THERE comes a time in every fighterโs career when he realises his best days are behind him. Usually it manifests physically, and more often than not, it leads to defeat. For Matt Skelton, though, it was a little different. It happened en route to one of the best wins of his career, and during a performance in which he looked as physically formidable as ever.
What Father Time had blunted in Skelton was not his reflexes, durability or strength, but rather his killer instinct.
โI could see he was hurt,โ says Skelton of Paolo Vidoz, whom he stopped in a December 2008 European heavyweight title challenge. โHe didnโt want to be there. I was looking at him in his corner between rounds and he couldnโt breathe properly. His head was slumping down. Iโd broken him, but his pride made him carry on.โ
Vidoz had been ground down by Skeltonโs trademark unrelenting aggression and was in survival mode by the ninth round. Physically exhausted and mentally demoralised, the Italian appeared ready for the taking, but instead Skelton held back and implored referee Robin Dolpierre to intervene. He did not, but Vidozโs corner pulled their man out before the 10th.
โI was thinking about Chris Eubank and Michael Watson and imagining what it must feel like to know youโve done that [inflicted life-changing injuries] to another human being,โ says Skelton. โSo, I started calling for the referee to stop the fight. The doctor thanked me after the fight for my compassion. Thatโs when I thought to myself โyou should get out of boxingโ. I shouldnโt have been concerned for his wellbeing.โ
He fought on, but Skelton identifies that as the tipping point of his career, when he crossed over to the wrong side of the hill, on the wrong side of 40. Heโd scored one of his finest results and won a prestigious championship, but it was his last notable success. Skelton would lose his next three contests and then transition from world-ranked contender to gatekeeper.
If the final chapter of Skeltonโs boxing career sounds familiar, its early acts were more unconventional.
Most boxing stories begin with the pro debut, or the amateur career. But for Skelton, there was no amateur career, and his pro debut didnโt come until his story was more than half told. Because, while the โBedford Bearโ is better known to many for his run through the heavyweight boxing ranks โ and for running over many who inhabited them โ this only came after a long and distinguished career in muay Thai and kickboxing. Those sports, plus a brief flirtation with MMA, combined for almost 60 bouts before Skelton even threw his first punch under Queensberry rules.
โI was 33-0 as a Thai boxer and had won a couple of world titles,โ he says, โbut I wasnโt making massive money. Then [coach and manager] Nigel [Howlett] told me about K1 in Japan and said, โWeโve got to get you on that; you could actually make a living.โ
โWe sent DVDs and a couple of months later they said they wanted me to fight Sam Greco. I looked at his record and thought โwoah, this is a tough oneโ [Greco had won a WKA muay Thai world title and numerous karate championships], but we went over there [to Yokohama in April 1998].
โThree days before our fight, he pulled out with a back injury, so they offered me Jan โThe Giantโ Nortje. He was 6โ11โ, so he lived up to his nickname! But I said yeah, Iโll fight him โ Iโm here now and I want to make some money.โ
Skelton won on a third-round stoppage and impressed both the crowd and the K1 promoters.
โThey offered me a contract for four to six fights a year. I grabbed it with both hands,โ he says.
Skelton was for the next three years a regular K1 fixture and a star in Japan. His record would not be as spotless as that which heโd compiled in muay Thai, but he was fighting in elite class. He would beat big names such as Ray Sefo, Gary Turner and Nortje a second time, and suffer setbacks to the likes of Peter Aerts, Jerome LeBanner and Ernesto Hoost.
But while it came four years before Skelton switched to boxing, it was the first defeat of his kickboxing career that would lead to the change.
โI ended up fighting Greco and I lost [on points in September 1998],โ he says. โIt was the first time Iโd ever lost and I was reflecting on why did I lose that fight.
โIt was because there were no real heavyweights [in British kickboxing]. In my gym, the heaviest guy was 14st [Skelton would typically scale around the 18st mark]. There was no one with my strength; I was just walking them down.
โI started going to boxing gyms for heavyweight sparring. I was going regularly to Kevin Sandersโ gym in Peterborough, where I was sparring Derek McCafferty and I was thinking โhow can he generate so much power from such a short distance?โ
โItโs because Thai boxing is fought at a distance, up on your toes. You donโt plant your feet.
โAfter every session, as I was driving home, I was thinking โwhy did that happen? Next time Iโll match himโ. I got better and better and it got to the stage I was dominating him.
โThen Derek was supposed to go to Blackpool to spar Mathew Ellis, but he couldnโt go, so they asked me and I said โof courseโ. At the time Iโd had no [boxing] fights. Ellis was getting ready for a fight and he was going heavy on me, but I dominated him.
โAfter two days his dad said they didnโt want me to spar him anymore; he said, โYouโll break his spiritโ. They still paid me, though, and his dad said โI really think you should turn pro. How old are you?โ I said 34. He said, โAt least give it a try. You could win a Southern Area titleโ.โ
Skelton would win a lot more than that. He switched to boxing, making a low-key but winning debut in September 2002 in the โawayโ corner of a small hall show, and then surging to an English title within a year. This was followed by British and Commonwealth belts that he fiercely contested with the likes of Danny Williams and Michael Sprott, before that European apogee against Vidoz, via a โworld titleโ shot in 2008.
โSometimes I feel sad about that fight,โ says Skelton of his spirited WBA title challenge to Ruslan Chagaev in Germany. โBut then I tell myself โMatt, some of the greatest names in the sport have fought for that belt.โ Itโs just I could have given a better account of myselfโ.
In truth, Skelton did much better than many had expected, pushing Chagaev to a decision that was mathematically clear but physically competitive.
โI knew Iโd have to stop this guy; I wouldnโt get the decision,โ says Skelton, โand I was thinking the referee had it in for me. He was threatening to disqualify me for pulling [Chagaev] in and leaning on him. But I was just using my strength and he was coming in low.
โBut halfway through, Chagaev changed his style, wouldnโt let me use my strength, and Iโm thinking โthis guy is a quality fighterโ. Then in round 11 he hit me in the solar plexus and I remember thinking โno, Iโm not going downโฆ am I?โ [He didnโt].
โI just tried to have a war but yeah, he did enough to get the decision. Maybe I lacked a bit of self-belief; maybe I was overawed, thinking this guy was an Olympian, a world champion, undefeated.โ
Itโs strange to hear Skelton talk of being overawed. His own reputation was based on having no respect for the reputations of others โ he always fought hard, he always fought his own fight and usually he got the win through sheer attrition. There was none of the vulnerability or unpredictability that characterised his big domestic rivals of the time โ Williams, Sprott and Audley Harrison.
With the exception of Skelton v Harrison, those four heavyweights all won and lost against each other through the 2000s in what was one of the more entertaining eras of British heavyweight boxing.
That Skelton was in that mix is the perfect retort to those who question if he should have switched to boxing earlier.
โIt was the perfect time,โ he says. โIf Iโd come along earlier, I might have had to face Mike Tyson! But there was Danny Williams, Sprott, Audley and several top guys all fighting, and I was part of that. The TV did huge numbers and the money was up there.โ
Other recognisable victims on Skeltonโs ledger include Michael Holden, Julius Francis, Bob Mirovic, Keith Long, Fabio Moli, Mark Krence and John McDermott, whom he beat in 79 seconds in 2005 โ the fastest-ever finish in a British heavyweight title fight.
But while Skelton insists โI donโt live with regretsโ, the 55-year-old canโt help but wonder how he might have fit in to todayโs heavyweight picture.
โAJ [Anthony Joshua], Tyson Fury, Deontay Wilder, [Oleksandr] Usyk โ what a great time for heavyweight boxing; the scene is fabulous,โ he says. โI wish I was a part of it.โ
The closest he got to it was a thumping at the hands of a young Joshua in 2014 in what was AJโs seventh pro bout, and Skeltonโs last. By then he was 47 and offered little more than a big name for Joshua to decorate his early rรฉsumรฉ with.
He gave it a solid try โ didnโt he always? โ but it went exactly the way youโd expect when matching a rising star with an ageing, inactive ex-champ. Skelton was stopped in two rounds.
โThat was it for me,โ he says. โI didnโt want to do it anymore, didnโt want to become a joke. I still had my faculties, my speech wasnโt slurred. Of course, I still loved the sport and could have carried on, but I had to be realistic. Enoughโs enough.โ
Heโd given more than enough โ and he continues to do so. Since retiring, Skelton has set up a boxing gym and busied himself with charity work. The gym is a small, no-frills affair in Bedford called Ring & Road Fitness โ a โspit and sawdust gymโ, as he calls it.
โWe do some boxing technique, fitness, some white collar, a bit of MMA. Itโs old school, itโs not making loads of money, but itโs a community thing, and thatโs important.โ
As is Skeltonโs charity work for the Amicus Trust, which helps the homeless and those at risk of homelessness.
โ[After boxing] I did NVQs in health and social care,โ he says. โIโd done a few talks in prisons, with gang members and young offenders. Then my sister, whoโs a housing manager with Amicus, said come and work with us.
โI thought that sounded like my kind of remit. I get to help the homeless, offenders, veterans, young people with drug-related issues; get them rehomed, help them move on and become independent, get them into society. I look after a nine-bedroom property housing ex-servicemen. It can be quite challenging, but itโs rewarding.โ
In other words, Skelton again found himself concerned for the wellbeing of others. But, unlike that night against Vidoz, when he realised such concern marked a turning point in his fighting life, it can only be a positive.
Vidoz was able to fight another day, thanks to Skeltonโs compassion. Now, many others can say the same, too.