Mathew Ellis

[Mimmy]

I didnt realise that Eliis was still fighting.

I remember back in 1997 I think it was he came in dressed as James Bond. He was unbeaten at the time in around 4 or 5 fights and was bombed out by a Russian novice. Thats when the bubble was burst. Im sure the pundits were comparing him to Billy Walker at the time.

Anyway hes still fighting possibly not bbboc but has a fight coming up.

[spudder56]

I didnt realise that Eliis was still fighting.

I remember back in 1997 I think it was he came in dressed as James Bond. He was unbeaten at the time in around 4 or 5 fights and was bombed out by a Russian novice. Thats when the bubble was burst. Im sure the pundits were comparing him to Billy Walker at the time.

Anyway hes still fighting possibly not bbboc but has a fight coming up.

He’s fighting on biba shows

[chinarich]

That’s surprising he’s still active, I recall back in 2009 or 2010 he’d had a run of defeats and then went to the US to get a couple of first round KO’s from Lance Whitaker and someone else and the Board had already suspended his licence I think. I’m not one to tell others what to do, but he probably shouldn’t still be getting in the ring...

[rhino222]

I didnt realise that Eliis was still fighting.

I remember back in 1997 I think it was he came in dressed as James Bond. He was unbeaten at the time in around 4 or 5 fights and was bombed out by a Russian novice. Thats when the bubble was burst. Im sure the pundits were comparing him to Billy Walker at the time.

Anyway hes still fighting possibly not bbboc but has a fight coming up.

yes, Bakhtov bombed him out. i was ringside.

[Mimmy]

I didnt realise that Eliis was still fighting.

I remember back in 1997 I think it was he came in dressed as James Bond. He was unbeaten at the time in around 4 or 5 fights and was bombed out by a Russian novice. Thats when the bubble was burst. Im sure the pundits were comparing him to Billy Walker at the time.

Anyway hes still fighting possibly not bbboc but has a fight coming up.

yes, Bakhtov bombed him out. i was ringside.

I remember his debut, it was on tv against Laurent Rouze and he scored a first round ko. The media were bigging him up big style, not sure what amateur career he had but if I remember rightly they were saying he was a big white hope.

here is that first defeat.



Tyson Fury also stopped him in 1 also back in Fury's 4th fight.






Considering ellis was the next big thing he didnt get past area level in all honesty. Dont beleive the hype.

[sweetmagee]

Remember seeing him fight Audley Harrison at the York Hall and it seemed like the whole place wanted him to win after an embarrassing Audley entrance where there was an announcement "pray silence for the arrival of the king" or something along those lines.

Ellis caught him once, Audley got that rabbit in the headlights look on his face for a couple of seconds and the whole place erupted. Think Ellis got stopped shortly after. That was the night when Herbie Hide was ringside - angling for a fight against Audley I think - and there was a bit of a riot.

Bizarrely as I got to the platform of the tube station the ref from the Harrison fight - that had ended just before things kicked off - was already on the platform waiting for a train, he must have left the second he got out of the ring and was obviously still in his bow tie etc. That was everybody's favourite Terry O'Connor who told me "it all kicked off so I bloody scarpered".

[Kassel]

Yep, still going - fought 52 yr old Ratko Draskovic in March, for the WBU (German Version) HW title - lost TKO2

[Stuarty]

Didn't Enzo stop him years ago? Was a late replacement for someone? Can't remember who!

[handsofstone]

Didn't Enzo stop him years ago? Was a late replacement for someone? Can't remember who!

Think i mind that, was it at Heavyweight or am I muddled??

[Mimmy]

Didn't Enzo stop him years ago? Was a late replacement for someone? Can't remember who!

Think i mind that, was it at Heavyweight or am I muddled??

Tony Bellew stopped him

[Tommyscc]

I noticed this’ and Nearly posted
What’s he doing? Can’t be too good for
Him? Did he win much as a Am did he box foR
England??

[Stuarty]

Didn't Enzo stop him years ago? Was a late replacement for someone? Can't remember who!

Think i mind that, was it at Heavyweight or am I muddled??

Aye it was at heavy I think mate. I'm sure he was a late replacement for someone but can't remember who now!

[Coco]

I'm pretty sure he was mustard as an amateur

[forcefraser]

He was promoted initially as the “the worlds first 1 billion dollar athlete”

Against Fury he threw himself into the way of the punchees (think Jim Watt was commentator)

[Sklar]

Might have been better playing rugby league. Mat was a very capable boxer but was the totally wrong build to be a good fit in any weight class.

[lillywhite14]

Might have been better playing rugby league. Mat was a very capable boxer but was the totally wrong build to be a good fit in any weight class.

He was tiny compared to Audley. Common sense suggests cruiser

[Sklar]

I don’t think he’s got the frame for a cruiserweight either, not modern era. Look when Askin fought him, Mat is the chunkier man but he still looks small if you know what I mean. He’s like a middleweight who has done too much bodybuilding.

[Fray Bentos]

Ellis was a good fighter, he had good handspeed, had a good dig but he was the wrong shape to utilise all those gifts, he had gifts but if you're a six foot odd/15 stone heavyweight in this day and age - it's going to be tough going unless your name is Evander Holyfield.

He won an ABA title and he was an England international - but it's like David Dolan - if you're just a bit too big for cruiserweight then you're going to feel it at heavyweight.

I am pretty sure he was pencilled in to fight Danny WIlliams for the British and Commonwealth.

[Sklar]

Mat ain’t six foot, C. He’s listed as 5’11 and a half, but I think that is a bit liberal and probably no coincidence the same listed height as Mike T, also a bit liberal.

[Boxerbeetle]

Mat ain’t six foot, C. He’s listed as 5’11 and a half, but I think that is a bit liberal and probably no coincidence the same listed height as Mike T, also a bit liberal.

I actually am 5’11 and a half. Sadly there’s where the physical similarities end between me and Iron Mike.

[Fray Bentos]

Mat ain’t six foot, C. He’s listed as 5’11 and a half, but I think that is a bit liberal and probably no coincidence the same listed height as Mike T, also a bit liberal.

Really? he did as well as he did then if he was around 5ft 10ins, Sklar (or under?)

[Sklar]

My estimate is 5’10” but he maybe doesn’t stand at his full height if you know what I mean. Perhaps walks a bit hunched. Good talent though and worked hard at it back in the day.

[dookus]

I remember his debut, it was on tv against Laurent Rouze and he scored a first round ko. The media were bigging him up big style, not sure what amateur career he had but if I remember rightly they were saying he was a big white hope.

here is that first defeat.

I think that's the rematch where Ellis stopped him inside a minute

[jamamb]

which genuine 5'11.5 athlete/entertainer actually has it listed as that i wonder, i mean just too easy to round up to 6 feet, not like its a big inflation anyway, i say go for it you 5'11.5 guys

[bennie]

How can you defend a sport as dangerous as boxing when you discover that a washed-up 44-year-old heavyweight is still permitted to fight somewhere in the world and nobody gives a damn? The heavyweight in question is Blackpool's Matthew Ellis, who comes off a two-round defeat to 52-year-old (you couldn't make it up) Ratko Draskovic last month in Germany but has another fight lined up according to the British forum at boxrec and then probably another and another, maybe this time against 22-year-olds. You worry where it all ends for a man who fights so sporadically it is plain dangerous because he can't be in fighting shape. The record says it all: Matthew last won a fight in 2008 and someone in boxing authority needs to think back all the way to Muhammad Ali and scream “enough is enough!” because look how it ended for Ali after maulings at the hands of a peak Larry Holmes and a potty Trevor Berbick in the early 1980s (although most of Ali's physical damage was done in the formidable heavyweight era of the 1970s)!
Ellis is no Ali but he did have fast hands and certainly looked the part when he turned pro as an ABA champion and England star back in February 1996 under the auspices of Liverpool promoter John Hyland, a former amateur star himself, but ambitious talk never walked the walk as Matthew lacked the size to make an impact among the heavyweight big boys and when he tried the cruiserweights, he took a pasting from Liverpool's Tony Moran. His options exhausted, he barely trained, piled on the weight and became a stepping stone for everyone from Enzo Maccarinelli and Audley Harrison to Tyson Fury and Tony Bellew, all of whom dropped him and dropped him until he refused to get up - yet he refuses to walk away.
Two fights ago, Matthew injured his ribs against someone called Billy “The Hitman” Corito, who belted him to the body until Ellis went down and stayed down in the third round. The 6ft 7ins Moran also got to him with body shots back in 2003, just as Maccarinelli did in two brutally one-sided rounds in 2008. It all adds up to health problems later in life, as it did for an Ali who no longer danced in the 1970s but allowed fighters to pound away at his body until his doctor, Ferdie Pacheco, walked away in 1977 when a urine sample after Ali's sickening 15-rounder with Earnie Shavers in Madison Square Garden showed pending kidney damage. “He'll never box in New York again,” Pacheco was told and Ali never did but he ploughed on into the abyss with four more outings before he was dragged away at the relatively young age (compared to Ellis) of 39. He died in hospital two years ago while undergoing kidney dialysis.
The warning signs are there for Ellis, who sported a full belly and a full beard against Corlito, the latter of which is illegal under normal boxing rules and tells you everything you need to know about the boxing company he keeps today. Matthew needs to take a long look at the men around him and a longer look at himself because ultimately he's responsible for himself and his own welfare. They say a fighter is the last to know when he's through but that's a big boxing lie. A fighter is the first to know.