Matt Skelton (born 27 January 1967) 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.

Matt Skelton
Born (1967-01-27) 27 January 1967 (age 57)
Bedford, England
Other names
  • The Bedford Banger[1]
  • The Bedford Bear
NationalityBritish
Height6 ft 3 in (191 cm)
Weight100 kg (220 lb; 15 st 10 lb)
Division
Reach80 in (203 cm)
StyleMMA
Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay thai
StanceOrthodox
TeamTeam Skelton
Years active
  • 2001 (MMA)
  • 1998–2002 (kickboxing)
  • 2002–2014 (boxing)
Professional boxing record
Total37
Wins28
By knockout23
Losses9
By knockout5
Kickboxing record
Total71
Wins63
By knockout57
Losses8
By knockout3
Mixed martial arts record
Total1
Wins0
Losses1
By submission1
Other information
Boxing record from BoxRec
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
Last updated on: 30 September 2016

Professional kickboxing career

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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 (USA) 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 (Hungary) 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 (India) at 2:05 of the first round in the quarter-final match. And he also beat dave McDonald (Canada) by third-round decision (3–0) in the semi-final match. He was beaten, however, by Ernesto Hoost of the Netherlands by a third-round decision (2–0) in the tournament final.[2]

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 Eagles Gym under the highly regarded and respected Nigel Howlett.

Professional wrestling

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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.[3]

Mixed martial arts career

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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.

Professional boxing career

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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 had 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 lot of excessive clinching and holding initiated by Skelton and little involvement from the referee, who only deducted a point from Skelton in the eighth round.[4] 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.[5]

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 (not the full European 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.[6] 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.

In March 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 record

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37 fights 28 wins 9 losses
By knockout 23 5
By decision 5 4
No. Result Record Opponent Type Round, time Date Location Notes
37 Loss 28–9 Anthony Joshua TKO 2 (6), 2:33 12 Jul 2014 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
36 Loss 28–8 John McDermott UD 10 15 Mar 2013 York Hall, Bethnal Green, England For vacant English heavyweight title
35 Loss 28–7 David Price KO 2 (12), 2:56 30 Nov 2012 Aintree Equestrian Centre, Liverpool, England For British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
34 Win 28–6 Jakov Gospic TKO 2 (6), 2:40 13 Oct 2012 Echo Arena, Liverpool, England
33 Win 27–6 Ladislav Kovarik TKO 3 (6), 0:48 18 May 2012 Corn Exchange, Bedford, England
32 Win 26–6 Tom Dallas TKO 5 (8), 1:00 3 Mar 2012 Hillsborough Leisure Centre, Sheffield, England
31 Loss 25–6 Michael Sprott SD 3 9 Oct 2010 York Hall, London, England Prizefighter 14: heavyweight final
30 Win 25–5 Kevin McBride UD 3 9 Oct 2010 York Hall, London, England Prizefighter 14: heavyweight semi-final
29 Win 24–5 Ali Adams UD 3 9 Oct 2010 York Hall, London, England Prizefighter 14: heavyweight quarter-final
28 Win 23–5 Lee Swaby TKO 5 (6), 1:00 9 Jul 2010 York Hall, London, England
27 Loss 22–5 Kubrat Pulev KO 4 (8), 2:14 30 Jan 2010 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany
26 Loss 22–4 Francesco Pianeta RTD 8 (12), 3:00 19 Sep 2009 Jahnsportforum, Neubrandenburg, Germany For European Union heavyweight title
25 Loss 22–3 Martin Rogan TKO 11 (12), 1:21 28 Feb 2009 National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England Lost Commonwealth heavyweight title
24 Win 22–2 Paolo Vidoz RTD 9 (12), 3:00 19 Dec 2008 PalaLido, Milan, Italy Won vacant European heavyweight title
24 Loss 21–2 Ruslan Chagaev UD 12 19 Jan 2008 Burg-Wächter Castello, Düsseldorf, Germany For WBA heavyweight title
22 Win 21–1 Michael Sprott MD 12 14 Jul 2007 The O2 Arena, London, England Retained Commonwealth heavyweight title
21 Win 20–1 Danny Williams UD 12 8 Jul 2006 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales Won Commonwealth heavyweight title
20 Win 19–1 Suren Kalachyan KO 4 (8), 0:38 1 Apr 2006 York Hall, London, England
19 Loss 18–1 Danny Williams SD 12 25 Feb 2006 ExCeL, London, England Lost Commonwealth heavyweight title
18 Win 18–0 John McDermott TKO 1 (12), 1:19 10 Dec 2005 ExCeL, London, England Retained British heavyweight title
17 Win 17–0 Mark Krence RTD 7 (12), 3:00 16 Jul 2005 Bolton Arena, Bolton, England Retained British heavyweight title
16 Win 16–0 Fabio Moli TKO 6 (12), 2:14 25 Feb 2005 Wembley Conference Centre, London, England Won vacant WBU heavyweight title
15 Win 15–0 Keith Long TKO 11 (12), 2:45 19 Nov 2004 York Hall, London, England Retained British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
14 Win 14–0 Bob Mirovic RTD 4 (12), 3:00 5 Jun 2004 York Hall, London, England Retained Commonwealth heavyweight title
13 Win 13–0 Michael Sprott KO 12 (12), 0:56 24 Apr 2004 Rivermead Leisure Centre, Reading, England Won British and Commonwealth heavyweight titles
12 Win 12–0 Julius Francis PTS 10 7 Feb 2004 York Hall, London, England Retained English heavyweight title
11 Win 11–0 Costel Patriche KO 1 (8) 15 Nov 2003 Oberfrankenhalle, Bayreuth, Germany
10 Win 10–0 Ratko Draskovic TKO 3 (8), 0:58 25 Oct 2003 Meadowbank Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland
9 Win 9–0 Costi Marin TKO 1 (6), 1:46 11 Oct 2003 Mountbatten Centre, Portsmouth, England
8 Win 8–0 Mike Holden TKO 6 (10), 0:32 18 Sep 2003 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England Won vacant English heavyweight title
7 Win 7–0 Antoine Palatis TKO 4 (6), 2:51 17 Jul 2003 Goresbrook Leisure Centre, London, England
6 Win 6–0 Dave Clarke TKO 1 (6), 1:25 15 May 2003 Grosvenor House Hotel, London, England
5 Win 5–0 Alexey Varakin KO 2 (6), 1:27 8 Apr 2003 York Hall, London, England
4 Win 4–0 Jacklord Jacobs TKO 4 (6), 1:41 18 Feb 2003 York Hall, London, England
3 Win 3–0 Neil Kirkwood TKO 1 (4), 1:29 8 Dec 2002 York Hall, London, England
2 Win 2–0 Alvin Miller KO 1 (4), 0:28 27 Oct 2002 Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, England
1 Win 1–0 Gifford Shillingford KO 2 (6), 1:02 22 Sep 2002 Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre, London, England

Kickboxing record

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63 Wins (57 knockouts, 0 submission, 6 decisions), 8 Losses, 0 Draws
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
Win 63–8   George Arias Decision 3 (3) 2002-08-10   Ichigelki (promoted by Kyokushin karate)
Win 62–8   Peter Varga TKO 3 (3)
0:53
2001-11-18   Northampton, England Retained International Kickboxing Federation PRO Muay Thai World Super Heavyweight Title
Lose 61–8   Lloyd van Dams Decision 1 (3) 2001-08-08   Marine Messe, Fukuoka, Japan K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Fukuoka
Lose 61–7   Ernesto Hoost Decision 3 (3) 2001-06-16   Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Australia K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Melbourne Final
Win 61–6   Michael McDonald Decision 3 (3) 2001-06-16   Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Australia K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Melbourne semi-final
Win 60–6   Paris Vasilikos KO 2 (3)
1:51
2001-06-16   Vodafone Arena, Melbourne, Australia K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Melbourne quarter-final
Win 59–6   Jeff Ford KO 2 (3)
1:51
2000-11-26   Northampton, England Won International Kickboxing Federation PRO Muay Thai World Super Heavyweight Title
Lose 58–6   Francisco Filho KO 2 (3)
2:36
2000-08-20   Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama semi-final
Win 58–5   Alexey Ignashov Decision 3 (3) 2000-08-20   Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Yokohama quarter-final
Win 57–5   Ricky Nicholson KO 3 (3)
1:10
2000-04-16   Aston Villa Leisure Center, Birmingham, England K-1 UK Battle of Britain 2000 Final
Win 56–5   Mark Russell Decision 3 (3) 2000-04-16   Aston Villa Leisure Center, Birmingham, England K-1 UK Battle of Britain 2000 semi-final
Win 55–5   Gary Turner Decision 3 (3) 2000-04-16   Aston Villa Leisure Center, Birmingham, England K-1 UK Battle of Britain 2000 quarter-final
Loss 54–5   Jérôme Le Banner KO 1 (3)
1:59
1999-08-05   Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan K-1 World Grand Prix '99 opening round
Loss 54–4   Lloyd van Dams Decision 3 (3) 1999-06-20   Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan K-1 Braves '99 semi-final
1 Extra Round
Win 54–3   Jan Nortje Decision 3 (3) 1999-06-20   Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan K-1 Braves '99 quarter-final
Loss 53–3   Peter Aerts KO 4 (5)
3:00
1999-04-25   Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan K-1 Revenge '99
Loss 53–2   Sam Greco Decision 5 (5) 1998-09-27   Osaka Dome, Osaka, Japan K-1 World Grand Prix '98 opening round
Win 53–1   Masaaki Satake TKO 1 (3)
2:06
1998-07-18   Nagoya Dome, Nagoya, Japan K-1 Dream '98
Win 52–1   Ray Sefo TKO 2 (3)
3:00
1998-05-24   Marine Messe, Fukuoka, Japan K-1 Braves '98
Win 51–1   Jan Nortje TKO 3 (3)
0:47
1998-04-09   Yokohama Arena, Yokohama, Japan K-1 Kings '98

Mixed martial arts record

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Professional record breakdown
1 match 0 wins 1 loss
By submission 0 1
Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 0–1 Tom Erikson Submission (strangle choke) PRIDE 17 3 November 2001 1 1:51 Tokyo, Japan

References

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  1. ^ "It's now or never for the Bedford Banger". Bedford Today. Johnston Press. 10 January 2008. Retrieved 30 September 2016.2011-04-10.
  2. ^ "K-1 WORLD GP 2001 in MELBOURNE". 11 January 2006. Archived from the original on 11 January 2006. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. ^ Wrestling Observer Newsletter, 23 January 1989
  4. ^ "Все хорошо, братан Чагаев?". sport.ua (in Russian). Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  5. ^ "BBC SPORT | Boxing | Skelton fails in world title bid". news.bbc.co.uk. 19 January 2008. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  6. ^ "Matt Skelton jailed for attempting to pervert course of justice". The Daily Telegraph. 2010-12-10. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
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Sporting positions
Regional boxing titles
Inaugural champion English heavyweight champion
18 September 2003 – 24 April 2004
Won British title
Vacant
Title next held by
Mark Krence
Preceded by British heavyweight champion
24 April 2004 – June 2006
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Scott Gammer
Commonwealth
heavyweight champion

24 April 2004 – 25 February 2006
Next:
Danny Williams
Preceded by
Danny Williams
Commonwealth
heavyweight champion

8 July 2006 – 28 February 2009
Succeeded by
Vacant
Title last held by
Sinan Şamil Sam
European heavyweight champion
19 December 2008 – September 2009
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Albert Sosnowski
Minor world boxing titles
Vacant
Title last held by
Georgi Kandelaki
WBU heavyweight champion
25 February 2005 – July 2005
Vacated
Title discontinued