Kerman Lejarraga destroys Bradley Skeete – Results

Boxingnews24.com

By Scott Gilfoid

Undefeated Kerman Lejarraga (25-0, 20 KOs) destroyed the highly ranked Bradley Skeete (27-2, 12 KOs) by a 2nd round knockout to capture the vacant EBU welterweight title on Saturday night in a shocking upset at the Bilboa Arena.

The 30-year-old Skeete never stood a chance, as he was completely over-matched by the much more powerful and young 25-year-old Spaniard Lejarraga. Skeete was knocked down three times in the contest before referee Daniel Van de Wiele finally halted the fight in round 2 after Skeete’s corner threw in the towel. Had Skeete been able to keep fighting, Lejarraga would have kept knocking him down, as he was much too powerful for him.

Moments into the 2nd round, he shorter 5’9” Lejarraga knocked the 6’1” Skeete with a hard right hand to the head. Skeete hit the deck after stumbling backwards. Sensing that he had Skeete where he wanted hi, Lejarraga dropped him for a second time with a crushing left to the body. The punch put Skeete on the canvas on one knee.

Skeete would have gone even if he hadn’t been hurt previously by a right hand to the head, because the shot to the body was too hard for him to take. When Skeete got to his feet, he looked like he was in distress, but for some reason he didn’t bother trying to clinch Lejarraga.

Smart fighters are taught to clinch their opponents to try and get out of the round, but Skeete never even tried to do that. You can blame that on inexperience. Skeete should have known better. As hard as Lejarraga was punching, it probably wouldn’t have mattered even if Skeete had made it out of the round. He was never going to be able to last long with the shots that Lejarraga landing in the fight, because he could not take his power for an instant.

All in all, it was a terrible performance by Skeete. He looked like he wasn’t trained properly in how to box the much more powerful Lejarraga. Skeete should have been boxing, moving and jabbing the entire fight instead of standing directly in front of the 25-year-old Lejarraga and trying to slug with him.
As one-sided as this fight was, it would be completely pointless for Skeete to try and avenge his loss to Lejarraga. Those two guys could face each other 100 times, and Skeete would be knocked out every time. He doesn’t the power, talent and dare I say the punch resistance to stand up to Lejarraga.

It’ll be interesting to see how Lejarraga does against someone like IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. or WBA World belt holder Lucas Matthysse. Lejarraga is ranked #8 WBA. He might get pushed up the rankings after this victory.

The only other time Skeete lost during his 8-year pro career was a 12 round unanimous decision to Frankie Gavin in November 2014. Before tonight’s fight, Skeete had won his last nine fights, including a 12 round unanimous decision win over Sam Eggington in March 2016.

It’s not the end of the road for Skeete. His loss merely showed he’s a domestic level scraper and not meant for the European level. You have to possess more talent than what Skeete showed tonight to do well on the European level against guys like Lejarraga.

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