Exiled ex-NRL player Curtis Scott brutally KOs Joey Leilua

Exiled former rugby league player Curtis Scott has made a wild start to his boxing career, knocking out a former teammate with a brutal finish.

Brutal KO from Curtis Scott. Photo: Fox Sports

Curtis Scott has claimed a second round knockout in his debut fight, taking down Joey Leilua in a battle of the former NRL stars.

The 26-year-old Scott came into the fight 28kg lighter than Leilua but looked the far better boxer despite being in his first fight compared to Leilua’s fourth.

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With the weight advantage, Leilua was looking for the one-punch finish but Scott showed boxing smarts, only getting into trouble when he got too close.

Scott, who is hoping to fight at cruiser but fought his debut at heavyweight, asserted his dominance in the first round, landing plenty of good jabs and a few nice shots.

But it exploded early in the second when a tired looking Leilua threw a lazy haymaker only for Scott to land a big punch to the side of Leilua’s head.

While the bigger man clinched, Scott dropping the 32-year-old to the canvas, landing a short jab as Leilua went for the clinch.

“I don’t think he’s getting up,” Barry Michael said on Main Event.

“Wow, he certainly made a statement.”

Leilua was bleeding from the nose and mouth after the shot.

Curtis Scott claims the KO on debut. Photo: Fox Sports

The big punch did a lot of damage. Photo: Fox Sports

Michael said Scott was “impressive” on debut.

“He put his punches together well, his timing was good and that was a great victory,” Michael said.

On the other side, the Courier Mail’s Peter Badel said Leilua was “sloppy, his footwork was awful”.

There was drama before the fight when Leilua, who has three fights — although two were against the 1-9 Paul Ben, who he finished both times in first round KOs, while the other was against former NRL star Chris Heighington — wanted to come out second.

Scott had yet to fight at professional level and allowed the switch, coming out first.

Badel called the first walk out argument “farcical”.

But Scott finished the fight brilliantly, saying his tactic was watching for when Leilua switched from southpaw to orthodox and hitting down the middle.

Scott also called out 47-year-old AFL great Barry Hall for his next fight, despite Hall getting KOed in the first round last fight out against Sonny Bill Williams.

“A little birdy told me that Big Bad Barry Hall wants to step back in and dip a toe into boxing again,” Scott said.

“If that old bugger wants to get in, I want to put him in retirement for good. That's the fight to make.”

Curtis Scott celebrated the win. Photo: Fox Sports

It’s an impressive start to Scott’s career in the squared circle.

Scott was blocked from signing for an NRL club in 2024 after he was found guilty of three charges in 2022 against his ex-partner.

The charges, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and stalk or intimidate with the intention of causing fear or physical harm, earnt him a 12-month community corrections order.

Of the NRL standing in Scott’s way, he said: “I’m dirty on the NRL. I’m pursuing boxing now. And I’m keen to see how far I can take it.”

While he said he was focused on boxing, but added: “The door’s not completely closed in my eyes.”

Already there has been talk of Scott chasing the Australian cruiserweight title by the end of the year and on that evidence, why not.