This Friday night in Brisbane, Australia, heavyweights Alex Leapai and Malik Scott square off in a near pick ’em fight at the books. Scott is a slight underdog at (+110), with Leapai perhaps getting the hometown edge at (-130). The fight is over 10 rounds, and no belts are on the line, but both fighters are trying to avoid a second loss in a row. Though neither is exactly a threat to the world titles, both men are looking to stay in the mix as rated opponents in an increasingly competitive division that has a lot of fighters log jammed under champion Wladimir Klitschko.
Leapai is a hard-hitter with 24 KOs in his 30 wins, but he is coming off a shot at Klitschko’s title where he lost in five rounds and didn’t really mount any threat. No one is calling for another title shot for Leapai, but down under he may be heading for a potential showdown and a solid payday with undefeated 22-year-old New Zealander Joseph Parker. Parker is (11-0) and has shared the bill with Leapai earlier in his career, so the match-up is a no-brainer, but Leapai will want to be coming off a win heading into that negotiation.
Scott is in desperate need of a win. The 34-year-old had forced his name into the conversation of prospects with a formidable (35-0) record. Since then, he won a six rounder against a foe with a losing record sandwiched in between an overall 0-2-1 showing against stepped up competition. He fought Vyacheslav Glazkov to a draw, then was stopped by Dereck Chisora in six rounds. More puzzling was his opening roud loss to prospect Deontay Wilder, as he was able to show nothing and had his stock plummet. The fight with Wilder is usually shown as proof of one of two things: Scott has a bad chin, or Scott has no heart or fight in him. That is talk no fighter’s career can withstand for long, and Scott will need to show something in this fight.
See Deontay Wilder stop Malik Scott in the opening round of their bout for yourself:
