OnThEGRiND BoXiNG

London, UK
May 20th, 2009

Following his shock points loss (29-28 twice and 28-27) to John ‘Buster’
Keeton in the quarter final of Tuesday’s spectacular Prizefighter 7 - The
Cruiserweights tournament, at Earl’s Court 2 in West London, former
British, Commonwealth and WBU International Cruiserweight Champion, Bruce
‘Lionheart’ Scott is to continue with his planned comeback, after a three
year sabbatical, regardless.

It is understandable that Scott decided to continue his comeback trail as
the battle with his former foe - ‘Lionheart’ had knocked out ‘Buster’ both
times in their previous meetings - was without doubt the best fight of the
night, albeit controversial after the referee gave a standing count to
Scott following a close encounter with the canvas following a two handed
push by Keeton, as both protagonists clearly had the same game plan -
early knockout. The crowd were on their feet from start to finish and no
one, but no one, would dare take their eyes of the battle for a second as
the heavy hitting pair locked horns in a slugfest of epic proportions.
After the fight the fans gave them both a deserved standing ovation.

For the record: Scott’s opponent, Sheffield’s John ‘Buster’ Keeton, went
on to knockout, in just 2 minutes and 35 seconds of the first round of the
semi final, tournament favourite Dean ‘Star’ Francis before facing
eventual Prizefighter 7 - The Cruiserweights winner, the aptly ring named,
Ovill ‘The Upsetter’ McKenzie in an all action final.

London based Jamaican Scott, who retired in 2006 after losing to Hastings
Rasani in a warm up fight for an IBO world title challenge against Carl
‘The Cat’ Thompson, spoke of the fight, the event and future plans,
“Firstly I’d like to congratulate Ovill (McKenzie) on his big win, If I
couldn’t win I’m glad it being me brethren from Jamaica who did. I also
want to say what a great night. The crowd were brilliant. Barry (Hearn)
and the boys at Matchroom Sports put on a great show.

I really enjoyed myself, the fans were great and the atmosphere in the
place and our dressing room with Darren (Corbett), Dean (Francis) and
Terry (Dunstan) was electric. Yeah, I’m disappointed I went out early, I
wanted to win it bad. I thought I’d done enough but the referee count me
in the first (round). I don’t believe he didn’t see it was a push, not a
punch.

This is not the last time you’ll see Bruce Scott, I’m back in the gym on
Tuesday and we’ll build from this. Me and John (trainer/manager John
Rooney Jnr.) talked this morning and changed our plan. We’d been talking
with Main Events about being on the Adamek-Godfrey card in New Jersey on
July 10th, but now we decide we’re gonna get a warm up fight here real
soon, and then go for a British title eliminator as soon as possible.”

John Rooney Jnr appears to have taken the loss far harder than Scott when
he reiterated the plans he has for his charge, “Bruce lost the fight
because of the knockdown in the first round which was a blatant two hand
push. Everybody seen that ringside, I’m very, very surprised if the
referee didn’t see it. Even if the referee hadn’t seen it, because the
referee has called a standing count, the judges can make their own
decision, as it was a push, you see. It’s not just about the referee
making his own decision. It’s a standing count, if the judges don’t agree
with the referee they don’t have to class it as a two point round.

Bruce stopped him in the second round with some good punches. Third round
both fighters pace dropped a little. Any quality punches were thrown by
Bruce. I was proud the way Bruce performed after three years out of the
ring.

We’re gonna get him an eight rounder, hopefully get him a final title
eliminator and then we’ll go from there and see how we get along.”

So the good news for boxing, especially the Cruiserweight division, is
that one of the great ambassadors of the sport has decided to continue
competing. Watch this space for news on who Bruce ‘Lionheart’ Scott will
be facing next in his quest to add another championship belt to his
already extensive collection.

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