The 33 year-old, who was beaten by Skelton in one round eight years ago, came through a hard-fought slug-fest to drag himself back into the frame for a rematch with old foe David Price.
The judges at ringside in London carded scores of 97-93 and 97-94 twice to hand McDermott a possible future opportunity to put right another first round loss to the recently-beaten Liverpudlian who is yet to annouce his return to the ring.
