By Eric Baldwin: #1 WBA heavyweight contender Luis ‘King Kong’ Ortiz (26-0, 22 KOs) labored to a dull 12 round unanimous decision on Saturday night over the timid looking Malik Scott (38-3-1, 13 KOs) in a dull fight at the Salle des Étoiles, in Monte Carlo.
Scott ran from Ortiz for the full 12 rounds of the fight. The crowd hated what they saw and booed constantly. Ortiz knocked Scott down three times in the contest in dropping him in round 4, 5 and 9. The judges scored the fight 120-105, 120-106 and 119-106.
You couldn’t blame Ortiz for the lack of action. He was stalking Scott around the ring for the entire fight looking to take him out with big left hands each time he would stop. The problem was Scott stayed on the move and wanted no part of mixing it up with him.
In the 4th, Ortiz knocked Scott down with a left hand to the head while the two of them were in a clinch. The referee appeared to give a slow count. Scott got up at the count of 10. He got a lucky break that the fight wasn’t halted because you can argue that it should.
Ortiz knocked Scott down with a left to the jaw in the 5th that sent him down in a delayed reaction. Scott got back to his feet and used his boxing ability to get him out of the round by holding and moving.
In the 9th, Ortiz knocked Scott down with a left to the body early in the round. It was a good shot, but Scott was able to get back to his feet and make it out of the round.
Scott mostly moved in the final four rounds of the fight. Occasionally, he would land a pot shot that would get the attention of Ortiz.
The only criticism you can give Ortiz is his lack of urgency to try and KO Scott. If he had pushed the fight faster and thrown sustained combinations, he likely would have knocked Scott out. Ortiz didn’t seem interested in throwing combinations. Ortiz was looking for a single shot each time he threw punches.