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Scott settles for disputed draw against Glazkov

Fighters Network
24
Feb

What a joke. The only one not laughing, regrettably, was Malik Scott.

After what appeared to be his most impressive performance in years, after taking his aggressive opponent, Vyacheslav Glazkov, to school for most of their NBC Sports Net-televised 10 rounder in Huntington, N.Y., Scott’s sterling outing on Saturday was awarded with a draw.

Judge Julie Lederman had it even, 95-95, while John McKaie scored it 96-94 for Glazkov, and John Poturaj had it 98-92 for Scott, as did RingTV.com.



Most ringside observers thought Scott (35-0-1, 12 knockouts), who outlanded Glazkov, connecting on 41 percent of his punches, deserved to win the fight.

For years, the Philadelphia native has been tantalizing American boxing fans. The 6-foot-4 ring general is one of the few U.S.-born big men with the size, athleticism, skill and fundamentals necessary to compete at the world-class level.

However, his desire to stay in shape and give his all in every fight has not always been there.

Saturday night, finally, through many years of self discovery, after deflating from a bloated 290 pounds, making a commitment to change, Scott seemed to be enjoying a very belated coming out party, arriving where many expected him to be years ago.

Not so.

“It’s extremely frustrating for me, I’ll leave the complaining to my manager and my trainer,” Scott said. “Glazkov is overrated, like I said. I don’t know what more I had to do. We’ll go back to the drawing board and go from there. I have to go back and look at the tape and see what I missed. My primary concern is getting back in the gym next week. I do think I helped myself tonight. I used my range and I could have picked up the pace a couple of times.

“I don’t run; I box. I wasn’t touched. Look at my face and look at his faceÔÇöthat’s all I need to say. I really don’t know what I have to do, I really don’t. He’s lucky, really lucky. Come on, man, this was a Main Events fight, against a Main Events fighter, and the whole thing was pretty easy for me. Everything I wanted to do, I did. This was easy.”

The first four rounds seemed to belong to Scott.

At the outset, Scott looked good. He established a nice distance using the jab. Glazkov stalked, and Scott pecked away each time he closed within punching range. Glazkov didn’t seem to have an answer.

In the second round, Scott did more of the same, dictating the distance and the pace. The third round followed the course of the first two rounds, with Glazkov moving forward unsure what to expect from Scott. After three rounds, Scott had landed 57 out of 128 power punches, while Glazkov connected on just 27 punches of 108 thrown.

Glazkov picked up his pace in the fourth. He actually connected on a few power punches, but Scott still prevailed, using distance and that telephone-length jab.

“We didn’t want [Glazkov] to set up, that was our biggest concern, we wanted to keep coming, not let him set up and keep sticking that jab in him,” said Jesse Reid, who’s worked Scott’s corner in his last four fights. “I’m really, really proud of Malik. I thought we had Glazkov all night. I didn’t want Glazkov to pin him against the ropes.”

Glazkov did change the sway of the fight, somewhat, in the fifth. He dug into Scott and had him pinned against the ropes a few times. But Scott answered with a strong sixth. Scott landed a right to the body and perfect straight right in the last 20 seconds of the round.

“Malik did a lot of running, which is what we expected,” said Egis Klimas, Glazkov’s manager. “Malik didn’t come to fight and that’s what happened. Czar didn’t throw as many punches as he should have, but I still think he won the fight.”

Glazkov did close strong, and Scott, admittedly, lost some verve, though he still seemed to do enough to win.

“A lot of time I was over reaching with the right hand, and sometimes so bad, that it left me a little open,” Scott said. “When a guy is that slow, like Glazkov, I can get away with over reaching. Glazkov is overrated. He’s not in my class. I’m one of the most skilled heavyweights in the world and I plan on proving it. I’m focused on getting back to the gym.”

Glazkov is going to do some self evaluating as well, after escaping with a draw.

“I thought I won the fight,” Glazkov said. “Malik was running, as usual. He never stood there and fought me. I was running after him all night. He never stood and exchanged punches with me. That’s why I won.”

There were some questions about that.

 

 

Photo / Star Boxing

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