Malik Scott Cruises Past Alex Leapai To Revive Career

Malik Scott revived his career—and restored his credibility—with a dominant 10 round points win over Alex Leapai in their heavyweight clash Friday evening in New Zealand.

Scores were 100-90, 98-92 and 97-92 (according to BoxRec.com) in favor of the visiting American. The bout was not televised, which only adds to the confusion of the show being postponed by a week due to lack of TV rights for the originally scheduled October 24 date.

Scott's big win on the road helps in part to remove the bad taste left behind from his one-round flop versus Deontay Wilder this past March in Puerto Rico. The bout was supposed to be a test for the unbeaten American contender, but Scott hardly put up a fight as he was knocked out in just over 90 seconds. 

The win over Leapai—six months removed from a knockout loss to Wladimir Klitschko in their World heavyweight championship contest this past April—gives Scott his first win over a warm body in more than two years. His record now moves to 37-2-1 (13KOs). His lone other victory over that stretch came earlier this year over a sub .500 fighter.

Wedged in between wins over Leapai and his Sept. '12 nod over Bowie Tupou, Scott landed on the wrong end of consecutive controversial outcomes. 

The Philly boxer was held to a highly questionable draw versus Vyacheslav Glaskov in a Feb. '13 affair many believe he deserved with room to spare. Five months later came his 6th round knockout loss to Dereck Chisora in London, in which he foolishly remained on the canvas for just over nine seconds before leaping to his feet following a knockdown. The sequence brought to light what is common knowledge in the U.K., the unwritten "Nine and Out" rule, where if a fighter is still down by the time the referee reaches nine, the count will accelerate to ten to render the fight a knockout. 

Leapai has now lost two straight following an upset win over previously unbeaten Denis Boytsov last November. That win earned the Aussie an unexpected title shot versus Klitschko, supplanting Boytsov as the mandatory challenger. It could have very well proven to be the last day in the sun for the 35-year old heavyweight, who falls to 30-6-3 (24KOs).