Interview: Malik Scott
By Joanna Maj
Photos: Peter Frutkoff
Boxing.pl’s Joanna Maj recently conducted a terrific interview with heavyweight Malik Scott, who is back on the rise after an October 24 win over former heavyweight title challenger Alex Leapai.
Fight #40 against Alex Leapai, who was coming off the loss against Vladimir Klitschko, gave you a much needed win. During the press conference before, you stated that you are not only going to win, but you will stop him at the same time. If not, retirement it is. We don’t want you to retire yet, but jokes aside, did Alex surprise you in any way that night and how satisfied are you with your performance on October 24th?
Yes the win was very much needed and the plan was to take Alex into deep water and drown him. But I broke my hand on his head in the 4th round, so therefore I was only able to deliver a ten round ass kicking and not the stoppage I promised myself.
Now that you mention it, weeks passed since the fight and you are still sporting a cast on your right hand. How bad did the Lionheart wound you?
I keep saying I broke my hand but it’s actually a bad fracture. Leapai’s head should be considered a weapon for how hard it is. I’m still in the gym training everyday and I will be out of this cast on the 20th and back in the ring in no time.
Another quote from the prefight conference: your dream was to go to a fighter’s home country and beat him in front of their crowd. You did it. How satisfying was it and were Australians less friendly after you were crowned the winner that night?
Beating an opponent in his own country in front of his own people is one of the sexiest achievements a fighter can conquer and it’s always been a dream of mine to do, so me beating Leapai in Australia, basically in his living room, was extremely thrilling and I’m glad I got it done.
You have collected (37) victories and seem to be back on the track to fight for the championship one day. How vivid is that dream now?
Me becoming heavyweight champion is something that’s extremely realistic and it’s going to happen for two reasons. First: Because I’m the best skilled heavyweight on planet earth and second: I’m unbreakable!!
Let’s talk a little bit about the two losses from your record. A stoppage against Dereck Chisora, where many actually believed you were winning that fight before the referee counted you out. I actually watched it again the other night and it looked like you accepted the decision with no objection what so ever, didn’t disagree with it – your corner did, loud and clear but you just stayed quiet. What was hiding behind that reaction or rather lack of it?
Ok now let’s talk about the Chisora fight and my reaction. First off all there has never been a fighter, who fought on another man’s home turf (country) and didn’t get a fair call or decision, filed a complaint, then justice was served. That has never happened in the history of the sport. Protesting, complaining and all that other shit is something that just sounds cool and shows passion I guess, but there is never any fair justice done behind that shit, and I’m never a man to cry over spilled milk.
It seems though you showed more passion months earlier when the draw was announced in the fight against Vyacheslav Glazkov.
Kinda, I guess. I fought the Russian kid Glazkov on NBC sports, beat him 8 out of 10 rounds, and they robbed me with a draw. I shouted a little bit about it and no rematch was called, and no justice was served, so I just moved and continued to stay spiritually unbreakable. In my opinion journalists, reporters, managers, promoters, etc 85% of the time are focused or talking about the wrong shit. The whole focus in the Chisora fight should have been the referee making a very bad call and he should have paid a price for that, so that it would never happen again to another fighter. But instead people would rather focus on my reaction after the fact, crazy!!! But I will say it’s a rematch that I’m praying for.
Then 8 months later, bout against Deontay Wilder and a stunning 1st round KO. I personally was disappointed because I did get my popcorn ready. Did you lose that fight in your head before actually going to that ring? 1 min and 36 seconds was all you could deliver that night?
The Deontay fight was simple, I got caught cold directly on my temple with a slapping left hook by a big puncher. First people was saying I didn’t even get hit, then they went to saying that: “Oh he got hit but that shot wasn’t even hard”. I was expecting Deontay’s shots to come down the middle early in the fight, so when he threw the hook around my guard it was unexpected and dead on the temple. Simple as that. The funniest part of the whole thing is when Joe Goossen had me in the dressing room after the fight, icing the lump that was on my head from the left hook I got hit with, while at the same time people was saying I didn’t get hit, insane!!!
What do you want to say to those, who think you threw those (2) fights?
How can I throw a fight when a referee made a bad call or when I get hit on the temple by considered the hardest puncher in the heavyweight division, crazy!!! And I’m sorry, that I’m not sorry, that you had your popcorn ready and I didn’t deliver that night. And the reason I say I’m not sorry, is because it’s life. There have been so many times in my life and tons of other people’s, that we have been so excited to go see a movie. We get our popcorn ready; we get our chocolate candy, and a nice soft drink. We sit down and watch the movie, and afterwards we’re like: “Well, that was a disappointment. I thought the movie would have been better, or had a better ending, or extended longer, etc”. But it’s life, shit happens.
So you did not like the Deontay Wilder movie…
Things don’t always play out how we think they should. I felt great before the Deontay fight, I expressed myself but it didn’t go as planned. But what’s sexy is how I didn’t let that ultimate defeat stop me or break me down at all. In fact it actually made me 10 times better, ask Alex Leapai. People who think I threw those fights can suck nuts.
The day of the fight. Do you have any rituals? And how do you celebrate after?
The day of my fight I just like to chill. Listen to Lana del Rey, Marvin Gaye and just wait on my moment. My celebrations are very worldly corny. I just go to my hotel room, smoke a cigar, chill with my team and talk about the masterpiece we painted or didn’t.
With Dan Goossen gone, one of the greatest influences on your life, who is here now to motivate, inspire and influence you?
Yeah Dan is gone, but his spirit is definitely still here and I talk to him everyday. He will always be in my heart. But I have two beautiful kids that keep me alive and going everyday. I have a beautiful darling of mine – daughter named Havailah, and my 10 year old prince Malik jr. They are my heart beats, so I definitely have tons of inspiration in my life besides myself.
What do you do between the fights and when not on training camps? I heard you wanted to make your own cigar. How did that go?
It’s Nicaragua where I go to do my cigar business. It’s great, I got some good business people down there that took me under their wing to help start my brand, so just stay on the look out for the “Kevailah” cigar.
You hash tag your pics with keywords #odd and #cubism on social networking sites. What meaning of Malik Scott are you trying to highlight by those?
My hashtags… let’s start with “odd”. It’s just my way of saying that I’m different from what is usually expected from most, in this modern day, for the most part. And “cubism” comes from my love for art. Picasso had a way of working/painting that was different then others or more so different then a lot of styles from his other paintings. And I feel as though life imitates art.
What’s on the Malik Scott’s life painting?
When I’m in a boxing ring, moving like no other heavyweight. Or when I’m in Nicaragua having some of the most beautiful women in the world rolling the creation of my very own brand cigar. Or when I’m loving over my daughter so much, I feel like I literally can just eat her up to pieces. All of these things is just my way of painting my life picture without being a copycat, but more like just being myself. #oddguy#cubism
Message to your fans and people in doubt, we call them haters.
I don’t have any haters. Everybody loves ‘King,’ at least I think they do. But if not, I still love them all so fucking much.
By Joanna Maj
Photos: Peter Frutkoff
Boxing.pl’s Joanna Maj recently conducted a terrific interview with heavyweight Malik Scott, who is back on the rise after an October 24 win over former heavyweight title challenger Alex Leapai.
Fight #40 against Alex Leapai, who was coming off the loss against Vladimir Klitschko, gave you a much needed win. During the press conference before, you stated that you are not only going to win, but you will stop him at the same time. If not, retirement it is. We don’t want you to retire yet, but jokes aside, did Alex surprise you in any way that night and how satisfied are you with your performance on October 24th?
Yes the win was very much needed and the plan was to take Alex into deep water and drown him. But I broke my hand on his head in the 4th round, so therefore I was only able to deliver a ten round ass kicking and not the stoppage I promised myself.
Now that you mention it, weeks passed since the fight and you are still sporting a cast on your right hand. How bad did the Lionheart wound you?
I keep saying I broke my hand but it’s actually a bad fracture. Leapai’s head should be considered a weapon for how hard it is. I’m still in the gym training everyday and I will be out of this cast on the 20th and back in the ring in no time.
Another quote from the prefight conference: your dream was to go to a fighter’s home country and beat him in front of their crowd. You did it. How satisfying was it and were Australians less friendly after you were crowned the winner that night?
Beating an opponent in his own country in front of his own people is one of the sexiest achievements a fighter can conquer and it’s always been a dream of mine to do, so me beating Leapai in Australia, basically in his living room, was extremely thrilling and I’m glad I got it done.
You have collected (37) victories and seem to be back on the track to fight for the championship one day. How vivid is that dream now?
Me becoming heavyweight champion is something that’s extremely realistic and it’s going to happen for two reasons. First: Because I’m the best skilled heavyweight on planet earth and second: I’m unbreakable!!
Let’s talk a little bit about the two losses from your record. A stoppage against Dereck Chisora, where many actually believed you were winning that fight before the referee counted you out. I actually watched it again the other night and it looked like you accepted the decision with no objection what so ever, didn’t disagree with it – your corner did, loud and clear but you just stayed quiet. What was hiding behind that reaction or rather lack of it?
Ok now let’s talk about the Chisora fight and my reaction. First off all there has never been a fighter, who fought on another man’s home turf (country) and didn’t get a fair call or decision, filed a complaint, then justice was served. That has never happened in the history of the sport. Protesting, complaining and all that other shit is something that just sounds cool and shows passion I guess, but there is never any fair justice done behind that shit, and I’m never a man to cry over spilled milk.
It seems though you showed more passion months earlier when the draw was announced in the fight against Vyacheslav Glazkov.
Kinda, I guess. I fought the Russian kid Glazkov on NBC sports, beat him 8 out of 10 rounds, and they robbed me with a draw. I shouted a little bit about it and no rematch was called, and no justice was served, so I just moved and continued to stay spiritually unbreakable. In my opinion journalists, reporters, managers, promoters, etc 85% of the time are focused or talking about the wrong shit. The whole focus in the Chisora fight should have been the referee making a very bad call and he should have paid a price for that, so that it would never happen again to another fighter. But instead people would rather focus on my reaction after the fact, crazy!!! But I will say it’s a rematch that I’m praying for.
Then 8 months later, bout against Deontay Wilder and a stunning 1st round KO. I personally was disappointed because I did get my popcorn ready. Did you lose that fight in your head before actually going to that ring? 1 min and 36 seconds was all you could deliver that night?
The Deontay fight was simple, I got caught cold directly on my temple with a slapping left hook by a big puncher. First people was saying I didn’t even get hit, then they went to saying that: “Oh he got hit but that shot wasn’t even hard”. I was expecting Deontay’s shots to come down the middle early in the fight, so when he threw the hook around my guard it was unexpected and dead on the temple. Simple as that. The funniest part of the whole thing is when Joe Goossen had me in the dressing room after the fight, icing the lump that was on my head from the left hook I got hit with, while at the same time people was saying I didn’t get hit, insane!!!
What do you want to say to those, who think you threw those (2) fights?
How can I throw a fight when a referee made a bad call or when I get hit on the temple by considered the hardest puncher in the heavyweight division, crazy!!! And I’m sorry, that I’m not sorry, that you had your popcorn ready and I didn’t deliver that night. And the reason I say I’m not sorry, is because it’s life. There have been so many times in my life and tons of other people’s, that we have been so excited to go see a movie. We get our popcorn ready; we get our chocolate candy, and a nice soft drink. We sit down and watch the movie, and afterwards we’re like: “Well, that was a disappointment. I thought the movie would have been better, or had a better ending, or extended longer, etc”. But it’s life, shit happens.
So you did not like the Deontay Wilder movie…
Things don’t always play out how we think they should. I felt great before the Deontay fight, I expressed myself but it didn’t go as planned. But what’s sexy is how I didn’t let that ultimate defeat stop me or break me down at all. In fact it actually made me 10 times better, ask Alex Leapai. People who think I threw those fights can suck nuts.
The day of the fight. Do you have any rituals? And how do you celebrate after?
The day of my fight I just like to chill. Listen to Lana del Rey, Marvin Gaye and just wait on my moment. My celebrations are very worldly corny. I just go to my hotel room, smoke a cigar, chill with my team and talk about the masterpiece we painted or didn’t.
With Dan Goossen gone, one of the greatest influences on your life, who is here now to motivate, inspire and influence you?
Yeah Dan is gone, but his spirit is definitely still here and I talk to him everyday. He will always be in my heart. But I have two beautiful kids that keep me alive and going everyday. I have a beautiful darling of mine – daughter named Havailah, and my 10 year old prince Malik jr. They are my heart beats, so I definitely have tons of inspiration in my life besides myself.
What do you do between the fights and when not on training camps? I heard you wanted to make your own cigar. How did that go?
It’s Nicaragua where I go to do my cigar business. It’s great, I got some good business people down there that took me under their wing to help start my brand, so just stay on the look out for the “Kevailah” cigar.
You hash tag your pics with keywords #odd and #cubism on social networking sites. What meaning of Malik Scott are you trying to highlight by those?
My hashtags… let’s start with “odd”. It’s just my way of saying that I’m different from what is usually expected from most, in this modern day, for the most part. And “cubism” comes from my love for art. Picasso had a way of working/painting that was different then others or more so different then a lot of styles from his other paintings. And I feel as though life imitates art.
What’s on the Malik Scott’s life painting?
When I’m in a boxing ring, moving like no other heavyweight. Or when I’m in Nicaragua having some of the most beautiful women in the world rolling the creation of my very own brand cigar. Or when I’m loving over my daughter so much, I feel like I literally can just eat her up to pieces. All of these things is just my way of painting my life picture without being a copycat, but more like just being myself. #oddguy#cubism
Message to your fans and people in doubt, we call them haters.
I don’t have any haters. Everybody loves ‘King,’ at least I think they do. But if not, I still love them all so fucking much.