Hall attacks ‘full of s***’ Scott at heated presser as Goodman rival accused of ‘hiding’ in face-off

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Yet despite the difference, Scott’s trainer Brian Doyle has told Fox Sports Australia the exiled NRL star boasts a power the equal of any domestic heavyweight.

Doyle added that as part of preparations for Hall, his charge – who has won both his first two fights by finish — has been sparring heavyweights like Jason Whateley, Jackson Murray, Johan Linde and Liam Talivaa.

Less than three weeks ago, Doyle was in the corner of Australia’s UFC star Robert Whittaker as he scored a brutal first round finish of rising middleweight star Ikram Aliskerov.

And now the respected Sydney trainer is tipping Scott to back up a weigh day claim that saw him stand across the stage from Hall and state: “I’m going to knock this bloke out”.

While the weight difference is nothing like the 30kg Scott conceded for his March boxing debut against Joey Leilua, it’s still substantial enough for a fighter who joked of hitting the scales “with car keys in my pockets”.

Yet Doyle stressed the crossover boxing star’s power has surprised not only him, but a crew of Australia’s best heavyweights during preparations for Wednesday’s Cross Code slugfest.

“Curtis punches as hard as any heavyweight in Australia,” the trainer said.

“His power, it really is uncanny.

“I’ve actually been surprised by just how hard he whacks and, during sparring, you could see the guys were taken aback with his power, speed and aggression.

“That’s also the feedback we’ve been getting.

“Curtis is a fighter who is in your face, wants to hit you and has real power … that’s a hard combination to deal with.”

Asked about the sparring sessions, Doyle continued: “There’s some big skilful guys in that group but, every time, Curtis has marched forward and given as good as he got.

“I know some people talk about boxing skills (being separate) to power and aggression, but for me it’s all the same.

“So we’re not dancing around, we’re going forward, looking to win the fight, and in all the sparring Curtis has done exactly that which isn’t an easy thing.”

Goodman also looked in strong shape, and suggested he would likely have to go find Worawut in the fight like he just had for the second fight week staredown.

“I have to go looking for all my opponents,” he grinned.

“Name a fight where I’ve taken a step back.

“I go at all these guys.

“I put on the pressure and they start moving.

“So I’ll be tracking him down like I do with all my fights.”

But as for taking anything from Warawut’s face off hesitancy?

“Nah, I’m not buying into any of the bulls***,” he said. “He’s here to fight and seems up to it.

“And I’m up for it, excited and ready to go.

“I’m coming out with a bit of nastiness.

“This is another opportunity to show my skillset and I’m excited to do that.”

Scott, meanwhile, said that he was “extremely grateful” to have fighters like Whateley, a former national champion, willing to help with his new sporting switch.

“I’m sparring seasoned boxers, guys ranked top 10 in Australia,” Scott said. “And sparring them three times a week.

“All four of the guys are great fighters and I can’t thank them enough.

“And travelling to Melbourne for rounds with Jason, that got me to the next level.

“Going down and mixing it with a world class boxer like him helped me greatly and, after those rounds, I really felt confident to jump in with anyone.”

FULL FIGHT CARD

MAIN CARD

Sam Goodman (55.26kg) v Chainoi Worawut (55.08kg) — super bantamweight world title eliminator

Barry Hall (106.20kg) v Curtis Scott (94.04kg) — heavyweight

Liam Wilson (61.18kg) v Youssef Dib (61.62kg) — lightweight

Mounir Fathi (69.92kg) v Anton Markovic (69.70kg) — super welterweight

Brandon Grach (113.04kg) v John Maila (110.78kg) — heavyweight

Billy Polkinghorn (63.40kg) v Jordan Kasilieris (64.02kg) — super lightweight

PRELIMS

Liam Talivaa (103.58kg) v Johan Linde (103.86kg) — heavyweight

Shanell Dargan (54.36kg) v Pannaporn Kaewpawong (55.02kg) — super bantamweight

Amber Amelia (53.36kg) v Connie Brown (53.02kg) — bantamweight

Alessandro Grippa (70.52kg) v John Weetra (70.52kg) — super welterweight