Skelton V Cole

[Old bones Ian]

Skelton may be facing Al Cole in his next bout, dreadful match

[nickd]

If this comes off I have to say Sports Network have excelled themselves yet again in putting on terrible fights. People really need to stop buying tickets to these shows or they'll keep churning out the crap.

[stujones]

Disagree, 007. We applauded this fight before (I think it was scheduled on the DLH vs Hopkins PPV - UK Leg) and I don't think anything has happend since for it to all of a sudden become a bad fight.

Good international experience.

[jomothepure]

Take it we're talking Alfred Cole here?

I suppose it would give Skelton an easy win against someone who's fought a few names.

It will also be the first and last time Skelton fights someone older than him (Cole 40)

Boxrec has Cole fighting someone else tho, a week and a day after Skelton's due to fight - an unbeaten at Madison Sq. Would he really turn that down?

[nickd]

I'd much rather see him win the Lonsdale belt wouldnt you?

[KOJOE90]

I think this is an ok fight. Cole is indeed old for a Boxer which is of course a concern as he is at the stage were he could just fall apart at anytime.

However he has recently gone the full distance with Rahman and Whitiker and rarely gets stopped. It will be interesting to see how Skelton copes with an very experienced USA fighter.

[jamesmcdonnell]

Cole is experienced, tough, durable and was once world class, nothing wrong with this fight, a good toe-dip into international waters methinks.

[Old bones Ian]

Skelton isn't some young kid that can be moved on slowly, he is a 38yo.
Bringing Cole over here isn't going to move on his career at all, yes he may be a ex champ at cruiser and have gone the distance with Rahman, but Rahman is an established world known boxer, the match against Cole for him was just a mark time exercise, he knew that he would get another shot at the big time.

Skelton can't be held back IMO , fighting Cole is going to prove what?
of course this match might not happen in the end, but if it does what will Skelton learn from it,

What i find annoying on the subject of Skelton and our other leading british fighters, when one of our boys does get a shot at the top, e.g. Williams v Klitchsko, Eastman v Hopkins, no other brits are on the undercard showcasing what they can do.

[Manos de Oro]

What i find annoying on the subject of Skelton and our other leading british fighters, when one of our boys does get a shot at the top, e.g. Williams v Klitchsko, Eastman v Hopkins, no other brits are on the undercard showcasing what they can do.

It's probably because the US TV people would demand too competitive a fight, thereby risking the traditional marketing strategy of building a fighter up in mismatches.

[force10]

As long as this doesn't turn into a one or two round blast-out then I'll be happy, and wasn't Skelton supposed to fight Cole anyway before injury or illness ruled him out?

Look at it this way, Skelton gets a name on his record, he gets to keep busy, and he won't be fighting for any kind of bogus "world" title.

The nightmare vision I have of Skelton is that he fights Kandelaki, wins, and then spends the rest of his career being forced to defend the WBU title against nobodies. Granted, he's a limited fighter and time is not on his side, but he seems to be willing to fight anyone, and it would be a shame if his career was summed up with the words "former fringe champion".

[jomothepure]

are we not talking about who Skelton will 'fighting' for the WBU?

As I understand, the WBU is dead cert next date for Skelton, and Cole is one possible 'challenger.'

[HeavyHitters]

Can someone post a photo of this Matt Skelton on here?