IT wasnโt all that long ago Bradley Skeete was considered both a hot prospect on the way up and a contender with title ambitions. He played those two roles for years before, inevitably, becoming, in 2021 and at the age of 34, someone considered prey for the next hot prospect with title ambitions.
Itโs a plot twist Skeete didnโt see coming and one he doesnโt much appreciate, either. His plan now is to make Hamzah Sheeraz, the super-welterweight prospect out to get him, understand this on December 4. โPeople are writing me off like Iโm past it but I can count on one hand the number of hard fights Iโve had,โ Skeete, 29-3 (13), said. โI think a lot of people are disregarding what Iโve actually achieved in my career. Yeah, Iโm 34, but if theyโre banking on me being old, theyโve got it so wrong. Iโm very experienced, Iโve been around boxing for a long time, and Iโm the best Iโve ever been right now. Iโm so up for this fight. Theyโve made a very big mistake taking this fight.โ
The assumption that Skeete is โpast itโ likely has more to do with his two-and-a-half years of inactivity than any recent form, though both no doubt play a part. Skeete, sadly, through no fault of his own, failed to box at all in 2019 or 2020 and, before that, was stopped inside two rounds by Diego Ramirez.
โThere was a lot of talk of me being retired,โ said the Tooting man. โPeople were writing me off and thinking I was done. But that was never the case. I never said I retired. I took a break and then obviously one thing led to another and it ended up being longer than I expected.
โI was quiet on my social media, and not really doing much, so it may have seemed like Iโd retired, but that wasnโt true at all. I was PTโing (personal training) just to earn some money and then getting an opportunity to go to Sheffield and train was one I couldnโt turn down. I knew right away that I needed to be here and I quickly fell in love with boxing again. Iโll be truthful, I was sick of boxing for a while.โ
Skeeteโs divorce from boxing, more a break really, had a lot to do with the events surrounding his 2018 fight against Ramirez. The shock of defeat was one thing, but there were additional elements that left a sour taste, too. โIt was a shambles,โ Skeete said. โThe show was cancelled. It was on. It was off. The opponent kept changing. It was for a title. It wasnโt for a title. I was sick of it all. By the time I made my ring walk on the night, Iโd had a week to prepare for Ramirez and didnโt know anything about him. I wasnโt switched on how I should be. I got caught, I went over, I got up, and I was stopped on my feet arguing with the ref. Thatโs when I knew I just had to take some time off.โ
In the end, it wasnโt even a choice. Skeete, like everyone else, was forced to take time off due to a global pandemic and then, last October, wound up in Sheffield, eager to reignite a flame that had long ago been blown out. โI did think about retirement,โ he conceded, โbut I knew, deep down, I wasnโt finished. Coming up to Sheffield, and coming into the Ingle gym, then lit that flame in my belly again.
โAlso, Dom Ingle wouldnโt waste his time with me if I was old and past my best. Heโs got other fighters to train and other fights to prepare for. But heโs putting in the work with me, and Iโm giving him the work back, because he knows thereโs something there. Heโs told me that himself.โ
In his first fight working with Ingle, Skeete managed to stop Dale Arrowsmith inside three rounds back in June. More than just end his period of inactivity, the fight showed a new side of Skeete.
โYeah, it was on a small hall show, but I felt unbelievable,โ he said. โDale Arrowsmith doesnโt get stopped often and I got him out of there. Iโm not going to make a song and dance about that but I wasnโt even out of first gear when I produced that stoppage. The old Bradley would have gone six rounds with him, happy just to get the points win. But Iโm a different fighter up here.โ
Now based permanently in Sheffield, Skeete finds himself a two-minute walk from the Wincobank gym and calls life there โboringโ in the best way possible. He also now knows, based on experience, he is exactly where he needs to be.
โIโm a 34-year-old man fighting a 22-year-old kid who has had 13 fights,โ Skeete said. โIโve got no bad words to say about Hamzah. Heโs a good kid and heโs on his way up and has been managed right. But he hasnโt been in there with anyone. Yeah, heโs got back-to-back stoppages, but who is he stopping?
โExperience is key in this fight. Heโs young and ambitious and is going to be game. He can obviously punch, too, because heโs getting stoppages, even if the opposition isnโt the best. Heโll come and have a go, Iโm sure, but my boxing ability and man strength is going to play a big part in this fight.
โIโm rejuvenated, Iโm fresh, and I feel like Iโm going to make a big statement. They think they can build his name on my scalp but Iโm not having that. People are going on about him being a future world champion, but heโs had 13 fights and canโt run before he can walk.
โAll those people doubting me, and saying Iโm finished, will be the same people telling me how good I looked when I beat Hamzah.โ