Melksham boxer to fight for British championship at O2 arena

BARE knuckle boxer, Brad Scott from Melksham, will be challenging for the British cruiserweight championship at London’s O2 Arena later this month, on Sunday 26th March.

His promoters say, “Brad Scott fought in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) before making a switch to boxing and looked set to turn professional before having a rethink. He drifted away from the gym before returning and last year, joined top bareknuckle boxing promoters BKB TM.

“Scott made a winning start, impressively knocking out Andre Lovli inside a round, and later this month, he challenges for the British cruiserweight championship against Ryan Barrett.”

Brad Scott explained, “I was going to get a pro boxing licence around five years ago. I used to train with (former British middleweight champion) Nick Blackwell and he was a beast. We would spar for 10 rounds with only a 30-seconds break in between rounds.

“The (British Boxing) Board (of Control) said ‘yes’ and I was going to train with Mark Kent and Andy O’Kane. But I just lost motivation. I didn’t bother sending off my forms. I started going to the gym and chilling out with my friends instead.”

He ended up stepping in to fight bareknuckle on a small show last year, won by a quick knockout and then signed with BKB TM.

Looking ahead to this month’s fight, Brad Scott said, “I only landed three punches in my last fight and I know this is going to be a much tougher test. He will be the favourite, but I can’t think why but he is tough, hard and fit, which is good for a bareknuckle boxer. I hit hard and I’m long. I’m quicker than I look and I’m in 10 times better shape than I was for my first fight. I was 104 kgs for that and I have to get to 95 kgs for this.

“I’ve signed a three- year contract and want to win this, maybe make a defence or two and then move up to heavyweight. I know I can beat the (world) heavyweight champion, Dan Podmore.”