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American heavyweight Malik Scott returned to the ring after a three-year layoff to win a wide unanimous decision tonight on Showtime Extreme, defeating Kendrick Releford on scores of 80-72, 80-72, and 79-73.
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Scott (33-0, 11 KO) easily won the bout with a lot of combination punching and more accurate shots, and didn't look like he'd lost much physically in his time away from the ring due to injury. The 31-year-old from Philadelphia doesn't have big power (or frankly much power at all), but he's got decent skills and working with a new trainer, is hoping to get himself in line for a potential title run.
Scott is probably never going to be a serious contender, because he just might not have the ability to keep stronger fights away from him long enough, but stranger things have happened, I suppose.
This was actually his second win over Releford (22-16-2, 10 KO). The two first fought in 2006, with Scott winning on scores of 80-72, 79-73, and 79-73. Releford has been a durable, decent heavyweight opponent for a few years now, but he's lost some steps in recent fights, and came in on short notice for this one, too.
If there's any complaint about Scott tonight, it was predictable: He seemed to have a bit of a stamina problem, but that likely owes mostly to the time away from boxing.
Coming up next on Showtime Extreme, Chris Arreola faces Eric Molina in a 10-round heavyweight bout. Come join us in the live coverage thread for round-by-round results!