Matt Skelton v Martin Rogan

[Horse]

The only reason i can think of for the ebu being on the line is that they arent as confident of winning as a lot of people.
Can anyone think of another reason?

To save money?

How much more does it cost in sanctioning fees for a European title defence rather than a Commonwealth title defence?

[Bomber 1]

I think they all take 4% but don't take that for definite..

[Gray-Fox]

Rogan is a flash in the pan imo...just a low level version of Carlos Baldomir.

So you're comparing Matt Skelton to Floyd Mayweather

lol

[overhand_right]

Maybe they aren't confident because of Rogan's crazy pace of fighting?

Skelton used to a crowd-pleasing swarming puncher but has adapted his style since getting rocked in the last rd of the first Danny Williams fight -- since then its been a safety first strategy. Is it Skelton wisely adapting with age, or is he gunshy now?

Either way if this fight descends into a brawl i can only see Skelton coming out on top, and once again showing Audley Harrison his olympic medal and amateur accomplishments count for nothing in the rough pro game.

[metropol]

The only reason i can think of for the ebu being on the line is that they arent as confident of winning as a lot of people.
Can anyone think of another reason?

To save money?

How much more does it cost in sanctioning fees for a European title defence rather than a Commonwealth title defence?

I dont know but imo he deserves the shot . Do you think that sn think he dosent deserve it. I think rogan is a danger to a lot of people with is all out style

[yiddo14]

I don't think Skelton and his team would choose not to defend his Euro belt because they see Rogan as a huge threat. Skelton doesn't strike me as that kind of fighter at all!

The reason probably has more to do woth Rogan not being deemed fit enough to fight for the belt by the powers that be.
If he is ranked 17th then how can you justify that for a defence!??!

Still, all said and done it should be entertaining. They wil both come to fight thats for sure!

[Horse]

The reason probably has more to do woth Rogan not being deemed fit enough to fight for the belt by the powers that be.
If he is ranked 17th then how can you justify that for a defence!??

I thought that all fighters in the European rankings were eligible for a shot at the title.

[yiddo14]

The reason probably has more to do woth Rogan not being deemed fit enough to fight for the belt by the powers that be.
If he is ranked 17th then how can you justify that for a defence!??

I thought that all fighters in the European rankings were eligible for a shot at the title.

I'm not sure to be honest.

Seems strange that a guy ranked so lowly would land a shot...thats almost unheard of in Boxing!

[Horse]

Article 3 - Eligibility

To be eligible to take part in a contest for a European Championship a Boxer must :

3.1. be at least 20 years of age ; and

3.2. be domiciled and a national of a European Country ; and

3.3. have boxed at least five of his last ten fights in Europe.

3.4. be licensed by an Affiliated National Association ; and

3.5. be approved by the E.B.U. Council.

3.6. not holding any World Title of any Federation.

Article 5 - Voluntary Defences

A European Champion may defend his European title voluntarily only against a Boxer in the current ratings and save in so far as a voluntary defence does not prevent the European Champion from fulfilling his obligations in relation to the mandatory defence of his title. The promoter or the boxer (Champion or Challenger) withdrawing from the championship contest after signature of the contracts shall be sanctioned by the fine of EURO 3.300.(*)

http://www.boxebu.com/index.asp

[metropol]

Heres a link to the press conference for the announcement of the fight http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQFZhGZL ... annel_page. What I like about martin is that he dosent take himself too seriously, dosent over complicate things

[pete21cv]

Think Rogan is a better fighter than what alot of people on this thread give him credit for, ok we have not seen a big lot of him and at the age of 37 you would have liked to see more but he is big, strong powerful and for a heavyweight he is very fit. The only thing that might get him is that both have that similar street fighter style and with Skelton being a pro that bit longer may just sneak it in his advantage in experience. However I think this has the makings of a good long slog and in many respects may be each of there last chances to make a mark at top level boxing.

[funso banjo baby]

i didnt see the rogan aforce...how did he do?...if he didnt come at audley then he wont against matt.

however if he likes a good scrap...we could see another version of mirovitz v matt ..THAT WAS A WAR

[gkt999]

Rogie is no spring chicken and has boxed for £500 purses for a long time. Recently he has made £25K off the prize fighter, and another decent payday from beating Fraudley. If you were Rogan would you not fight Skelton for more money ? esp with age etc against you. Of course you would. Rogan might be a flash in the pan as some say but I honestly reckon he might just prove some of us wrong and beat Skelton and go on a little further and make a few more quid out of the game as well. At least we get to see some HW fights now that might just not as one sided as before.

On a side note I've managed to make over £500 betting on Rogans last 4 fights.

[pete21cv]

Does anyone know will the fight be on live tv

[whicker]

Does anyone know will the fight be on live tv

This is a good question! With 3 olympic debuts they might not show all the title fights too. That said, I'd say it probably will be on TV and they skip the Bendall fight (if any).

Matt was unlucky that his fight was not on TV.

[BigEars]

1 Alexander POVETKIN
2 David HAYE
3 Sinan SAMIL SAM
4 Vladimir VIRCHIS
5 Paolo VIDOZ
6 Michael SPROTT
7 Taras BIDENKO
8 Albert SOSNOWSKI
9 Francesco PIANETA
10 Denis BOYTSOV
11 Danny WILLIAMS
12 Oleg PLATOV
13 Dennis BAKHTOV
14 Timo HOFFMANN
15 Andrzej WAWRZYK
16 Martin ROGAN
17 Audley HARRISON
18 John Mc DERMOTT
19 Roman GREENBERG
20 Tomasz BONIN

There are the rankings, Dimitrenko is the mandatory aswell so he's not ranked. Doesn't make sense to me why this isn't for the European title.

[whicker]

What if Rogan wins? Would he be in line for a rematch for the European title?

At the very least if Rogan did win he deserves top billing on a big Belfast show.

[oliverfennell]

There are the rankings, Dimitrenko is the mandatory aswell so he's not ranked. Doesn't make sense to me why this isn't for the European title.

Surely because Rogan's not top 10? Otherwise Audley, Bonin and Greenberg would be valid challengers too.

[BigEars]

There are the rankings, Dimitrenko is the mandatory aswell so he's not ranked. Doesn't make sense to me why this isn't for the European title.

Surely because Rogan's not top 10? Otherwise Audley, Bonin and Greenberg would be valid challengers too.

Well him not being top 10 is the reason some are giving, but I've never heard of anything like that with the EBU before and as far as I'm aware you only have to be ranked by the EBU to fight for the European title. Afterall there is a reason they don't rank to 20 in all divisions even when there are loads of fighters in that division, with good records too.

Infact European Featherweight champion Oleg Yefimovych recently defended his European title against Luca Maggio.
Maggio wasn't top 10(I think he was around 16/17 aswell), and with good reason he was a awful challenger http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?hu ... &cat=boxer. But he still got his shot because he was ranked by the EBU.

Something is up here, and it seems it must be someone either doesn't want to pay sanctioning fees or has something else in mind(such as Skelton possibly still getting to fight for the vacant title in his next fight even if he lost).

[hitman09]

Can't stand Skelton and his brand of "fighting". Hope he loses.

Skelton fights the only way he knows how to. Surely thats better than AH. He may not fight pretty but he does fight with heart and guts.

So does Rogan can't see why you all are writing him off Skelton isn't much better than Audley. He hasn't as much skill even if he is EBU champ that title isn't worth shit.

[jameswilson]

I think Skelton has to make a mandatory defence of his EBU belt before he can make a voluntary defence, because he has just won the title. So Id imagine thats why it's only the Commonwealth on the line.

[funso banjo baby]

Samil Sam v skelton is the only bonafide fight to make ..the higher ranked guys are on the world stage....Virchis and bidenko are worth it

personally im not bothered about the Euro bauble ... i love Matt but him versus Vidoz was pointless as a title fight.

nevertheless Matt v Rogan is ok as a fight

i like the Prizefighter concept if it isnt over done.....interesting to use it as a stepping stone instead of silly titles like the English etc never saw the point of that ( i kno Rog's not eng btw 8)

[BigEars]

I think Skelton has to make a mandatory defence of his EBU belt before he can make a voluntary defence, because he has just won the title. So Id imagine thats why it's only the Commonwealth on the line.

Nah that can't be it, because the EBU still have to approve of the champion taking non title fights while champion, and if they'll approve of a non title fight they'll approve of a voluntary.

European champions do not normally have to defend against a mandatory in their first defence.
The EBU would only insist on fighting a mandatory within a certain time period, and as I said if they're willing to let Skleton fight a non title fight they'd be willing to let him defend his belt.

So the real reason remains a mystery. But whatever it is, I'd be fairly sure it's nothing to do with the EBU's part and all to do with allegedly's part.

[pete21cv]

Does anyone know the rest of the card for that night