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45-year-old Matt Skelton beat down pretender prospect Tom Dallas today in Sheffield, ending things in the fifth round after they'd already gotten almost sadly one-sided.
Skelton (26-6, 21 KO) pressured Dallas (15-2, 11 KO) from the get-go, and starting in the second round it became a truly dominant performance. Dallas, 26, was once considered a strong heavyweight prospect alongside David Price and Tyson Fury, but this fight should seal it: He's not only not as good as those guys, he's just plain not good.
Following a highly debatable win over American journeyman Zack Page, which we felt Page clearly won, Dallas lost a TKO-2 to David Price, and now this.
I hate to write anyone off to this extent, especially a 26-year-old fighter who is surely feeling bad enough right now without our help, but honesty in analysis is what we do here, so truthfully, if you ask me, Dallas might want to consider another career. He did not have the look of a fighter in the ring today, telling his team after three rounds that he was "tired," and kind of having the appearance of someone feeling bad for himself. By the fourth, he was totally finished. He did not want to be there, and he was letting a 45-year-old man who hadn't fought in almost a year and a half physically dominate him.
The stoppage came when Skelton battered Dallas on the ropes, which led to Dallas leaning back and about halfway out of the ring. Skelton kept throwing, raining down blows from over the top of Dallas. The fourth round had ended in the same fashion; it was as if Dallas was literally looking for a way out of the ring, and Skelton just wouldn't stop hitting him.
Our live coverage continues with Jamie McDonnell vs Ivan Pozo next, followed by Wladimir Klitschko vs Jean Marc Mormeck.