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The shadow of the Olympics hung over Matt Skelton’s Commonwealth clash with Martin Rogan on Saturday night. Not just in the way that the promotion saw the pro debuts of 2008 medallists James DeGale and Billy Joe Saunders (along with Frankie Gavin, who famously had to pull out after being unable to make weight).
No, the one fighter that everyone was still talking about was one of the Olympics’ most notable failures in the pro ranks: Audley Harrison. A gold medallist nine years previously, Harrison has failed to translate virtually any of this success into the professional field, despite having a significant skillset when he chooses to use it. Sadly, however, what appears to be a flaw in his psychological make up (or, in the case of the Sprott fight, his chin) has prevented him from cashing in on that potential.
Yet flashes of that potential, as well as Audley’s unironic delusional braggadocio, have kept him in the public eye perhaps far longer than he deserved to be. Audley Harrison in 2008 was still being given chances by an absurdly generous Frank Warren, his place as a fighter the public like to see no longer down to his underused skills, but more due to his role as a figure of mockery. The continued failure to deliver in the ring combined with the laughable boasts that he’ll be “undisputed” have seen middle class, “street” talking Harrison become a national laughing stock.
In December 2008 Martin Rogan, the winner of a heavyweight “Prizefighter” series (basically The Contender but with even less experience… Rogan was 7-0 when he entered) was offered to Audley as “the opponent” for Harrison’s comeback trail. For two of the rounds Harrison did exactly what he was supposed to an opponent who was by then 10-0… dominated, hurt and looked on the verge of getting a stoppage. Unfortunately for Harrison there were another eight rounds in the fight, where his highly questionable stamina saw him lose a decision to a novice with determination and high workrate.
And so on Saturday night a 37-year-old born in the troubles of West Belfast entered the ring not as a name in his own right but as “The Man Who Beat Audley Harrison.” In the opposite corner was a fighter who had been scheduled to fight Audley before Michael Sprott’s left hook put paid to such ambitions: Matt Skelton. 42 years of age and with a boxing style so mauling and reliant on physical contact that it makes John Ruiz look like Ray Robinson, Skelton has still achieved much for a man with such limited skills.
Lacking serious pop at the highest level, he was still able to give Ruslan Chagaev a hard night in a losing WBA challenge and won the European heavyweight title by making Paolo Vidoz quit on his stool. Skelton’s pedigree comes from mixed martial arts, and it’s this same unorthodox style, combined with relentless pressure, that he’s brought to the boxing world. Although rarely pretty to watch, it’s a style that’s seen him, at date of writing, achieve more in the sport than any British heavyweight since Lennox Lewis. Not bad for a man in his forties with zero amateur background.
Strangely for their clash Skelton insisted on not putting the European title on the line, despite the fact that losing to Rogan would meant being stripped of the title and Rogan becoming mandatory challenger for the vacant belt anyway. Even more odd was Skelton’s refusal to divulge who his sparring partners were for the fight. This unusual bad air continued with Skelton initially refusing to touch gloves with Rogan upon the referees’ instructions; it was if Rogan’s proclamation to the press of “My prediction? Pain!” had got under the affable Londoner’s skin.
The first round opened in such a vein, with Skelton’s trademark leaning of his body weight, elbows to the throat, hitting and holding and use of the head all taking place inside a relentless three minutes. Skelton’s entire boxing career has been based around the blueprint of wearing the other man down, and while Matt could have made use of his finer movement and greater range to outbox the even more limited Rogan, he chose not to. Little did Skelton, or the audience, realise what a mistake this would be.
Rogan , having the fight on his terms, mirrored Skelton in the second round on, using his lighter body weight to push Skelton back onto the ropes and even having his own illegal successes with the odd rabbit punch and low blow mixed in. In terms of the science of the sport, it was non-existent. In terms of spectacle, it was surprisingly entertaining if you were prepared to accept its “barroom brawl” fixations. By the end of the second Skelton gave Rogan an appreciative roar… as if to highlight the surprising similiarity between the two of them Rogan repeated it back. The next two rounds continued to the same pattern… Rogan trying to out-Skelton Skelton, and having success. After four it was even on my card.
What happened next was unexpected… Skelton, a man known for his stamina and draining of opponents, being exhausted, out of sorts and looking for his second wind. In the fifth Rogan, the 10-3 underdog, was rocking him with hooks, cutting Matt and having a ringside Doctor inspect his eye. By the seventh Skelton had abandoned all pretence of winning the macho war and was on his toes, trying to steal rounds by flicking out his jab… fast forward to the eighth and Skelton’s on the ropes, taking flush punches with referee John Keane on the verge of stepping in.
What happened in the final third of the fight then looked to tell the story… the Irishman had never done the twelve round distance before and appeared to have reached his limit. Skelton, meanwhile, a relative veteran of five title distance fights, had got his much-needed second wind and was winning the rounds on his toes. Although four rounds down on my card he looked set to take the final rounds, getting a fortunate draw or late TKO in a fight where he’d lost the battle of toughness. Rogan, lacking in any genuine finesse but brimming with bloody minded toughness, would be able to take pride in giving Skelton his hardest-ever night.
Skelton had appeared so out of sorts that his cornerman was asking him “shall I pull you out?” after the eighth, but a victory of sorts was in sight as a novice cab driver from the streets of a civil war had given him a harder night than the WBA champion of the world. Unfortunately for Skelton, Rogan refused to acknowledge any expected course the fight was due to follow and put Skelton down heavily in the eleventh. Matt Skelton, a man known for teak toughness and who had never been down as a boxer, was now up on wobbly legs telling Keane he was okay to continue. A further barrage from Rogan forced Keane to intervene and Matt Skelton was shockingly stopped for the very first time.
The determination, will and desire of Rogan may take him further – by all rights he should have been crowned European Champion were it not for Skelton’s stubbornness – but it’s unlikely his small skillset will get him far on the world stage. Still, a certain A. Harrison could take comfort in the fact that his own close points loss to Rogan now looks to be better than it did, and the decidedly muted response to Frank Warren’s new breed of Olympians may give him another chance in the limelight. As for Audley himself? He spent the weekend claiming to have been “insulted” by David Haye, and calling the former Cruiserweight out… as well as making statements about one day being the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Some things never change.
No, the one fighter that everyone was still talking about was one of the Olympics’ most notable failures in the pro ranks: Audley Harrison. A gold medallist nine years previously, Harrison has failed to translate virtually any of this success into the professional field, despite having a significant skillset when he chooses to use it. Sadly, however, what appears to be a flaw in his psychological make up (or, in the case of the Sprott fight, his chin) has prevented him from cashing in on that potential.
Yet flashes of that potential, as well as Audley’s unironic delusional braggadocio, have kept him in the public eye perhaps far longer than he deserved to be. Audley Harrison in 2008 was still being given chances by an absurdly generous Frank Warren, his place as a fighter the public like to see no longer down to his underused skills, but more due to his role as a figure of mockery. The continued failure to deliver in the ring combined with the laughable boasts that he’ll be “undisputed” have seen middle class, “street” talking Harrison become a national laughing stock.
In December 2008 Martin Rogan, the winner of a heavyweight “Prizefighter” series (basically The Contender but with even less experience… Rogan was 7-0 when he entered) was offered to Audley as “the opponent” for Harrison’s comeback trail. For two of the rounds Harrison did exactly what he was supposed to an opponent who was by then 10-0… dominated, hurt and looked on the verge of getting a stoppage. Unfortunately for Harrison there were another eight rounds in the fight, where his highly questionable stamina saw him lose a decision to a novice with determination and high workrate.
And so on Saturday night a 37-year-old born in the troubles of West Belfast entered the ring not as a name in his own right but as “The Man Who Beat Audley Harrison.” In the opposite corner was a fighter who had been scheduled to fight Audley before Michael Sprott’s left hook put paid to such ambitions: Matt Skelton. 42 years of age and with a boxing style so mauling and reliant on physical contact that it makes John Ruiz look like Ray Robinson, Skelton has still achieved much for a man with such limited skills.
Lacking serious pop at the highest level, he was still able to give Ruslan Chagaev a hard night in a losing WBA challenge and won the European heavyweight title by making Paolo Vidoz quit on his stool. Skelton’s pedigree comes from mixed martial arts, and it’s this same unorthodox style, combined with relentless pressure, that he’s brought to the boxing world. Although rarely pretty to watch, it’s a style that’s seen him, at date of writing, achieve more in the sport than any British heavyweight since Lennox Lewis. Not bad for a man in his forties with zero amateur background.
Strangely for their clash Skelton insisted on not putting the European title on the line, despite the fact that losing to Rogan would meant being stripped of the title and Rogan becoming mandatory challenger for the vacant belt anyway. Even more odd was Skelton’s refusal to divulge who his sparring partners were for the fight. This unusual bad air continued with Skelton initially refusing to touch gloves with Rogan upon the referees’ instructions; it was if Rogan’s proclamation to the press of “My prediction? Pain!” had got under the affable Londoner’s skin.
The first round opened in such a vein, with Skelton’s trademark leaning of his body weight, elbows to the throat, hitting and holding and use of the head all taking place inside a relentless three minutes. Skelton’s entire boxing career has been based around the blueprint of wearing the other man down, and while Matt could have made use of his finer movement and greater range to outbox the even more limited Rogan, he chose not to. Little did Skelton, or the audience, realise what a mistake this would be.
Rogan , having the fight on his terms, mirrored Skelton in the second round on, using his lighter body weight to push Skelton back onto the ropes and even having his own illegal successes with the odd rabbit punch and low blow mixed in. In terms of the science of the sport, it was non-existent. In terms of spectacle, it was surprisingly entertaining if you were prepared to accept its “barroom brawl” fixations. By the end of the second Skelton gave Rogan an appreciative roar… as if to highlight the surprising similiarity between the two of them Rogan repeated it back. The next two rounds continued to the same pattern… Rogan trying to out-Skelton Skelton, and having success. After four it was even on my card.
What happened next was unexpected… Skelton, a man known for his stamina and draining of opponents, being exhausted, out of sorts and looking for his second wind. In the fifth Rogan, the 10-3 underdog, was rocking him with hooks, cutting Matt and having a ringside Doctor inspect his eye. By the seventh Skelton had abandoned all pretence of winning the macho war and was on his toes, trying to steal rounds by flicking out his jab… fast forward to the eighth and Skelton’s on the ropes, taking flush punches with referee John Keane on the verge of stepping in.
What happened in the final third of the fight then looked to tell the story… the Irishman had never done the twelve round distance before and appeared to have reached his limit. Skelton, meanwhile, a relative veteran of five title distance fights, had got his much-needed second wind and was winning the rounds on his toes. Although four rounds down on my card he looked set to take the final rounds, getting a fortunate draw or late TKO in a fight where he’d lost the battle of toughness. Rogan, lacking in any genuine finesse but brimming with bloody minded toughness, would be able to take pride in giving Skelton his hardest-ever night.
Skelton had appeared so out of sorts that his cornerman was asking him “shall I pull you out?” after the eighth, but a victory of sorts was in sight as a novice cab driver from the streets of a civil war had given him a harder night than the WBA champion of the world. Unfortunately for Skelton, Rogan refused to acknowledge any expected course the fight was due to follow and put Skelton down heavily in the eleventh. Matt Skelton, a man known for teak toughness and who had never been down as a boxer, was now up on wobbly legs telling Keane he was okay to continue. A further barrage from Rogan forced Keane to intervene and Matt Skelton was shockingly stopped for the very first time.
The determination, will and desire of Rogan may take him further – by all rights he should have been crowned European Champion were it not for Skelton’s stubbornness – but it’s unlikely his small skillset will get him far on the world stage. Still, a certain A. Harrison could take comfort in the fact that his own close points loss to Rogan now looks to be better than it did, and the decidedly muted response to Frank Warren’s new breed of Olympians may give him another chance in the limelight. As for Audley himself? He spent the weekend claiming to have been “insulted” by David Haye, and calling the former Cruiserweight out… as well as making statements about one day being the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Some things never change.
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