Boxing news: Curtis Scott still hoping for NRL return ahead of Joey Leilua fight

As he prepares to make his professional boxing debut, ex-NRL star Curtis Scott reveals he hasn’t given up on playing footy again, despite the game shutting the door on a potential return.

After months of speculation, Curtis Scott has finalised his next move. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Curtis Scott says he hasn’t completely given up on playing in the NRL again, despite the game shutting the door on any potential footy return

Meanwhile, the exiled former centre is preparing for his professional boxing debut against Joey Leilua on March 13.

The NRL knocked back Scott’s attempt to have his contract registered late last year after he was found guilty of three charges – assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and stalk or intimidate with the intention of causing fear or physical harm – against his ex-partner.

Scott had hoped to resurrect his career, and had been in talks with at least two Australian clubs before the NRL confirmed there were no plans to allow him back in the game.

Two months on, and the former Storm and Raiders centre will fight Leilua on No Limit’s March 13 pay-per-view card headlined by Sam Goodman and Mark Schleibs.

Curtis Scott says he hasnt given up hope of making a return to the NRL. Picture: Getty Images

Scott, who has big plans on making it as a boxer, says he isn’t thinking about Super League or a rugby union switch, but still holds out hope of playing rugby league again.

“I haven’t completely closed the door,” the 26-year-old told this masthead. “I’ll showcase how fit and healthy I am, and how hard I’ve been training, so every NRL club will see me on fight night, and they’ll realise I haven’t been just sitting down doing nothing.

“They’ll know that I’ve been working hard, training and I’m ready for anything. The door’s not completely closed, but my main focus is boxing.

“I’m not thinking too much about football, I’ve wasted too much time and energy on that.”

There’s added spice to the heavyweight stoush given Scott’s 6-0 record against Leilua, and the fact that Scott replaced Leilua at the Raiders in 2020.

“That’s his problem,” Scott said. “If that still lives in his head, that’s his problem.

“We had a bit of a tiff on the footy field, and we’ll clash in the ring as well.”

Leilua rubbishes Scott’s superior record on the field.

Scott will make his professional boxing debut against Joey Leilua on March 13. Picture: No Limit Boxing

“If you think about it, that was the team,” he told this masthead. “He won six against me when he was at Melbourne, but he had Billy Slater and Cameron Smith carrying him.

“Not me. I had no one. We were a team of ‘wanna-go-get-its’ just going hard.

“Individually, his stats don’t come close to mine. Look at Dally Ms, I don’t think he won one.

“I’ve won (Dally M centre of the year) twice, and I should’ve got three, but someone else stole that because they won a comp – Will Chambers in 2017.

“I thought I killed it in 2017, but he got that one. I should’ve got three.”

Leilua 32, said his departure from Canberra had more to do with the breakdown of his relationship with coach Ricky Stuart rather than Scott’s form at the time.

“Me and Ricky weren’t getting along,” he said. “He spit his dummy.

“If you don’t know Ricky, Ricky’s the type of person that, once he’s off you, he’s off you. We just didn’t get along and I moved away.

“I came back to training seven kilos overweight, and I wasn’t allowed to go away on training camp with the team.

“But there were other players that were heavy too – two or three kilos overweight – but they still went away on camp.

“I was thinking, ‘How does that work? Surely if you’re overweight, you’re overweight.’

“That’s when I knew my time was up at Canberra. They’d already signed Curtis the year before, but he was trying to push me out.”

Weight will likely be a factor come fight night too, with Scott expecting Leilua to weigh close to 120kg.

Joey Leilua (left) has shut down speculation Scott’s signing contributed to his departure from Canberra. Picture: No Limit Boxing

“I’m about 95kg, and they were saying he was going to get down to 102, but I find that hard to believe,” he said.

Scott says he’s always loved boxing, and had been linked to fights with Jason Saab and Dylan Walker.

A boxing match with Walker is something he’s still interested in after Scott fractured the then-Manly utility’s eye socket in an on-field dust-up in 2018.

Scott, who said the Walker send-off happened when he was “younger and not as wise” and has since been training and living with Aussie boxing star Brock Jarvis.

As he prepares for his code switch, Scott says the odds have been stacked against him.

“This is my first fight and it’s his third, so he’s got the experience,” he said. “He fought Chris Heighington (on debut in 2021), and it was pretty sloppy. Then he fought a tomato can after that on a local card.

“They were fights set up for him to win, and I think he might be coming into this one thinking he’ll have that advantage.

“He’s going to get a reality check when I’m in front of him though.”

EX-NRL BAD BOYS TO SQUARE OFF IN HEAVYWEIGHT SLUGFEST

Exiled former NRL star Curtis Scott is preparing to take the next step in his post-footy career with a heavyweight boxing match against fellow rugby league bad boy Joey Leilua.

The pair are set to meet on No Limit’s March 13 pay-per-view card headlined by a double header, with Sam Goodman fighting Mark Schleibs, and Issac Hardman taking on Venezuelan Endry Saavedra.

Scott’s bid to return to the NRL was knocked back by the NRL in December, but the former Storm and Raiders centre has been teasing a boxing stint for the past six months.

He has spent time training alongside Brock Jarvis as the Aussie boxing star plans his own comeback after spending several years plagued by injury.

Scott was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order in 2022 after he was found guilty of three charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and stalk or intimidate with the intention of causing fear or physical harm against his former partner.

The 26-year-old won a Group 6 premiership with Thirlmere Roosters last season alongside fellow ex-NRL players Jacob Loko and Tim Simona. Scott was ringside for Loko’s own boxing debut late last year, with the former Parramatta Eel winning his amateur bout by decision.

Leilua has had two professional fights since leaving the NRL, including a four-round unanimous decision win over Chris Heighington in 2021.

After a stint playing in the UK, Leilua was back in the boxing ring in December with a first round knockout of Paul Ben in Sydney.

Joey Leilua beat Chris Heighington in his boxing debut in 2021. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Leilua had been eyeing up a heavyweight blockbuster with Matt Lodge after the Manly prop called him out immediately after his win over Ben two months ago.

The 32-year-old is fighting on February 17 in Canberra, in what his team says is the perfect warm-up to fight Scott.

“Both of these guys have something to prove,” Leilua’s coach, Huss al-Achrafi told this masthead. “They were both ousted out of the NRL on conditions they didn’t really want, and they both have something inside them that they want to show to themselves and to the public.

“Curtis is a bit lighter than Joey, but we’re taking this very seriously.

“They’re both pretty young, Joey’s got dynamite in his hands, so it’s going to be a good one.”

Originally published as Boxing news: Curtis Scott still hoping for NRL return ahead of Joey Leilua fight