Would have been nice to see Scott get that title belt. And with the whole prison scenario, how that would've played out. Would have loved to see Eddie fight Qawi for the right to rematch Spinks, great fight that could have been.
Some pretty outlandish praise from Lederman, reflecting back on the fight: ""On that day," Harold Lederman recalled over the phone, 34 years after he judged Scott's victory over Gregory from ringside, "I thought James Scott was the greatest light heavyweight I ever saw in my life. That's how great he was. On that one day when he beat Gregory, he was the best light heavyweight I ever saw. I never saw a performance like that anywhere. I don't think Bob Foster was as good as that. I don't think Archie Moore was that good. He was prepared like I never saw in my life." From a very interesting sportsnation writeup: http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2014/3/12/5496096/james-scott-jailhouse-boxer-profile
Seems a bit hyperbolic from Lederman. But, Scott may have been the #1 in the world at that time, on that day. He may well have been able to beat the late '78 champs Pavlov/Marvin Johnson/Victor Galindez.
I'd like to learn more about James Scott. Seems like he had some talent and also some missed opportunities.
James really blew it badly there. After Eddie took the WBA Title from Marvin Johnson, he was asked about rematching Scott at Rahway in a televised interview, and enthusiastically replied in the affirmative (with some bellicosity, in fact). James was then asked to respond, and said, "Well, God bless him, but who I really want is Saad Muhammad, the hypocrite!" Dumb, dumb, DUMB!!! The WBC never recognized Scott as a contender, while the WBA did. James only had a shot of getting at Matthew in a unification bout after winning a title rematch with EMM. Instead, he rejected Eddie's offer. Not too long after that, the WBA followed the WBC's lead, and ceased recognizing Scott in their rankings. James then lost to Jerry Martin (an outcome Ken Norton accurately predicted before providing commentary on their bout for NBC, maybe Ken's finest moment as a sportscaster) and Qawi was rather anticlimactic. (At least Scott was still getting televised bouts.) The television promotions for Scott vs Gregory had to do primarily with the interest factor in going behind prison walls, but Eddie really got his career messed up with the beating he took. Later, James also looked impressive against Yaqui Lopez.
I haven't seen Snipes-EMM since it aired live (boring match, frankly), but a couple strange things about it (and Snipes already had a reputation for weird things happening in his bouts). At a chunky 201, Eddie never took a backwards step that I can recall. The chiseled Snipes circled the ring perimeter constantly, using his height and reach to take an easy decision, but at one point, his twisted his ankle on a reckless ringside photographer's camera, placed too far forward. However, a few times, Renaldo covered up against the ropes, and EMM, back to the camera, opportunistically unloaded both his guns against the sides of Snipes with all the power he had. It was a great opportunity to see how Eddie unloaded with leverage, and you could hear the thudding on impact, devastating at 175, but not on a 215 pound heavyweight body like Renaldo's. For whatever it's worth, I think EMM would have been a far more durable and defensively adept HW than Bob Foster (who just couldn't put on weight the way Eddie was notorious for) but EMM's optimal weight was always below 175. He simply didn't have the foot speed or ring cutting to track down Snipes, even in the best of shape. (Qawi would have been better against Renaldo in that situation with how Snipes was moving.) Nor did Renaldo give Eddie the opportunity to slip and counter by coming at Mustafa Muhammad. EMM's rare displays of power on Snipes were memorable though.
I think Saad54 pretty much nailed it. Scott was in a situation where there really wasn't much else for him to do but fixate on boxing and training with minimal distractions. I sometimes wonder what Eddie might have done with the same sort of sentence in Rahway, if he'd have let himself go, or really concentrate on developing and maintaining his talents. Marvin Johnson, on the other hand, trained really hard, and was in optimal condition when he squared off with Eddie (a former roommate in their amateur days), but the talent and punch resistance just weren't there, and EMM, when in shape, could also take a massive shot when it did connect. (If you want to see what kind of puncher Marvin Johnson was, watch his almost instant one round destruction of Alvino Manson on ESPN. Alvino had won a few fights on ESPN to win a LHW tournament of theirs, but he was really a club fighter, and rushing at Marvin Johnson at the opening bell like Manson did could get somebody killed. An immediate succession of seemingly innocuous left uppercuts to the point of Alvino's jaw had him down on his face and out in one minute. Eddie took a ton of those shots inside with no reaction at all when he beat Marvin, and I had a lot more respect for EMM's chin after seeing Manson crumble.)
James Scott is one of those guys who gets no respect on this forum. He schooled Jesse Burnett when Burnett was a legit top 10 guy. He stopped Richie Kates when Kates was still considered a strong 175lb'er coming off title fights with the aforementioned Galindez. Bunny Johnson? Commonwealth champion and frequently fought heavyweights and showed well. Scott made him look like a sparring partner. Yaqui Lopez? One sided thrashing. The "Great" Eddie Gregory? Scott won virtually every round. And he begged for a rematch when EMM was champ. Eddie's response? "Man, he don't want none of me. I'd beat him easy". And EMM turned down the fight. But despite all this, and counting the fact that he went ten rounds with Dwight Braxton and never even flinched at any of the shots in losing a close decision, Scott couldn't really fight. Not a lick. (I think prime Scott, in or out of prison, beats anybody those years not named Michael Spinks)
From what I've heard, the WBA took away Scott's #1 ranking late in '79, before Eddie beat Marvin Johnson. Anyway, Scott deserved a title shot before Gregory. I have a feeling Mustafa wanted to get revenge, but the WBA was not enthusiastic about giving Scott a shot at the title If Scott officially turned down an opportunity for the WBA title, yes, that was dumb.
Eddie was one hell is f an underachiever. Super talented and lost to men he should have easily beaten like Galindez and Scott. Ate his way out of title and never came back. Just a head case.
Your chronology might be correct, as it's been over 35 years since I was following this. The WBA decision may have been in anticipation of Eddie dethroning Marvin. EMM made it very clear on camera however that he wanted to validate his WBA Title by winning a rematch at Rahway, championship on the line or not, just as Marvin had to defend his WBC belt against Matt in redemption for how he lost their first match in Philly. Looking back, WBA Title on the line or not, I still think it was dumb of James to turn down a rematch with Eddie, and a chance to go 2-0 against their reigning LHW champion. At the very least, he might then have been able to lure Matt to Rahway, even if for a non title Zarate-Zamora type showdown. (Incidentally, while SRL was WW Champion, Hagler was enthusiastic about the idea of a non title ten or 12 rounder with Ray. MMH didn't feel it necessarily needed to be with any title on the line, and he was saying that in televised interviews. SRL's camp wanted Marv's weight down at fight time though, going so far as to say he could make 154 after he weighed in at 157 for Hamsho I. Years later, they did get Lalonde to make the same sort of weight limit concessions after SRL-Hagler, and Donny paid for it. SRL's camp was saying Hagler would do what was typical, weigh in under 160, then rehydrate up to 168 by fight time. Janks Morton claimed they'd be fine with MMH entering the ring at no more than 160.)
He's talking later on, not at 160. Eddie was a fledgling when he fought Briscoe and the bout was very tight. Eddie was pumping him for a few rounds before Briscoe cut him above the left eye and it was in play for the rest of the bout. Eddie fought Briscoe when he was still a very very good fighter, 3 years before Hagler in fact and prior to his last title fight with Valdez.
Well, I was the biggest James Scott fan but I see the point that you cannot make a champion (or if he wins the title, all of his challengers) have to go into a prison to fight him. There could be no purse bids, no anything ... any challenger would just have to take whatever Scott’s promoter (and NBC) offered to go fight him there, no incentive for them to offer competitive money because no one else can top the offer and say “We’ll pay 3X that to fight Scott in Vegas/Atlantic City/Madison Square Garden/etc. — because Scott could not leave the prison no matter what. His whole chance rode on getting a furlough to fight in AC and unfortunately (for boxing) it never happened.