Carly ‘Thumper’ Skelly will swap Liverpool for Arizona in maiden world title bid
35-year-old unbeaten Brit Carly Skelly (4-0-1) has landed her dream fight on February 5 and will head to Phoenix, Arizona to challenge WBA World bantamweight champion Jamie Mitchell (7-0-2, 4KOs).
The Matchroom Boxing event, headlined by Carlos Cuadras vs Srisaket Sor Rungvisai for the vacant WBC World super-flyweight title, will be broadcast worldwide on DAZN.
It’ll be the American champion’s maiden title defence and the British challenger’s first ever world title bid, and with both boxers undefeated, in their mid-thirties, it’s set to be a tantalising 50-50 clash.
Skelly’s pro debut in 2019, less than three years ago, was held in a small hall at the Greenbanks Sports Academy in Liverpool, and now she competes in a 16,000-capacity arena in just her sixth contest.
It’ll serve as the Liverpudlian’s third consecutive championship contest, having fought to a draw for the Commonwealth super-bantamweight title in October 2020, followed by winning the WBC International super-bantamweight belt one year later in her last fight.
Her next opponent, Jamie ‘The Miracle’ Mitchell, is already familiar to Carly and UK fight fans, having ripped the WBA belt away from Watford’s Shannon Courtenay in October last year, live on DAZN. Despite one judge ruling as a draw, the other two scored the contest to the American visitor, who was far busier throughout the 10 two-minute rounds.
Now, the 36-year-old from Las Vegas battles another British opponent, but this time she is the defending champion on home turf.
In the opposite corner, challenger Skelly gets a golden opportunity to become a world champion in just her sixth year as a boxer, having first started boxing aged 29.
However, she knows full well she will be heading into the lion’s den as the underdog, which is a challenge she is relishing she said, “For me, when you’re the underdog or the away fighter that gives me that little bit more fuel or fire in my belly, to be honest.
“I know it will be tough, but I think it’s a fight I can win. I don’t underestimate her by any means, I know she’s a good fighter and she wants it, she’s fighting for her family, you know, she’s a mum like myself, so she’ll come for war, but as a fighter I think I’ll be getting the win.”
Trained by Sid Saidankey at North Mersey ABC, Skelly is a full-time pediatric nurse and mother of two boys. She had her first ever boxing fight for a charity event, aged 29, then won 15 from 20 amateur fights, representing England and winning international medals, all during her thirties.
After turning pro in 2019, ‘Thumper’ cut her teeth on the small hall circuit in her first year, under the guidance of manager Paul Stevenson, then landed a Commonwealth super-bantamweight titleshot in her second year against top prospect Amy Timlin, who was 4-0 at the time. Theyclashed over 10-rounds for the vacant belt to open the Oleksandr Usyk vs Dereck Chisora Sky Sports Box Office show in 2020.
Southpaw Skelly started strongly and largely dominated the exciting contest, but the scores were handed out as 96-95 to Timlin, 97-96 to Skelly, and 95-95 evens, to end in a split decision draw, and they each went home empty handed. Carl Froch was disappointed and aggrieved at the result for Skelly, and made his opinions known in his role as a pundit at ringside.
The Merseysider stepped up to the big occasion, when her chance came, against an unbeaten fighter and now she gets another chance at silverware, but this time it’s 5,000 miles away from home and not just a 200-mile trip down the M1.
“Since I got that draw with Amy, I’ve had more fuel in me to go further because there was no way I was stopping until I got a title.
“I was meant to box for it [the Commonwealth title] in October but it ended up being for the WBC International, so once I won that, it was great, but I wanted to get to back to bantamweight because I only stepped up to super-bantam to box Amy, so I always wanted to win titles at my weight.”
Her last opponent, Dorota Norek (6-3, 1KO), couldn’t qualify to compete for the Commonwealth title, being Polish, so the WBC International was the replacement.
The winner of Mitchell vs Skelly will most likely be mandated to face the former titleholder Shannon Courtenay next, which is a fight Skelly confirmed as “on the cards”, but first she has to secure the victory in the Valley of the Sun.
The event will start at 2am UK time, live on DAZN.
She added, “I just like to thank my sponsors for their support – Parnell’s Sports Bar; SLJ Civils Ltd; Williamson’s Family Butchers; My Body Therapy; Liverpool K9 Fertility; Autocare Repair Centre; Cryo Clinic; Sports Involved Ltd; SEP Construction Services; Tribe Clothing UK; Power Preps; The Inner Guru.”
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