By Nate Anderson: In one of the most exciting heavyweight fights I’ve ever seen before, former ‘Prizefighter’ heavyweight winner Martin Rogan (12-0, 6 KOs) stopped Matt Skelton (22-3, 19 KOs) in the 11th round on Saturday night to win Matt’s Commonwealth (British Empire) heavyweight title at the National Indoor Arena, in Birmingham, West Midlands.
Rogan, 37, hurt Skelton with a hard right hand in the 11th and then poured in a series of hard shots as Skelton lay defenseless on the ropes ending with Skelton being knocked/pushed to the canvas. It was ruled a knocked down, as Skelton was badly hurt. He staggered to his feet, bouncing off the ropes while trying to steady himself.
When the action resumed, Rogan quickly cornered Skelton and battered him with head shots until referee John Keane stepped in and halted the fight at 1:21 of the 11th. Just as Keane was stopping the fight, Skelton’s corner was throwing in the towel to save him from any additional punishment. Had the fight been allowed to continue much longer, there is little doubt that Rogan would have sent Skelton down again.
Skelton, 42, seemed to make a crucial mistake in the early rounds by trying to fight Rogan, an excellent inside fighter, at close range against the ropes. In doing so, Skelton took an awful lot of punishment from Rogan while at the same time losing a lot of energy because of the hectic pace that Rogan set for him.
Say what you will about Rogan’s lack of technical skills, he has a tremendous heart, great strength and excellent fitness. The way that Skelton fought Rogan, probably not a whole lot of top heavyweights in the division could have stayed in as long. Rogan has top notch inside fighting skills, and he did a real number on Skelton with his short uppercuts, hooks and body shots at close range.
Skelton fought well until the 5th, when Rogan began to take over the fight with his fierce attacks. Rogan kept Skelton pinned to the ropes in rounds five though eight, hammering Skelton with hard hooks and body shots. Skelton took terrible punishment in the 5th, a round in which he received a cut over his left eye from a big right hand from Rogan. Skelton looked to be tiring out from the pace and was rocked by a viscous flurry from Rogan late in the round.
Though Skelton tried firing back while backed to the ropes, he was largely ineffective and could only offer up weak shots compared to the sledgehammer rights and lefts from Rogan. Skelton was again hurt in the 6th round after getting nailed by a big left uppercut from Rogan. In the 7th, Skelton tried a different tactic, now retreating around the ring instead of actively engaging Rogan.
It worked somewhat, allowing Skelton to keep from getting hit as much as he had in the previous rounds. However, Rogan easily won the round because he was landing the far bigger shots and was the one trying to make the fight happen.
In the 8th, Rogan once again trapped Skelton against the ropes and gave him a god awful beating with hard hooks to the head and body. Skelton looked every bit his forty-two years in the round and could offer up little to match the downpour of shots from Rogan. After the round, Skelton’s corner told him “Tell me if you’re not okay otherwise I’ll pull you out.” Skelton said that he was okay, but he didn’t look it.
In rounds nine and ten, Rogan did little looking as if he was resting from the energy he had expended in the 8th. This allowed Skelton to move on the outside and throw a lot of jabs. Skelton had nothing on his power shots, but he was still able to fight effectively by throwing uppercuts while on the retreat. After the 10th, Skelton looked confident as if he had the fight under his control.
In the 11th, Skelton fought well in the opening minute of the round, now hitting Rogan with nice combinations. Suddenly, however, Rogan landed a hard right hand to the head of Skelton, hurting him. Rogan then nailed him with a hard left hand that staggered Skelton. With Skelton now against the ropes trying to cover up, Rogan poured in a flurry of shots ending with Skelton falling forward onto the canvas.
He got up immediately, but staggered around against the ropes. Referee John Keane then looked Skelton over and allowed the fight to continue, although he probably would have been wise to stop it at this point because Skelton was badly hurt and could barely stand. Rogan then rushed forward and landed a big right hand and then a flurry of shots that had Skelton’s head ricocheting from one side to the other. Finally, referee John Keane had seen enough and stepped in and halted the fight at 1:21 of the round.
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