Today (October 31, 2014) in Australia, Heavyweights Alex Leapai and Malik Scott square off in a fight between two fringe contenders scrambling to stay relevant in the heavyweight division. The books have a near pick ’em line, with Leapai slightly favored at (-130) and Scott retuning even money. Leapai is a veteran slugger with 24 stoppages in his 30 wins. Overall at (30-5-3), Leapai is coming off the biggest match of his life as he challenged world champion Wladimir Klitschko in Germany and was stopped in five rounds. Leapai was down on several several occasions and was generally considered to have posed no challenge to the champion. At 35 years old and coming off that experience, Leapai now returns to fight in front of his hometown fans in a bid to avoid losing 2 fights in a row for the first time in his career. Even if Leapai is realistic and realizes another world title shot is a long shot, the taste of the big time in his last match should motivate him to stay relevant. For his part, Scott is in desperate need of a win. He had worked his record to an impressive (35-0), but since 2013 when he stepped up the level of his competition, he is a maudlin 1-2-1 overall. His draw was with the aforementioned Glazkov. He was stopped in six rounds by Dereck Chisora. He won a six-rounder before heading into a showdown with (30-0) Deontay Wilder, who knocked Scott out in roughly 90 seconds. Scott is in a precarious position. His TKO loss to Chisora in the UK is a bit questionable, as he went down to a lopping punch and seemed okay. He stayed on a knee deep into the count and stood as the referee hit nine. Then the referee waived off the fight, leaving Scott befuddled. Against Wilder, the questions arise even more strongly. Wilder appeared to hit Scott in the gloves, but Scott did not get up after being sent down and he was met with a chorus of boos by the fans in attendance. Anything like a weak performance in this fight and Scott will find himself sent way back down the ladder, so hopefully he feels that pressure and steps up his performances. Leapai’s loss to Klitschko in Germany also featured on the card young up and coming Joseph Parker, a heavyweight out of New Zealand who won his eighth fight that day. Parker has gone to 11-0 since and he is probably the most promising Heavyweight prospect coming from Australia as he is just 22 years old. Parker recently stepped up in competition, defeating wily veteran Sherman Williams by UD, so look for Leapai vs Parker to be made if Leapai does his job and defeats Scott.
