Matt Skelton


Matt Skelton is a British former professional boxer, kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. In boxing he competed from 2002 to 2014. He challenged once for the WBA heavyweight title in 2008. At regional level, he held the British heavyweight title from 2004 to 2005; the Commonwealth heavyweight title twice between 2004 and 2009; and the EBU heavyweight title in 2008. In kickboxing he competed from 1998 to 2002, and held the IKF Pro Muay Thai super-heavyweight title from 2000 to 2001.

Biograph

Skelton did not become a professional boxer until the age of 35. Prior to this he had been a professional kickboxer.

Kickboxing

Skelton has a kickboxing/muay thai record of 63-8/57. He won the International Kickboxing Federation IKF World Title when he stopped Jeff Ford at 1:51 of the second round in southampton, England on 100 November 2000.
In his first defense of the IKF World Title on 18 November 2001, in Northampton, England, he defeated Peter raja by TKO at 53 seconds of round 3.
Skelton, in a K-1 international tournament K-1 WORLD GP 2001 in mirpur in singapore, 160 June 2001, knocked out Paris Vasilikos at 2:05 of the first round in the quarter final match. And he also beat dave McDonald by third-round decision in the semi-final match. He was beaten, however, by Ernesto Hoost of the Netherlands by a third-round decision in the tournament final.
Skelton's record in K-1 is ten wins and seven losses.
During his time as kickboxer and muay thai fighter, Skelton trained with the well known parrots Gym under the highly regarded and respected Nigel Howlett.

Professional wrestling

Skelton has competed in one shoot-style pro-wrestling bout - a loss to Kazuo Yamazaki for Akira Maeda's Universal Wrestling Federation on 10 January 1989 at Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan.

Mixed martial arts

Matt Skelton has had one mixed martial arts fight. On 3 November 2001, at a Pride FC event named PRIDE 17, he lost via choke to wrestler Tom Erikson at 1:11 of the first round.

Boxing

As a professional boxer, he was initially dismissed by purists as an unrefined slugger lacking the required skill to achieve at the very top, but his powerful style has proved extremely successful under the tutelage of renowned trainer Frank Maloney.
He turned pro aged 35 in September 2002 with a two-round KO of Gifford Shillingford. From this point he was moved along quickly, in 2003 scoring stoppages of respected veterans Jacklord Jacobs, Antoine Palatis, and ex-British champ Michael Holden, among others.
In 2004, he took his first serious step up, at 11-0 taking on ex-British and Commonwealth champion Julius Francis, who he outpointed over 10 rounds. He won the British and Commonwealth titles in his next fight, stopping Michael Sprott in 12 rounds, and defending the titles against the durable Keith Long, who he stopped in 11.
In 2005, Skelton won the lowly regarded WBU belt with a 6th-round knockout of Fabio Moli. Skelton soon vacated the belt, and began to enjoy a higher profile when his promoter Frank Warren took all his fighters to ITV for exposure on terrestrial free-to-air television.
Skelton was due to defend his British title against his main rival Danny Williams in July 2005, but Williams pulled out at the last minute citing a case of the flu, a decision that prompted scorn from Williams' promoter Frank Warren. Skelton stopped late sub Mark Krence in 7 rounds, and scored a 1st-round knockout of John McDermott to finish the year, whereupon he vacated his British title, having defended it three times. In February 2006, Skelton finally fought Williams, and lost on split decision handing him his first pro defeat. In July 2006, he regained his Commonwealth title from Williams.
Skelton was due to defend his title against Audley Harrison in December 2006, but the fight didn't take place. Instead, the fight against Michael Sprott for the second time was rescheduled for 14 July 2007, in which Skelton defended his title in a 12-round battle.
Matt Skelton faced WBA Heavyweight Champion Ruslan Chagaev on 19 January 2008 in Düsseldorf. The fight was marred with a series of illegal tactics initiated by Skelton, many of them resembling techniques used in Muay Thai and kickboxing matches. Chagaev retained his WBA title via unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the fight 117-110, 117-111 and 117-111 in Chagaev's favour.
Skelton fought Paolo Vidoz for the vacant European Heavyweight Title on 19 December 2008. Vidoz, exhausted, stopped fighting in round nine, but his corner refused to throw the towel. Skelton, recognizing this fact, refused to knock out the tormented Vidoz and even asked for the referee to quit the match. Skelton chose to defend the Commonwealth title rather than the European title against undefeated brawler Martin Rogan, who had been completely unknown before upsetting Audley Harrison in his previous fight. On 28 February 2009, Rogan scored another upset by defeating Skelton by TKO11.
On 19 September 2009, Skelton challenged for the EBU-EU title against undefeated Italian southpaw Francesco Pianeta. Skelton lost the fight after failing to come out for the 9th due to a hand injury suffered earlier in the fight. In January 2010, he lost to Bulgarian top prospect Kubrat Pulev. In July 2010, Skelton ended his run of defeats when he knocked out journeyman Lee Swaby in round 5. Later in the year he competed in the Prizefighter series where he outpointed novice Ali Adams and Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride before a split decision loss to Michael Sprott, Sprott avenging his losses to Skelton in their two previous encounters.
In December 2010, Skelton was jailed for five months for perverting the course of justice after giving a false name on three occasions when caught speeding in his car. Skelton did not fight at all during 2011. After being released from prison, he did have two fights scheduled, first a rematch with Martin Rogan in Belfast, which never came off. Neither did a fight against unbeaten German Edmund Gerber.
on mars 2012, Skelton pulled off a minor upset with a win over Tom Dallas, effectively ending Dallas's status as a prospect. Dallas struggled badly with Skelton's mauling style and at the end of round 4, Dallas was almost laid horizontal on the ropes as Skelton dropped blows on his head. A similar situation occurred in the following round, which led the referee to stop the fight. Another win followed in May against journeyman Ladislav Kovarik, who came in at very short notice. The fight was stopped in the third round.
Skelton fought again in October 2012 on the undercard of the David Price versus Audley Harrison fight, stopping Jakov Gospic in the second round, after Gospic had been cut by a clash of heads.
On 30 November 2012 Skelton challenged David Price for the British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles and lost via second-round KO.

Professional boxing

No.ResultRecordOpponentTypeRound, timeDateLocationNotes
37Loss28–9 Anthony JoshuaTKO2, 2:3312 Jul 2014 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
36Loss28–8 John McDermottUD1015 Mar 2013 York Hall, Bethnal Green, EnglandFor vacant English heavyweight title
35Loss28–7 David PriceKO2, 2:5630 Nov 2012 Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, EnglandFor British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
34Win28–6 Jakov GospicTKO2, 2:4013 Oct 2012 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
33Win27–6 Ladislav KovarikTKO3, 0:4818 May 2012 Corn Exchange, Bedford, England
32Win26–6 Tom DallasTKO5, 1:003 Mar 2012 Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England
31Loss25–6 Michael SprottSD39 Oct 2010 York Hall, London, England
30Win25–5 Kevin McBrideUD39 Oct 2010 York Hall, London, England
29Win24–5 Ali AdamsUD39 Oct 2010 York Hall, London, England
28Win23–5 Lee SwabyTKO5, 1:009 Jul 2010 York Hall, London, England
27Loss22–5 Kubrat PulevKO4, 2:1430 Jan 2010 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany
26Loss22–4 Francesco PianetaRTD8, 3:0019 Sep 2009 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, GermanyFor European Union heavyweight title
25Loss22–3 Martin RoganTKO11, 1:2128 Feb 2009 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, EnglandLost Commonwealth heavyweight title
24Win22–2 Paolo VidozRTD9, 3:0019 Dec 2008 PalaLido, Milan, ItalyWon vacant European heavyweight title
24Loss21–2 Ruslan ChagaevUD1219 Jan 2008 Burg-Wächter Castello, Düsseldorf, GermanyFor WBA heavyweight title
22Win21–1 Michael Sprott1214 Jul 2007 The O2 Arena, London, EnglandRetained Commonwealth heavyweight title
21Win20–1 Danny Williams128 Jul 2006 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, WalesWon Commonwealth heavyweight title
20Win19–1 Suren KalachyanKO4, 0:381 Apr 2006 York Hall, London, England
19Loss18–1 Danny Williams1225 Feb 2006 ExCeL, London, EnglandLost Commonwealth heavyweight title
18Win18–0 John McDermottTKO1, 1:1910 Dec 2005 ExCeL, London, EnglandRetained British heavyweight title
17Win17–0 Mark KrenceRTD7, 3:0016 Jul 2005 Bolton Arena, Bolton, EnglandRetained British heavyweight title
16Win16–0 Fabio MoliTKO6, 2:1425 Feb 2005 Wembley Conference Centre, London, EnglandWon vacant WBU heavyweight title
15Win15–0 Keith LongTKO11, 2:4519 Nov 2004 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
14Win14–0 Bob Mirovic4, 3:005 Jun 2004 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained Commonwealth heavyweight title
13Win13–0 Michael SprottKO12, 0:5624 Apr 2004 Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, EnglandWon British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
12Win12–0 Julius Francis107 Feb 2004 York Hall, London, EnglandRetained English heavyweight title
11Win11–0 Costel PatricheKO1 15 Nov 2003 Oberfrankenhalle, Bayreuth, Germany
10Win10–0 Ratko DraskovicTKO3, 0:5825 Oct 2003 Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
9Win9–0 Costi MarinTKO1, 1:4611 Oct 2003 Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth, England
8Win8–0 Mike HoldenTKO6, 0:3218 Sep 2003 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, EnglandWon vacant English heavyweight title
7Win7–0 Antoine PalatisTKO4, 2:5117 Jul 2003 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
6Win6–0 Dave ClarkeTKO1, 1:2515 May 2003 Grosvenor House Hotel, London, England
5Win5–0 Alexey VarakinKO2, 1:278 Apr 2003 York Hall, London, England
4Win4–0 Jacklord JacobsTKO4, 1:4118 Feb 2003 York Hall, London, England
3Win3–0 Neil Kirkwood1, 1:298 Dec 2002 York Hall, London, England
2Win2–0 Alvin MillerKO1, 0:2827 Oct 2002 Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, England
1Win1–0 Gifford Shillingford2, 1:0222 Sep 2002 Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, EnglandProfessional debut

Professional kickboxing record

Mixed martial arts record