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When Michael Sprott scored a stunning knockout victory over 2000 Sydney Olympic Gold Medallist Audley Harrison last February, British promoter Frank Warren declared that the winner of a rematch with Bedford’s Matt Skelton would get a shot at a world title.
I have to admit, I was sceptical. We’d heard talk about world crowns and big match ups from Mr Warren before without seeing anything materialise and monsieurs Skelton and Sprott were hardly the most marketable big men around.
Well, at the O2 Arena in London last summer the evergreen Matt Skelton won a somewhat unspectacular contest by majority decision and, to my surprise at least, Warren has delivered his promise.
In Düsseldorf, Germany, this weekend Skelton, at the ripe old age of 40, gets his first shot at world honours when he tackles fellow Sprott conqueror and current WBA heavyweight supremo Ruslan Chagaev AKA “The White Tyson”.
You may be thinking that someone who is now living in his fourth decade is way too old to be challenging for top honours in the world’s toughest and most dangerous sport, and in most cases you would be correct, but where this Englishman is concerned then think again.
A former world champion kickboxer, Skelton is still pretty much a newcomer to the world of fistic arts. His first contest, a two round blow out of Gifford Shillingford, was only five and a half years ago, but in the short time since he has increased his professional slate to 21 – 1 (18) while collecting the British, Commonwealth and WBU crowns along the way.
Matt is far from fast handed and his style of fighting is not always pretty, in fact there have been times when his contests have gotten uglier than Steve Buscemi, but the “Bedford Banger” is a man who makes up for his evident lack of skill by giving his all and will not wilt under pressure in any circumstance.
He knows that this Saturday evening he is going into the proverbial lion’s den and that he’ll have to bring his A game, “This is a world title fight so I have to go and grab it,” He told UK televisers Setanta, “It can’t be a near miss. I realise that I have to give 100 percent of myself to take the title.
“I’m where I want to be physically and mentally, I believe it’s my time, he obviously believes it’s his, so it’ll make for a good fight.”
For 29 year old Chageav, originally from Uzbekistan but now fighting out of his adopted home of Hamburg, the fight will mark the first defence of the title he collected by beating fellow former Soviet Union native Nikolay Valuev over twelve hard fought rounds last April.
The 6ft 1in southpaw has a stellar amateur pedigree having competed in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics as well as being a two time world amateur champion. Since taking off the vest he has been unbeaten and carries a record of 23 wins with 17 coming within schedule.
He possesses explosive power in his left hook and when he has his opponent wounded, he attacks with the ferocity of ravenous wolf but he is more of an accumulative hurter rather than a one punch KO specialist and the reference to Iron Mike in his nickname appears to be stretching it a little far.
These fighters have two common opponents on their resume and but have scored very different results against them. In 2005, they both stopped Chesterfield’s Mark Krence, Skelton managing it in seven while Chagaev closed the show two rounds sooner in the fifth.
Skelton holds two wins over the aforementioned Sprott, one coming in by stoppage in the twelve frame in 2004 and the other being the majority decision mentioned at the start of this preview. Ruslan extinguished Sprott’s challenge in eight rounds in July 2006. Not that you should really read anything into these results.
Verdict: Despite the age differential not being the major factor, the difference in skill will be. I see Skelton showing a lot of heart and determination but still falling short of what is required at this level. For me, all the factors are pointing to the champion from Eastern Europe retaining his world championship with a deserved points win.
