Skelton v Chagaev weigh in news by Ian McNeilly Jan 18th 2008

Matt Skelton weighed in at 18st 2lbs today for his WBA heavyweight title challenge tomorrow night against Uzbekistan champion Ruslan Chagaev. It's very much the weight one would expect for the Bedford Bear, who has boxed with a seven pound weight range for all of his last ten contests. Chagaev weighed in at 16st 5lbs, giving the Englishman an advantage of 25lbs. This will hardly bother the champion seeing as the man from whom he won the belt, 'The Beast from the East' Nikolai Valuev, outweighed him by more than 90 pounds. A reported 200-strong Skelton army have made there way to Dusseldorf, Germany, to watch what might very well be an ugly contest. "Training has gone really well, and I'm going back to the UK with the title," said Skelton. "I'm ready to go to war if I have to. I've trained for 12 hard rounds and feel in great shape." Chagaev has a reason to like the host town. "I beat John Ruiz in Dusseldorf, so the city has happy memories for me. "I'm looking forward to getting back in the ring and successfully defending my title." On the undercard, ABA lightweight champion Anthony Crolla fights Tomascz Kwiecien. Setanta Sports 2 televise the fight live from 8pm.

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go matt go! Jan 19th 2008, 05:35:41 by jbslegend i dont read the mainstream gutter press so dont know if this fight is even mentioned or not. probably not. but thats how it is nowadays right? but real boxing fans will know that this is an historic night as born and bred matt skelton fights for the heavyweight crown. and you know what? i think hes gonna bring it home! good luck matt, from everybody here at home who knows the score Unlucky Matt - you tried your best, big man - Ed.