BoxRec

I think Skelton would be an ok keep busy fight before the end of the year. Yes his skill set is very limited, yes he's ugly to watch but he does have a very good chin and Price could do with getting a few rounds in as he's very unlikely to get many in this weekend.

is this just a fight so price can win the brit title outright?

i cant see this being any more difficult than anyone he has fought up until now

It's his mandatory apparently and am guessing Price wants to be kept active, winning the Lonsdale outright to boot.

The fight is only 8 weeks away.

when did skelton have a mandatory box off?

Dunno'. Just read on Price's twitter about Skelton being his mando (unless am mistaken).

jBacca wrote:Dunno'. Just read on Price's twitter about Skelton being his mando (unless am mistaken).

I don't think the BBBofC has announced him as the mandatory challenger. I think Price might be making it up.

http://www.bbbofc.com/notices/11-10-12-1

Not Price's fault really if this is indeed true, if he wants to win the belt outright.

Nor Skelton's if he has fought into the spot.

But if it's a "made" fight then it deserves all the stick it will likely get. But the sad fact is, there arent any heavyweights around at all is there ?

Adamj1987 wrote:is this just a fight so price can win the brit title outright?

Is it only two defences now?

Adamj1987 wrote:i cant see this being any more difficult than anyone he has fought up until now

Skelton has achieved more as a pro than any of Price's previous opponents. I think he is arguably another small step up for Price.

Horse wrote:

Adamj1987 wrote:is this just a fight so price can win the brit title outright?

Is it only two defences now?

Adamj1987 wrote:i cant see this being any more difficult than anyone he has fought up until now

Skelton has achieved more as a pro than any of Price's previous opponents. I think he is arguably another small step up for Price.

to number 1 i meant on the way to winning it outright

2 i'd agree but on his recent form would you say he is still a step up, if you want past achievements why not wheel bruno out?

Adamj1987 wrote:to number 1 i meant on the way to winning it outright

Okay. Is it still three defences though?

Adamj1987 wrote:2 i'd agree but on his recent form would you say he is still a step up, if you want past achievements why not wheel bruno out?

Even on current ability he might still be a small step up for Price.

Price only stepped up to domestic level 9 months ago. I don't see why he has to rush beyond that level straight away, when he can still pick up good wins against British fighters.

stujones wrote:Skelton more deserving than the guy who Price is fighting on Saturday.

I think Skelton is in enough form to warrant a shot at the British title.

You might have a point, although Gordon Brown would be a more worthy opponent for Price than Audley Harrison ever could have been.

Horse wrote:

Adamj1987 wrote:to number 1 i meant on the way to winning it outright

Okay. Is it still three defences though?

Adamj1987 wrote:2 i'd agree but on his recent form would you say he is still a step up, if you want past achievements why not wheel bruno out?

Even on current ability he might still be a small step up for Price.

Price only stepped up to domestic level 9 months ago. I don't see why he has to rush beyond that level straight away, when he can still pick up good wins against British fighters.

First 1 yes still 3 defences

Second i dont think he has to move on from the level just yet and agree he shouldnt be pushed to euro or world level yet i just think there might be someone in america or europe that could bring something diff to skelton maybe chazz witherspoon as i would say he is similar level to price. Even sosnowski i think would be better than skelton. Chisora aswell. I just cant see what a supposedly 45 if not older fighter brings than say chisora

Adamj1987 wrote:Second i dont think he has to move on from the level just yet and agree he shouldnt be pushed to euro or world level yet i just think there might be someone in america or europe that could bring something diff to skelton maybe chazz witherspoon as i would say he is similar level to price. Even sosnowski i think would be better than skelton. Chisora aswell. I just cant see what a supposedly 45 if not older fighter brings than say chisora

Chisora might have problems getting his British licence back. He also might not want to fight Price after all of his recent tough fights.

Witherspoon and Sosnowski would be decent, but I'd rather see him fight the likes of Skelton and Sprott and win the Lonsdale belt outright.

Still don't see the point in this fight. A fight with Chisora would have been OK. He should fight some decent (by todays standards) international competition, even going to America before fighting likes of Pulev / Helenius at some point next yr to get him into a World Title position.

I want the Fury fight to happen more than anything else in boxing but unfortunately boxing politics has gotten in the way.

Horse wrote:

Adamj1987 wrote:Second i dont think he has to move on from the level just yet and agree he shouldnt be pushed to euro or world level yet i just think there might be someone in america or europe that could bring something diff to skelton maybe chazz witherspoon as i would say he is similar level to price. Even sosnowski i think would be better than skelton. Chisora aswell. I just cant see what a supposedly 45 if not older fighter brings than say chisora

Chisora might have problems getting his British licence back. He also might not want to fight Price after all of his recent tough fights.

Witherspoon and Sosnowski would be decent, but I'd rather see him fight the likes of Skelton and Sprott and win the Lonsdale belt outright.

i can see what you mean

in an ideal world though it would be richards towers, gary cornish and tyson fury in consideration not sprott or skelton

SteveDow wrote:I think Skelton would be an ok keep busy fight before the end of the year. Yes his skill set is very limited, yes he's ugly to watch but he does have a very good chin and Price could do with getting a few rounds in as he's very unlikely to get many in this weekend.

Bang on. That's perhaps the only positive that Skeltons got a decent chin and would be sure to last a few rounds.

ShadrachSimmo wrote:

SteveDow wrote:I think Skelton would be an ok keep busy fight before the end of the year. Yes his skill set is very limited, yes he's ugly to watch but he does have a very good chin and Price could do with getting a few rounds in as he's very unlikely to get many in this weekend.

Bang on. That's perhaps the only positive that Skeltons got a decent chin and would be sure to last a few rounds.

He is also strong and doesn't tend to get shoved around very easily. If Price manages to force Skelton onto the back foot and gets the better of it up close where Skelton does his hold and hit tactics (that have almost never ever been penalised by referees) then it will be impressive.

Also it is worth mentioning the European rankings.

1. Boytsov
2. Fury.
3. Price.

Audley was 13 so it won't suprise me if Price jumps up to no1 and with Robert Helenius the mandatory challenger to Pulev and Pulev apparently favouring waiting for a World title shot rather than defending his belt Price may well be in line for a European shot.

Personally I can't understand the harsh criticism of Price-Skelton. Obviously, there are much better tests out there, but given boxing politics and the circumstances of the promotion (7 weeks is relatively short time frame, making it harder to get a good name) do people really expect anybody much better?

We could all think of a dozen good names for Price's next scrap - and also a dozen reasons as to why the potential fight couldn't be made for December 8th!

Given the fact that at this stage of his career Price should be fighting AT LEAST four times a year I think Skelton is fine as a 'stay busy' type fight. He has traditionally been very durable so hopefully will extend Price into the 2nd half of the fight and, as already mentioned, it gets him one step closer to keeping the Lonsdale Belt - something I get the impression he is keen to do.

So, for me, whilst I'm not chomping at the bit to see it happen, I can take this for what it is and be relatively satisfied.

Yeh i think on reflection, Skelton aint too bad in terms of at least he has a decent chin and won't be easily stopped. So if Price sparks Skelton out, then we know he does have a real dig, which I think we know already but it will be an ok-ish fight I suppose to keep busy. WOuld rather see him in with some international tests now, maybe someone half-decent fgrom US or Europe.

jameswilson wrote:

ShadrachSimmo wrote:

SteveDow wrote:I think Skelton would be an ok keep busy fight before the end of the year. Yes his skill set is very limited, yes he's ugly to watch but he does have a very good chin and Price could do with getting a few rounds in as he's very unlikely to get many in this weekend.

Bang on. That's perhaps the only positive that Skeltons got a decent chin and would be sure to last a few rounds.

He is also strong and doesn't tend to get shoved around very easily. If Price manages to force Skelton onto the back foot and gets the better of it up close where Skelton does his hold and hit tactics (that have almost never ever been penalised by referees) then it will be impressive.

Also it is worth mentioning the European rankings.

1. Boytsov
2. Fury.
3. Price.

Audley was 13 so it won't suprise me if Price jumps up to no1 and with Robert Helenius the mandatory challenger to Pulev and Pulev apparently favouring waiting for a World title shot rather than defending his belt Price may well be in line for a European shot.

The European situation is an interesting one. With Sauerland promoting both Pulev and Helenius they essentially are in control of the belt at the minute. I can't see them being in any rush to either (a) make the fight or (b) force Pulev to vacate whilst he is in the IBF eliminators. Therefore I can't see Price getting a shot until mid-2013 at the earliest. He should have a minimum of 2 fights before then - Skelton and one other. Towers would be the best option, with him being ranked EBU No.5 it would help get Price up into a mandatory shot (on top of the Audley fight) - no way does he get a title fight as a voluntary.

Towers would also be a 3rd defence of the British title, of course, and allow Pricey to keep the belt.

TheCobra wrote:Yeh i think on reflection, Skelton aint too bad in terms of at least he has a decent chin and won't be easily stopped. So if Price sparks Skelton out, then we know he does have a real dig, which I think we know already but it will be an ok-ish fight I suppose to keep busy. WOuld rather see him in with some international tests now, maybe someone half-decent fgrom US or Europe.

Spot on. The international 'test' would have been the only alternative. I was thinking Sherman Williams might have been an option - from the Bahamas so could have been a Commonwealth only defence (may as well try to defend the title whilst you have it!)

Not much higher calibre than Skelton but he's been in with a few names (Holyfield springs to mind) and is coming off a decent win. Crucially, though, he's ranked by the WBO. Price, despite all the hype, isn't ranked by any of the sanctioning bodies yet and this would have been a nice, easy way to do it.

Jack B wrote:Personally I can't understand the harsh criticism of Price-Skelton. Obviously, there are much better tests out there, but given boxing politics and the circumstances of the promotion (7 weeks is relatively short time frame, making it harder to get a good name) do people really expect anybody much better?

We could all think of a dozen good names for Price's next scrap - and also a dozen reasons as to why the potential fight couldn't be made for December 8th!

Given the fact that at this stage of his career Price should be fighting AT LEAST four times a year I think Skelton is fine as a 'stay busy' type fight. He has traditionally been very durable so hopefully will extend Price into the 2nd half of the fight and, as already mentioned, it gets him one step closer to keeping the Lonsdale Belt - something I get the impression he is keen to do.

So, for me, whilst I'm not chomping at the bit to see it happen, I can take this for what it is and be relatively satisfied.

Good post.

It's very difficult to argue against this.

Skelton followed by Towers would be a touch disappointing. Both tredding water fights. Skelton is no better these days than what Price has already faced and Towers should not be near the same ring as Pricey. That will be a brutal mismatch.

He has his heart set on the Lonsdale though it seems and I have to tip my hat to that I guess.

I think both he and Fury are timing it to miss Wlad. Sensible if a little uninspiring.

Why would Price be timing it when he's already come out and said he's at least 18 months off being able to beat Wlad?

lillywhite14 wrote:Skelton followed by Towers would be a touch disappointing. Both tredding water fights. Skelton is no better these days than what Price has already faced and Towers should not be near the same ring as Pricey. That will be a brutal mismatch.

He has his heart set on the Lonsdale though it seems and I have to tip my hat to that I guess.

I think both he and Fury are timing it to miss Wlad. Sensible if a little uninspiring.

A general problem with the HWs is that there are a group of unbeaten prospects all treading water in terms of their quality of opponents. They don't want to get dismantled by a Klitschko, but also don't want to risk losing their record, and more importantly financial value, by fighting a rival in the same boat as themselves. Fury is a prime example of this. Boytsov another. I wouldn't say Price is the same as I think him and Maloney would confidently take anybody on - it's just finding a partner to dance with that's the problem. Therefore, whilst Skelton, Towers et al aren't inspiring in terms of quality, they are the most pragmatic fights for him at this stage, both in terms of getting the Lonsdale for keeps and improving his European ranking (I imagine he will want to go down that route if possible).

I'm not sure about Price avoiding anybody but I think Fury is definitely biding his time with the WBC (along with many others). When VK goes there will be a massive scramble for the belt and I would say that MH's world title plans for Tyson will be a scrap for the vacant title or against the new champ.

Note how his WBC rating is always mentioned when he's on Channel 5.