Prosper victorious but not happy with O2 preparation

The 31-year-old turned up at the bill, headlined by David Haye’s ultimately easy victory over Arnold Gjergjaj only to be told he wasn’t going to be fighting after all.

After manager Steve Goodwin stepped in though, Prosper was back on the show, but ended up rushing to finish his fight after Haye had triumphed, in what was the last action of the evening.

He said: “I was put in a situation that was not ideal for me. When I first went there, I could see something was up and heard I wasn’t fighting.

“The people that were running the show didn’t have much of a clue what was going on as they had over-run the show.

“They were looking to pull my fight, but my manager Steve Goodwin, he eventually got me on the show, so I was meant to be on third.

“Then was told I was going to be a floater, which means I can be on at whatever time, so throughout the show, I was getting ready to fight, getting warmed up, then told I wasn’t fighting yet.

“So my energy was wrong, I was getting frustrated, getting angry, even before the fight, I was told I had five minutes to get on, was running to the ring, trying to get past (American boxer) Shannon Briggs, jumping over some chairs to quickly get in the ring and quickly get the bout started.”

Once in the ring, Prosper managed to triumph 40-37 on points against his experienced opponent, as the former Hockwell Ring ABC fighter was just happy to maintain his unbeaten record.

He continued: “My mindset was wrong, I tried my best to stay focused, but my energy was in the wrong place, my whole focus was wrong.

“I started the boxing and rather than trying to do anything, just tried to calm myself down.

“I got caught with one shot, it rocked me back and after that shot landed, I switched on and boxed.

“I tried to load up a little bit, I thought I had him gone, but he was tough, a tough kid, had a tight guard and was stronger than I expected too, just as strong as me.

“I just had to use my boxing brain in the end to manoeuvre him and get the win.”

Despite the shenanigans beforehand, Prosper felt he learned a lot from the build-up, although will think twice if asked by Haye to be on his next fight.

He added: “If I’m fighting on someone else’s show, and if it wasn’t going to plan, I have learned I can deal with situations that aren’t perfect for me, that’s one thing I’ll definitely take from it.

“It wasn’t run efficiently though and I wouldn’t think I’d fight there again unless in a year’s time I was fighting for a big belt, and they say ‘you’re going to be the supporting bout.’

“On the undercard, you’re just surplus to requirements, you don’t get the treatment that you should do, so I’ll just leave it, as much as it’s a massive opportunity.

“My fight wasn’t even shown live either as while David Haye was getting interviewed, you see me in the background having my fight.

“Because it was so late, there weren’t able to do a highlights package, so all in all just glad I got through, get another win and can just push on now.”