British Boxing: David Haye vs. Matt Skelton?

David Haye successfully moved into the heavyweight division with a fifth round KO of aging American Monte Barrett in November and looks to have annoyed divisional kingpin Wladimir Klitschko so much that the Ukrainian giant is willing to give Haye a title shot, possibly on June 20 at Chelsea Football Club’s Stamford Bridge Stadium in London.

The 28 year old Bermondsey slugger seems to have made a big splash in the heavyweight division in a very short period of time following his wipeouts of fellow cruiserweight champions Enzo Maccarinelli and Jean Marc Mormeck but he’s also completely bypassed fighting anyone on the British heavyweight scene.

After getting stopped by Carl “The Cat” Thompson in a failed IBO itle bid in 2004, the only British fighters that “The Hayemaker” has met in the ring have been Garry Delaney and Maccarinelli. That’s two opponents out of 12.

While the success of Haye’s methods really can’t be argued with, what would have happened if he’d decided to conquer the heavyweights in Britain before getting in the ring with Klitschko?

That would mean at least to have tangled with Matt Skelton, who earned the top spot in the UK by fighting for it.

Ex-MMA fighter Skelton didn’t even have a professional boxing bout until he was 35 years of age but the Bedford based brawler more than made up for his late start, proving a legion of skeptics wrong in his eighth contest by stopping Michael Holden to win the English title in 2003.

Over the next two years, Skelton defeated such British opposition as Julius Francis, Michael Sprott, Mark Krence and John McDermott to add the British and Commonwealth crowns to his growing collection of belts.

It wasn’t until 2006 in a clash with divisional ruler of the time, Danny Williams, that Skelton would experience a loss as he lost a close split decision to “The Brixton Bomber”.

Five months later Skelton gained his revenge by surprisingly outboxing Williams to recapture the Commonwealth title, which earned a world title shot against WBA ruler Ruslan Chagaev in January, 2008.

Skelton couldn’t solve the highly skilled southpaw boxing style of former world amateur champion Chagaev but tested the Uzbek native in a difficult fight and absorbed everything the WBA titlist could dish out during a points loss.

In December, 2008, Skelton showed that he still has what it takes, just shy of his 42nd birthday, by making Italy’s Paolo Vidoz quit in the ninth round to win the vacant European title.

Which brings us to a hypothetical Skelton vs. Haye contest.

Both Skelton and Haye stand 6 feet 3 inches tall but the older man would have a considerable weight advantage, likely coming in at a robust 250 pounds versus Haye’s 215 that was recorded for the Barrett fight.

The rugged Skelton would have a good chance at pinning an adult Polar Bear in a wrestling match and he would have to be considered the stronger man against Haye but the Londoner would hold a massive advantage in speed and boxing ability.

With those attributes canceling each other out, this fight could come down to stamina issues.

Haye has only gone past ten rounds once, when durable Belgian cruiserweight Ismail Abdoul went the 12 round distance during a European title clash in 2006, while Skelton has been ten rounds or more on seven occasions including finishing the 12 round distance four times.

There is also the differing ability of the two men to hold a punch.

Haye was dropped by a temple shot from blown up light heavyweight Lolenga Mock in 2003, was canvassed by Mormeck in 2007 and was given some genuinely rough moments by current WBA Crusier Champ Giacobbe Fragomeni in 2006, but, Haye also took flush shots from Maccarinelli, a truly destructive puncher, and wasn’t troubled after getting nailed by genuine heavyweight Barrett.

Skelton has never been hard to hit but while he was wobbled by full-blooded shots from Chagaev, the burly Bedforshire man has never been floored.

Once the bell rang, Haye would almost certainly look to keep Skelton at a the end of the jab and land punishing shots as the European titlist came forward looking to make the bout a close quarters brawl.

Skelton would need to wear down Haye in order to force a fight and that would mean absorbing the best shots of one of the sport’s hardest punchers, as did Carl Thomspon five years ago.

But Skelton can also punch a fair bit and has learned to box over the years, giving him more of a chance in the early rounds than he would have had if the pair clashed a few years ago.

It’s unlikely that Skelton could outpoint Haye if the bout went the distance and Big Matt would have to know his only chance would come via a KO of Haye if he could either catch the former world champion cruiser getting careless in the early rounds or break down the distance and wage war in the trenches during the later rounds.

If Haye does fight Wladimir Klitschko and he wins, we’ll never see a bout against Skelton but if Haye loses, he’d need to build his career back up and a Skelton clash could do just that as well as add cash to the burgeoning promoter’s war chest, which Haye will need if he is to truly compete long term with established promoters in the UK.

Who do you think would win a prospective matchup between David Haye and Matt Skelton?

Send your vote to bonecrusher@fastmail.fm and if we get enough responses, we’ll publish the results of the poll.