Malik “King” Scott (38-2-1, 13 Kos) made his PBC debut on Friday night in Orlando, and earned himself a unanimous decision victory over veteran Tony “The Tiger” Thompson, who falls to (40-6, 27 Kos.) Scott survived a 9th round knockdown and displayed superb ring generalship and boxing ability throughout the night.
Scott made the most of his second chance with last night’s performance on PBC on Bounce TV. After knockout losses to Derek Chisora and Deontay Wilder, many had written Scott off. With a win over former title challenger Tony Thompson however, Scott has now positioned himself nicely for a showdown with one of the many heavyweights Al Haymon has in his stable.
Scott can go many routes considering all the options he has to choose from; He could pick a matchup against another veteran such as Chris Arreola or Amir Mansour. The amount of young, yet untested heavyweights that Haymon has under his control is also vast.
Dominic Breazeale and Gerald Washington are both undefeated but coming off of less than stellar performances on PBC. A fight between Scott vs any of the young sluggers of PBC would be a big step up in competition for the young guys. Charles Martin, Jarrell Miller, and Trevor Bryan are fighters who are heavy handed and are fairly raw yet may be ready for a big test against a highly skilled boxer such as Scott.
Scott displayed against Thompson why some people believe he is the most technically sound boxers in the heavyweight division today. Scott may not possess the power that one desires a heavyweight contender to have, yet he is a nightmare for any heavyweight who is not in peak condition or is simply not athletic enough to keep up with Malik Scott.
From the start of the fight, Scott was getting out of the way of Thompsons punches with relative ease. He could not miss with his right hand. Scott came into the fight in excellent condition and did not seem to lose any steam even after he got knocked down in the 9th.
There was talk about the winner of this fight facing Deontay Wilder, maybe not next, but eventually they said.[Bounce TV Commentators] That does not seem likely to happen at all. The only way either of these guys get a title shot anytime soon is by earning a mandatory shot, which may take a few more wins against top 15 heavyweights.
Malik Scott may not be the biggest puncher the sport of boxing has to offer, yet his technical skills and ring awareness cannot be undermined. One thing is for certain, though: Scott got his career back on track, and is now in the mix in the heavyweight division as he was a few years back.
