Offbeat news from the world of sport
Offbeat news from the world of sport
We have more newsletters
Sometimes you have to go the extra mile to get what you want. Brandon Scott didn’t just go an extra mile, he went full Forrest Gump to land a boxing deal with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom promotion.
Scott, 20, AKA the ‘Baddest Nerd on the Planet’, got his big break when he fought on a Matchroom show on the undercard of Joe Cordina's victory over Shavkat Rakhimov in Cardiff in April. But didn’t just want to fight and win, he wanted to make a statement that Matchroom and Hearn couldn’t ignore.
So he naturally donned a Spider-Man suit for his pre-fight public workout, flipped over the rope and then performed a break-dance in the ring. Scott then went on to defeat Reynaldo Cajina to continue his flawless start to his pro career.
READ MORE: Eddie Hearn cracks up at 'Spiderman boxer' talking about Anthony Joshua's penis
READ MORE: Ebanie Bridges meets boxer with 'mega balls' who admitted to 'fantasising' over her
“The Spider-Man thing was very heavily to get Eddie Hearn’s attention, I’m not scared to admit that,” he tells Daily Star Sport. “I wanted Eddie to think ‘who the hell is this kid?’.
“Now he’s expanded into America, he’s seen thousands of good boxers. But how many boxers does he see flip over the top rope in a Spider-Man costume and start dancing? Not many!”
What do you think about Brandon Scott's antics? Tell us in the comments section below
However, as the weeks passed, a Matchroom deal still hadn’t materialised. Fearing his Spiderman stunt had been all for nothing, Scott decided to take matters into his own hands, and his plan involved another iconic costume.
“It was looking like maybe they were going to use me again, maybe they weren’t. That wasn’t enough for me,” says the featherweight. “I wanted it on paper that I was a Matchroom fighter and I wasn’t going to stop until I got what I wanted.
“Anyway, me and my father were in Cardiff and we saw a Forrest Gump running costume. At the time, we didn’t think anyone of it.
“I just kept thinking, ‘why haven’t I been signed? I’ve done all this stuff, I put on a good performance, got a lot of views, but I still haven’t been signed. Something can’t be right’.
“My coach Gavin Rees and my father were like, ‘Bran, if you really want it that badly, go and get it’. So I rang someone at Matchroom and said, ‘why haven’t I been signed yet?’
“He said he’d speak to Eddie. It was the week of the first Katie Taylor-Chantelle Cameron fight. That was such a big fight that I thought Eddie would just forget about me.
“But I heard they [Matchroom] were doing a 5k run [in Dublin on the morning of the fight] and I had this cartoon light bulb moment. I decided to fly to Ireland and do the 5k run. He’d then know how much I wanted it.
“At the same time, I knew there’d be hundreds of people there. I needed to standout. That’s where my father came in. He reminded me about the Forrest Gump costume we saw in Cardiff. I had another light bulb moment, it was like God had mapped it out for me!
“We drove to Cardiff, which is an hour from me, and got the costume. I then got my mum to book me plane tickets to Ireland and I flew out on the Friday night.
“I then went to the 5k run dressed as Forrest Gump. I went straight up to Eddie and said, in a Forrest Gump voice, ‘Where’s my contract?’ And that’s when I knew it was a done deal. He looked at me and said in his own Forrest Gump voice, ‘Tell you what Brandon, I’ll give you a contract’. I then had to do the 5k run, which didn’t go well. I was terrible, I think I got lapped five times.”
So did Scott, in deference to his new boxing boss, politely finish behind Hearn in the run? No chance.
“He had a calf injury at the time so thankfully I was able to absolutely obliterate Eddie Hearn,” declares Scott. “I thought, ‘I’ve come here in a Forrest Gump costume, you’re having it, son’.
“I think I lapped him twice and said something like, ‘not fast enough, Edward!’. He said, ‘if you want that contract, you’re going to have to run faster’.
The contract did finally arrive but the signing was no run-of-the-mill affair as Scott dressed as James Bond before retrieving the papers from a WWE-style Money in the Bank briefcase. His first bout as an official Matchroom fight followed on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s clash with Robert Helenius at the O2.
For that fight, the self-confessed comic book nerd and film fanatic walked to the ring wearing a Darth Vader mask. He promptly introduced Louis Norman to his dark side to extend his pro record to 6-0.
“I have to remind myself that it all actually happened,” reflects Scott. “I was very proud of myself [to earn a contract], but I wasn’t like ‘I’m done now’. I’m known as an entertainer but fighting will always be the most important thing because, if I lose a fight or don’t perform, this all comes to nothing.”
Scott has been sidelined with a hand injury, which he had carried for four fights, and recently underwent surgery, with Matchroom and Hearn giving him their full support.
“I spoke to Eddie and he said ‘if it’s an operation you need, you have to have it because you can’t risk long-term injury’,” says Scott. “I’m biased but it’s clear that Matchroom are the leading boxing promotion right now. I’m not just a number to them, they care about me. Being with Matchroom has changed my life.”
- Eddie Hearn
- Boxing
- Exclusives
Source: Read Full Article