Boxing News Boxing News
At Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales last night, 39 year old Matt Skelton beat Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion Danny Williams to avenge his February defeat, and to pave the way for a title challenge against Russian giant and WBA Champion Nikolay Valuev. Skelton, 20-1, chose to focus his training on developing his boxing skills, after brawling to a standstill with Williams, 36-5, in the first encounter, and his new style paid dividends as he jabbed effectively, amassing a long points lead in the first half of the fight.
Despite running rings around Williams, who looked ponderous after weighing in at 288lbs, Skelton was left reeling after strong left jabs from Williams in the fourth and the fifth, but returned to outwork the Brixton boxer over the course of each rounds. On pure power alone, and in the moments where Williams bullied Skelton around the ring, he showed glimpses of the physical dominance which won the first fight, and when in close quarters hurt the Bedford man, but it was too little and too infrequent.
In the ninth round, Skelton guessed the extend of his lead, and enjoyed some fun at his opposition’s expense, dancing around the sluggish Williams, and showboating, nearly being caught himself. Running into the closing rounds, Williams looked more and more for the huge punches that would put Skelton on the canvas, but mostly finding thin air and his opponents gloves. With the rounds running out, Skelton was consistently warned for pulling at Williams, and for leading with his head, he was also caught with a low blow which took the wind from his sails.
After the final bell rang, he sprang around the ring, the win almost certain, and when he was announced as the new Commonwealth Heavyweight Champion, he sank to his knees in delight. The scorecards brought an unanimous verdict, with two judges scoring the fight 117-112 for Skelton and the other at 115-114.
Should the fight with Valuev be arranged, Skelton will be well served in in following his game plan and training against Williams, though may well find the “Beast from the East” to be an even bigger challenge than his conquest of Williams.
Earlier in the evening, Swansea cruiserweight Enzo Maccarinelli, 24-1, reaffirmed the rockets in his fists with a comprehensive stoppage of Argentinian Marcelo Dominguez, 40-7-1, in the ninth round. The awkward and powerful Dominguez has a pedigree in the ring, having gone the distance with heavyweights Nikolay Valuev, Cengiz Koc and cruiserweight Johnny Nelson for the full version of the interim title that Maccarinelli claimed.
Having been caught by the Argentinian once or twice in the early rounds with the looping haymakers that flew from distance, Maccarinelli swiftly learned to dodge the big punches, and Dominguez’ energy levels dipped significantly.
With the period of attack from Dominguez at the start of each round getting shorter as the fight wore on, Maccarinelli earned more and more opportunities to attack, and eventually floored his opponent after 58 seconds of the ninth round with a booming right-left combination which sent Dominguez arching to the canvas, and despite swiftly rising to his feet, was too dazed too continue in the referee’s opinion.
Lightweight sensation Amir Khan’s meteoric rise continues unabated after a recent brush with the law, as he scored a second round stoppage over Scotland’s Colin Bain, 9-2. After receiving the Millennium Stadium’s greatest cheer of the evening, Khan’s, 8-0, ref! lexes and superior hand speed quickly tamed the wildly swinging Bain, eventually knocking him down late in the first.
Coming out quickly again, Bain did well not to be caught quite as much in the second round, but Khan’s offense was fearsome, and eventually forced the referee to intervene after 2.20 of the second round.
The most controversial result of the evening came early in the night, in the fight that saw Gary “The Rocket” Lockett, 27-1, claim a points victory over Sheffield southpaw Ryan Rhodes, 35-4, for the minor WBU Middleweight Title.
Rhodes, supported by a strong travelling contingent, was convinced that he was to be the new champion in Cardiff, after causing a lot of trouble for Lockett, switching from a southpaw to a regular stance, and throwing a lot of punches from all angles.
He had seemed to have the result in the bag, and was expecting to have his hand raised and the gold thrust around his waist, and the unanimous decision was announced, with the scorecards reading 115-112, 114-112 and 117-111.
Relief washed over Lockett as it was announced that he was still the champion, and Rhodes remained in the ring for a long period, as incensed members of his travelling support clashed with Lockett fans in the stands in an ugly brawl.
Elsewhere on the card, which featured 13 fights in all, #1 WBA light welter contender Souleymane M’baye, 34-1, set up a September fight for the WBA title after beating Amir Khan victim Laszlo Komjathi, 24-12-1, with a fourth round retirement from the Hungarian.
Other highlights saw welterweight Tony Doherty move to 18-0 with a first round knockout of Ihar Filonau, 7-6, and super featherweight Kevin Mitchell, 20-0, stop Imad Ben Khalifa, 9-10-2, shortly into the second round.
