Singleton: I want to make Skeete pay

On May 6th, the Copper Box Arena in London's Olympic Park will play host to Bradley Skeete's second defence of his British welterweight title.

For anyone that thinks a win for the Penge man with world title aspirations is a foregone conclusion, only needs to spend 5 minutes with challenger Shayne Singleton to know that it isn't going to be that simple.

Singleton is a man hellbent on winning that title, particularly as its Skeete that he can snatch it from.

The two were due to fight on two occasions but both bouts fell through, and Singleton feels his shot at Skeete and the British strap have been a long time in the making.

'It's been a long time coming for me after winning the Light- Welterweight English title four years ago. I thought the British would come sooner but I've ploughed on and finally got the shot. It means the world to me and I'm not going to let it slip.'

Singleton's last outing was a frustrating and somewhat worthless draw against Evaldas Korsakas, a fight he took at short notice to keep active after the initial Skeete fight fell through. A fight the Lancashire man, known as 'The Pain', is keen to commit to the past.

'I trained for 14 weeks to fight 12 rounds against a 6ft 1 orthodox back foot boxer in Skeete. I got the chance to keep busy on a show in Manchester after the Skeete fight fell through and couldn't get an opponent until the night before.

I was down to 10st 9lb got a phone call to say it was Korsakas at 11st 5lb ,a middle weight forward fighting southpaw over 4 rounds. I was told not to take the fight but I wanted a wage and wanted to fight. Yes, big mistake as the first bit of southpaw training for him was in the changing rooms before the fight. The last time I did any work with a southpaw was 12 months before. So I've removed that long week out of my mind.'

What is clear is that Singleton has not only been frustrated by lost opportunities but also by Skeete's attitude towards him in the press, and he is determined to get one over him when the two finally meet in East London.

'Skeete is a very good fighter, I can't take that away from him but he has disrespected me in a number of interviews and press releases therefore I'm going to make him pay.'

Should Skeete successfully defend his title in May he is expected to push on with his world title ambitions. Singleton feels that should he beat Skeete he would be entitled to a shot at a world title instead.

'After beating Skeete I would love to defend the British title to win it out right but as Skeete and his team are talking world titles for him against some of the top names they are automatically bringing me in to the picture of that outcome. So I can't see why I don't deserve that shot once I've dealt with Skeete.'