Skelton, Matt

Thai boxing / kickboxing

• 2002 Thai Boxing Champion IPMTO
• 2000 Thai boxing champion according to IKF
• 2000 winner of the K-1 qualifying tournament in Birmingham
• 1999 IKO World Kickboxing Champion
• 1998 World Boxing Champion WKO
• 1996 World Amateur Thai Boxing Champion according to IAMTF

Boxing

• 2004 champion of England
• 2004 - 2006, 2006 - 2007 champion of Britain and the British Commonwealth
• 2005 WBU World Champion
• 2008 European EBU Champion

In 1996, Skelton won gold at the amateur Thai heavyweight boxing world championships. In 1998-2001, Matt participated in the K-1 World Grand Prix four times, having twice reached the 1/8 finals and twice - having failed to pass qualifying tournaments. During his performances, he won victories over such famous fighters as Ray Sefo , Masaaki Satake, Michael MacDonald, Alexey Ignashov .

In addition to K-1, he four times became the world champion in various versions. In total, his record was 63-8 / 57 KOs (while he lost only once outside K-1).

In November 2001, in the wake of the popularity of MMA fights with representatives of other martial arts, Skelton fought with experienced American Tom Erickson (former US champion in freestyle wrestling, had a record in MMA 7-1-1) as part of Pride FC . The debut was unsuccessful, and Matt lost by strangulation in the first round.

In 2002, Matt decided to move from kickboxing to boxing, where he began his career from the bottom at a sporting age of 35. The first 11 fights, won by knockout, of which in the 8th match he won the title of champion of England. Since 2004, he began to speak out against experienced fighters, and in February 2004 he defended the title against his compatriot, Julius Francis . After 2 months, he knocked out an experienced Briton, Michael Sprott , and won the title of champion of Great Britain and the British Commonwealth. He defended the titles 2 times and in 2005 won by knockout of the Argentinean Fabio Moli and won the world title according to the WBU. In the same year, he twice defended the British and British Commonwealth titles by knocking out Mark Krens and John McDermott . In 2006, he lost by a separate decision of the judges to Briton Danny Williams . But a few months later he took revenge ^[1] . Michael Sprott defeated in a heavy fight, ^[2] and entered the champion battle against Ruslan Chagaev . The fight ended in defeat of the Briton by decision of the judges. In December 2008, having defeated the Italian Paolo Vidots , Skelton won the European title by EBU .

In 2009, in a fight for the title of the British Commonwealth, he lost by knockout to the Irishman Martin Rogan in the 11th round. ^[3] Lost to the undefeated Francesco Pianete ^[4] and Kubrat Puleva . ^[5] In 2010, Lee Swabey knocked out. He took part in the Prizefighter tournament where he defeated Briton Ali Adams in the first round. In the semifinals, he defeated the Irishman, Kevin McBride , and in the final he lost to Michael Sprott . After this defeat, Skelton left boxing for a year and a half. He returned in 2012, and knocked out three rating boxers, and again rose in the ratings of the British Boxing Council ^[6] .

On December 1, 2012, in the battle for the champion titles of Britain and the British Commonwealth, he lost by knockout to his compatriot, David Price .

On March 15, 2013, in the battle for the vacant British title, he lost on points to his compatriot, John McDermott .

• Skelton, Matt - professional boxing statistics for BoxRec
• Track record in K-1
• MMA track record
• Matt Skelton at boxnews.com.ua