Malik Scott Upset Win in Australia Highlights First Boxing Weekend of November 2014
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
After getting knocked out in the first round by top ranked Deontay Wilder, the career of Philadelphia heavyweight Malik Scott, age 34, 37-2-1, seemed to be over. However, Scott proved his worst critics wrong on foreign soil Saturday night in the most unlikely of places-Logan Metro Sports Centre in Queensland, Australia.
Traditionally speaking in the boxing world, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Thailand are among those in the Far East places where fighters from Azumah Nelson to Osumanu Adama to Hasim Rahman never won important bouts on the cards, regardless of the merits of the performance. Without scoring a knockout, a foreign fighter winning in these places is practically an impossibility. Jack Johnson, DuJuan Johnson and Kevin Johnson have done it in the past. Maybe it has something to do with the Johnson name, maybe not. But for an Australian judge to give a foreign fighter a 100-90 win on the scorecard in Australia, that’s not just art, it’s a tidal wave of a statement.
Australian based Alex Leapai of Samoa, 30-6-1, who beat 33-0 Denis Boytsov, and then got stopped in the fifth round by Wladimir Klitschko in a World Heavyweight title bout, seemed a class above Scott for his comeback bout. Instead, Leapai looked hopeless, with Scott cruising to a 100-90, 99-91, and 97-92 unanimous decision. One Australian judge nonetheless gave the American Scott all ten rounds, practically spelling doom to Leapai’s contender status. Former world heavyweight contender Joe Bugner of Australia, who fought Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Ron Lyle in his time, warned before this bout Leapai would have to throw caution to the wind against the taller fighter Scott, or the same situation of Leapai’s bout with Klitschko would repeat itself. The astute Bugner’s prediction came true exactly as Bugner predicted.
Simply put, after losing to Klitschko and getting dropped three times, Leapai had nothing offensively left in the tank at age 35. Fellow Samoan Tua failed to win comebacks at age 38 and age 41, losing 10 round decisions in both attempts. Leapai simply washed up earlier. Leapai could try a rematch with Kevin Johnson, or a try at ageless Monte Barrett, if he wants to take one more chance at deciding if he has anything left or not in 2015.
Hot and cold former World Boxing Organization World Super Bantamweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. continued his mysterious hot and cold run, winning the vacant WBC USNBC Featherweight title in Caguas, Puerto Rico, by eight round majority decision over Jonathan Arrelano of California. Vazquez, age 30, has gone win-loss, win-loss, win-loss, win-loss, and now win-in his last nine contests. This was his second bout at featherweight. Vazquez lost a ten round split decision in an NABF Featherweight bout at Madison Square Garden in New York City to Marvin Sonsona this past June.
From the Crown Plaza Hotel in Denver, Colorado, Universal Boxing Federation American official Mike Melendez staged two rock ‘em sock ‘em UBF regional title bouts, perhaps the best UBF belt fights staged since the UBF’s inception several years ago. Manuel Lopez won a ten round decision over Cesar Holguin to win the vacant UBF International Light Welterweight title, and Ricky Lopez won an eight round decision over Justin Lopez to win the vacant UBF All-Americas Featherweight title.
At UIC Pavillion in Chicago, 31-0 Tomoki Kameda of Japan retained his WBO World Bantamweight title on neutral territory with a 12 round split decision over Mexico’s Alejandro Hernandez. Dominican super featherweight Javier Fortuna, 26-0-1, tuned up by knocking out hometown Caguas overhyped Abner Cotto (second cousin of Miguel Cotto) in the fifth round. Polish light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara got taken on a comeback trip to hell, winning a 10 round unanimous decision over Doudou Ngumbu, A Congo fighter now out of France, who came to fight and did so. Suddenly improving Georgia super middleweight Lekan ‘Lucky 13’ Byfield scored his fourth consecutive upset by the matchmakers, stopping 10-0 Demond Nicholson in the sixth round. Byfield of recent has also scored upsets over 7-0 Isaiah Seldon, 9-2 Justin Verdin, and 13-1-1 Jason Escalera, to the extent this reporter does not consider Byfield’s victories upsets anymore. All of a sudden, this kid is quite good, promoters be so advised.
After going undefeated in his first 20 bouts from 2000 to 2004, mysterious super middleweight Dennis Sharpe, 30, remained a mystery to himself as he failed to win for the 20th consecutive time in Washington, D.C., getting stopped in the fourth round by Brandon Quarles. Sharpe’s 17-14-4 record includes 24 decisions, including an eight round decision loss to Cerresso Fort last year, and an eight round majority draw with Josh Crouch in 2012, with one judge scoring the bout 77-75 for Sharpe.
At the Isle of Capri Casino in Lula, Mississippi, ageless heavyweight contender Shannon ‘The Cannon’ Briggs scored a first round knockout over Richard Carmack at 2:59 of the first round. In scoring his 49th career knockout, Briggs, 57-6-1, Brooklyn, New York, remained unwilling to go to his stool for the second round when deemed unnecessary. Carmack, Kansas City, Missouri, failed to win for the seventh time in his last eight bouts.
Silent but deadly former WBO World Cruiserweight champion Victor Emilio Ramirez, perhaps the best fighter out of Argentina in the heavier weights 160 pounds and up since Carlos Monzon, Juan Domingo Roldan and Victor Galindez, came off the canvas in the first round to knock out Deon Elam and retain his IBF Latino Cruiserweight title, his fifth consecutive win with this belt. An underdog, his other victims have included Danny Santiago and Glendy Hernandez. Ramirez is bidding for a shot at the IBF World title against the winner of Yoan Pablo Hernandez versus Ola Afolabi in December 2014 in Germany.
Two female world title bouts ended in split decision victories for the hometown girl. Eva Voraberger of Vienna, Austria, retained her WBF and WIBF World Super Flyweight titles with a 10 round split decision over Hungarian Renata Domsadi in Vienna. Yuko Kuroki of Fukuoka, Japan, retained her WBC World Female Minimumweight title by 10 round decision over Katia Gutierrez of Sinaloa, Mexico.
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