BRADLEY SKEETE will now defend his British title against Shayne Singleton on November 25 in Brentwood, Essex, after the original fight date was scrapped.
Skeete was set to make the first defence of his belt agains Singleton this weekend in Cardiff, though the show has been postponed to November 26 due to injuries to Liam Williams and Billy Joe Saunders, who feature in the top two fights of the show.
Rather than box in Wales, Penge’s Skeete will top a WAM Boxing show at the Brentwood Centre the night before.
“It’s worked out well for me, it’s a lot closer to home for my fans so it makes a lot of sense,” he told Boxing News.
“I saw Shayne say there had been an offer to fight in Manchester this weekend, I’ve no idea where that came from. He’s acting like he’s the champion and he can call the shots. He’ll get his chance to get a beating soon enough.”
The postponement was announced just a week before the Cardiff show was set to go ahead, with Skeete having already wrapped up his sparring and the majority of his training camp.
However the 29-year-old remains unperturbed and won’t let the delay disrupt the momentum he has built after a dominant win over Sam Eggington earlier in the year.
“I’ll stay in the gym and tick over a bit for now, keep my fitness up,” he continued.
“I won’t need to spar again for a few weeks because of the delay. It’s OK, I know to keep my eye on the ball, it doesn’t bother me much at all. Plus, the Brentwood show is a lot more convenient for me.”
Skeete won the British and Commonwealth titles from Eggington in Birmingham back in March, outpointing Sam over 12 rounds. It was his second attempt at the titles after Frankie Gavin had beaten him on points for them in 2014.
Gavin and Eggington meet this weekend for Brummie bragging rights, and Skeete has understandably been asked for his opinion on the fight.
“I’ve had loads of messages asking me who I think will win, but I’ve tried not to respond to them. It’s such a tough fight to call.
“Gavin has spoken about using his boxing skill, and doing something similar to what I did against Sam. If he can do that, and stick to boxing, he can win but it’s not easy. Sam is very strong and if he can get to Gavin and land, he’ll hurt him.
“I’ll obviously be keeping a close eye on the fight. I still think I did just enough to beat Gavin in our fight, so I’d love the rematch if he wins.”
