Matt Skelton v Julius Francis Feb 2004
This should be a interesting boxing bout Former k1 fighter,world champion Thai boxer Matt skelton will defend his English title against former European kickboxing and Bristh boxing champion Julius francis.Daniel williams and Michael Sprout have a rematch in Jan 2004 and with Audley Harrison also in the frame the British heavy wieght scene might even look interesting. Any predictions for the Skelton v francis fight?

I think Skelton will win on points or a late stoppage. I hope so anyway!!

I personally would like to see Skelton v Harrison, but Harrison appears to be avoiding him !!!

See you in the new year Bill !!!

Matt will win by KO or stoppage in the middle rounds.

FB'Slim

The match we've all been waiting for!

Matt to win by KO, round 3, 4 or 5.

He'll then be on for Danny Williams, Herbie Hide, or Ordinary Harrison, who'l try to avoid him.

Go big fella, go!

Smiler

fraudley harrison will fight for a world title as there has been too much money invested behind the scenes and as for the rest bruno would beat them all even in his present state of mind.matt skelton will be the best of the rest cos he can punch and frank the bullet warren will make a nice little wedge along the way.

Skelton ko by body shot round 3. Williams v Sprott may not sound glamourous but I would tell anyone to watch it as there will be some fireworks!

Skelton will probably fight the winner of that one then, and I would suggest a mid round stoppage against either of them.

Harrison after that, Skelton will prob need a ko to win as Harrison is the BBC darling and we in this country are not adverse to the strange decision, anyone remember Eubank v Sherry? Saying that, Skelton is more than capable but Harrison is a lot better than people give him credit, IMO.

agree with the last one, not a massive Harrison fan myself but the fella has got ability and will achieve at British/European level.

skelton will do francis. but wot i want to see is skelton Vs harrison. i want harrison to get BATTERD i dont no any one who likes him he just fights bums and thinks he is wicked. lets see how he does against SKELTON some one who will hit him back... THATS IF THEY GET IT ON

Aye 007, but remember Audley won gold at the Olympics - an achievement very few people will ever do! He hasn't just fought bums - he's worked his way up, the same way that Matt is. They've fought some of the same people, its just that Matt has been dispaching his opponents far quicker than Audley did...

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Interesting, I meet Audley breifly last year when I was in London staying at that Harrods apartment complex where he lives - he seemed pretty down to earth to me. Not at all arrogant - mind you he was a bit dubious about sparring with Kickboxers because of the leg kicks (LOL)Smart guy too

I understand that people don't like him as a fighter becasue he seems to lack real fire in the belly and KO power - but I thought he was pretty OK as a person.

But I do like Mat, interviewed him a couple of time in Japan in Osaka anothe pretty good bloke. He sounds like he is doing great things with his boxing ... interesting that although he had thudding power as a Kickboxer he never really seemed to have that "shot by a 357" stopping power that say a Hunt or Lebanner has ... it seems he has harnessed this in his boxing career.

Imagine Audley vs Mat under K_1 or Thai rules - it would be a massacre.

How come you guys hate Audley so much, is it because he gets paid too well for beating up medorce oppposition or does it run deeper than that ? Just curious

I think that if Audley prepared well he would win a 10 -12 rounder on points but only if is prepared to go to war in the fight to get some respect as well as hit and run. But I also remember Mat getting hugley frustrated by certain fighters in K-1 and seemingly giving up the ghost a bit - so I'd be interested to see how he fared if he could not dominate Audley early and had to go to a plan B - to me this is an intriging fight which could make or break both fighters.

Just some thoughts from NZ

Hello Bill,
Good topic!

I would have to go with Mr Skelton, he does have the explosive power that Audley seems to lack, obviously both are very good fighters.We, as people shouldn't let our personal views interfere with the truth, or to wish others mis-fortune!
Whatever the result it will be a good fight, and although I go with with Matt, I wish both fighters well whatever happens!

Just my thoughts.
Tony

As proud as I am to be English I do hate the way a lot of our population put our own people down. It happened all the time with Eubank and more recently with Naz, even though they are two of the most successful boxers this country has seen. What is more perplexing is that we lap up the Americans, for instance, for being the same showmen e.g. Sugar Ray Leonard.

As regards Audley, there is a train of thought that he only fights weak opponents, which make people go against him. As far as I am concerned, he won us a gold medal in the Olympics so we should be 100% proud of him and get behind him whatever he does.

He is progressing in his pro career exactly the same way as Lennox did or Nigel Benn, for example, or any of our past/curent champs for that matter. No one in their right mind is going to fight a world class fighter after only 14 fights, all of which he has won and 10 by ko incidentally, so not that bad a record really. Brian Nix had also been in with some quality fighters so that is a step in the right direction.

Its about time we stopped bashing our own and got behind them, as this attitude only hinders sport in our country. It wouldn`t be a bad thing if we took a lesson from the Aussies in getting behind our sportspeople, as they are patriotic to the extreme, as has been show on this site as few times!

Totally agree Phill!

Gordon has sparred with Harrison twice now and before he sparred with him his view was similar to others (negative) but Gordon says he is a really nice bloke and he has got power.

We both wish Matt the best of luck against Francis, (who Gordon has also sparred with) I think Gordon and Matt went to Japan together. I believe Matt did very well out there against a few big names.

Skelton to win. He's the man on the up. I'm trying to remember if they fought each other on the Kickboxing circuit in the late 80's early 90's because they were both on the same circuit.

im as patriotic as can be but i think that Audleys progression is just TOO slow, he turned pro in 2000 when skelton was still fighting muay thai, its now nearly 2004, Audley just hasnt been tested yet.

it might seem like im "audley bashing", but im not id support him if i saw him in a decent fight but everything shown on the bbc so far has been a joke, iv seen nothing to support, i just feel sorry for those who bought tickets, he doesnt show the hunger that a future champ should have all he can do is talk.

skelton on the other hand has made further progression in half the time, if you listen to him in interveiws he dosnt "big himself up" as harrison does yet produces better goods in the ring.

IMO as audleys boxing career has been way longer then skeltons, we should have had Harrison vFransis by now. why havent we? cos matts up for the challage but audley just wants to protect his unbeaten record.

when harrion stops playing it safe and fights someone in his league then im behind him 100% but i think weve got a long wait

Have to agree with Phil here, only in this country do we slag people of for being good at something. From an early age, excellance is discouraged, it's very sad to see. Harrison won us a gold medal in the olympics, give him credit!

Skelton to beat the lot of them though!

AYE SMILER. HE DID WIN THE GOLD AND I TAKE MY HAT OF TO HIM WOT A ACHIEVEMENT. BUT IT WAS WITH A HEAD GAURD ON AND IT WAS AMATUER BOXING A BIG DIF FROM PRO. AND SKELTON HAS COME FROM TOP LEVEL THAIBOXING. FIGHTING TOP LADS AND STOPPING THEM. AND NOW HE IS KO FIGHTERS IN THE BOXING RING. HE IS VERY DANGEROUS. AND HAS FACED MANY HARD FIGHTERS. WE WILL JUST HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE

im with SKELTON on that 007

Skelton by stoppage for me, I don't think Francis looks hungry enough for this one.

ive seen harrison fight a couple of times on american tv. he looks to have
good skills, but he really hasnt been tested yet. it would be ok for a guy 10
years younger to take his time and fight 20 something fights against trial horses, but i would like to see harrison fight someone a little more substantial sooner
rather than later. his two opponents ive seen were way overmatched.
if he really wants to get into world class contention he needs to step up his
level of competition.

skelton beats francis body shots francis is finished matt skelton not special really just big and strong not been hit yet harrison will beat him easy but skelton is winning though so good luck him .
harrison is training with real good coach over in the states and gettin the sparring with decent pros oliver harrison has done the same with farnell,moore and foster.
audley gets slagged why because he is a winner ok maybe he has not rocketed to stardom in ten or so fights but its a learning curve if he had gone with the very bitter frank warren then all would fine and in mr warrens eyes i read his report sayin roy jones is not special oh ok then? eugene maloney says skelton will be world champ in 2 years but he said hatton would lose to jason rowlands?
skelton domestically top,but world ?

The Williams v Sprott fight is on Sky Sports 1 this Saturday (Jan 24th) at 8pm by the way. I would defo recommend watching it as there is 100% going to be some fireworks and controversy!

Sprott is going to get knocked out again, I was at the press conference and he just didn't look very confident.

Knocked out again??? Id have been spreadeagled if I had been punched in the bollocks by a 16 stone monster 3 times!

I agree with Vinny regarding Matts status, I think he can go to the top very quickly domesticly but will never quite make the top level on the world stage. I think Audley has a better chance of that.

It was still counted as a knockout

I think??

Styles make fights and Matt vs Audley could be interesting but it would seem to be a silly move to bring them together this early, why not have two fighters climbing on the world scene than one - both have different syles and cater to different tastes and sets up for a better brit vs Brit fight in the long term once both have a bit of a name over seas,

thats if either of them make it which is yet to be seen ... they have a lot of learning to do. Particularly mat, in terms of wether he has got a plan b if he fights a guy who stands up to his power onslaught and fires back with hard or harder shots which is what will happen in the next step up.Mat doesn't seem to have huge defensive skill yet.

Audley because he has a different style and proabley more techincal skill might perform better at this level.

It'd be great to see both succeed, it'd do wonders for british boxing - potentially a Nigel Benn , Chris Eubank rivally developing over the long term ??

both lack the charm of eubank and the power of benn but i can see loads a money for them both!

francis is in germany sparring with good pros,plus he did beat pele reid too and danny williams and says he will do skelton no worries! but maybe he can prove us wrong? who knows! says skelton will not do the later rounds.
hhhhmmmm!

Good point Mike, what is the point in matching them up so early, we are thin on the ground with decent heavies so lets leave the rivalry to build up for a year or two. Cant be left that long though due to their age, they are getting on a bit!

Skelton by KO but i think williams would beat them both easy!

why would williams beat both easy ? remember samil sam who lost against gomez (cruiserweight)he did williams easy! who has williams beat bear in mind he has been a pro eight years (i think)! ok skelton and harrison not proven but gold medal is a good yard stick as its the same sport but less intense k1 is not the same thats why botha,briggs,tyson(if he does go over k1)will do a few but not the top boys (lebanner,hoost,cro cop)ok skelton is very good but k1 its like cricket and tennis to ball games both different sports,no am not a skelton hater or massive harrison fan either but lets not use oh he did excellent in k1 too judge him thats not really what its about BUT he is 11-0 so it says something for his boxing talent,domestically williams is top as is skelton,but i think in the long run harrison will be the boy

'tyson(if he does go over k1)'...won't happen! What he was actually paid by K1 corp was printed in Boxing News last week. It was less than 100,000 dollars..which is less than Tyson's bill for condoms I think. It was just PR. Look for Tyson to fight Joe Mesi after a warm up fight.

Back to thread. Skelton beats Francis late in the fight.

ok i agree but maybe and its a just ,francis late! lets see must admit its exciting sort of? and sprott COULD do it!

tyson v joe mesi ,he has just beat monte barratt on points got dropped too but to his credit got up to win,tyson v toney would be top but both trained by the man of the moment freddie roach so hard to put together fight to look forward to this year ! de la hoya v trinidad 2 ,mosley v winky wright,toney v anyone because he is class! spinks v judah.

Rematch Toney vs RJJ - and see James get his ass handed over on a plate again ...

yep i agree,toney wont beat jones but he would beat alot of the others except maybe chris byrd.

I think Sprott has a chance tomorrow, anyone agree?

RJJ would run rings Toney, no doubt it would be a points decision but it would be unanimous.

i do its possible he was winning last time out!

RE: punch in the groin from danny williams ,.....
the referreing in that fight was diabolical!!!
that ref wanted taking outside and giving a good shoeing!!!
either that or he wanted a "44" putting in his mouth!!!
or he wanted to be taken for a ride and dumped somewhere without his trousers!!!

audley harrison would beat sprott easy and next skelton and francis!
williams did not do enough to win and thats it never mind ian darkes score card glenn mc crory had long a draw nope he lost sometimes it sways you but thats boxing!

Williams did f**k all throughout the fight, even in the last 3 rounds when both Sprotts arms were paralysed. At least Sprott rocked Williams now and again, although the fight was not really worthy of being called a championship match up. I think it showed clearly the dearth of talent in the British heavyweight scene for this to be for a British title. Good to see John McDonald back at ringside bcos he is half decent and will clean up domestically (not counting Skelton, Harrison and Lewis in this though).

Interesting to see Takaloo got beaten as well, bit of a setback for him.

john mc dermot he is but williams got beat easy never mind what sky say!
i said and phil did and mr dean white that sprott could do it .

I don't think Williams fought the right fight but I can't believe Sprott won, I thought Williams still out pointed him

What I can't believe was the belief of Darke and McCrory (who I usually like a lot) that this was a 'good fight', 'cos it wasn't. Williams fought very strangely and sprott seemed reluctant to go for it.I don't want to see a rematch and sprott should defend against the winner of skelton/francis. What williams does now I don't know. He should maybe go back to the BBC and beg Harrison to fight him!

Shocking fight, shocking decision and another shocking advert for British Heavyweight Boxing. I cannot understand why I always end up watching this rubbish. My own fault really, because every time I watch the Heavy guys I expect Steak and Chips but always end up with Beans on Toast.

Re-match? Whatever..

agree with colin, glenn and ian had keith long a draw???? sprott lacked belief danny williams lacks devil but yeah it was borin!!!

I think even Michael Sprott knew no-one would pay to put on a rematch between that pair hence his hesitation when asked the question. Keith Long is soooooooooo sub standard it is embarrassing. Not as embarrassing as the fact that is the best we have to offer on TV. No wonder we only get one World Heavyweight champ per 100 years!

harrison fights for wbf title versus the dutch sonny liston on march 20th!

disppointed to read that. The WBF title is crap and it means that if he wins that he probably won't fight for the British title. It looks like he's taken that because Warren has freezed him out over here.

warren was bitter towards lewis too and hamed when he left him and didnt give a f***k when williams lost,treated robin reid like a tw** also!
so he hates harrison no suprises there then oh well we have good old mr excitment johnny nelson to watch yawn! he is a good promoter but a bitter man i think.

warren was bitter towards lewis too and hamed when he left him and didnt give a f***k when williams lost,treated robin reid like a tw** also!
so he hates harrison no suprises there then oh well we have good old mr excitment johnny nelson to watch yawn! he is a good promoter but a bitter man i think.