several times, and at times the fight seemed like it was going to be stopped. However, in the end he succeeded in edging out Wach by a tiny margin and won by split decision. On 20 July 2019, Szpilka fought former world title challenger

Derek Chisora Derek Chisora (born 29 December 1983) is a British professional boxer. He has challenged twice for the WBC heavyweight title in 2012 and 2022. At regional level, he has held multiple heavyweight championships, including the British and Common ...

. In what was expected to be an action-packed and entertaining fight, Chisora managed to make easy work out of the Pole and knocked him out in the second round. In 2020 Szpilka moved down to cruiserweight and won his first fight against Serhiy Radchenko by way of majority decision.

Professional boxing record

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Denis Zalecki , TKO (knee injury) , High League 4: Natsu vs. Lexy 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:41 ,

Gliwice Gliwice (; german: Gleiwitz) is a city in Upper Silesia, in southern Poland. The city is located in the Silesian Highlands, on the Kłodnica river (a tributary of the Oder). It lies approximately 25 km west from Katowice, the regional capi ...

, Poland , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Serhiy Radchenko , TKO (submission to elbow) , KSW 71: Ziółkowski vs. Rajewski , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:52 ,

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, Poland , , -

Pay-per-view bouts

Filmography

References

External links

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Artur Szpilka article
at sport.pl
Artur Szpilka – Profile, News Archive & Current Rankings
a
Box.Live
{{DEFAULTSORT:Szpilka, Artur 1989 births Living people People from Wieliczka Sportspeople from Lesser Poland Voivodeship Polish male boxers Heavyweight boxers Polish male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing Bridgerweight boxers