Lou DiBella doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, but the veteran promoter has high hopes for hard-hitting junior welterweight prospect Kurt Scoby.
The former college football running back has exhibited exceptional power since he turned pro in September 2020. Scoby has knocked out 83 percent of his pro opponents (12-0, 10 KOs) and has displayed a work ethic that DiBella believes will help set him apart as he develops from a prospect into a junior welterweight contender.
Scoby hopes to take advantage of the exposure he’ll receive Friday night, when he’ll oppose Spain’s Narciso Carmona (11-0-1, 6 KOs) in an eight-round main event at OTE Arena in Atlanta. DAZN will stream Scoby-Carmona as the main event of an OTX Boxing card scheduled to start at 8 p.m. EDT.
“He’s a really smart, interesting kid,” DiBella told BoxingScene when asked about Scoby. “And he works harder than almost anyone I’ve ever seen. But he’s literally getting better every fight and he’s got the hammer of Thor, man. He can punch almost through walls. He’s developing as a full fighter. He’s developing defense, he’s learning, he’s getting better all the time. But he has that eraser, so he’s exciting as hell. And he’s fighting another undefeated kid [Friday night].”
The 27-year-old Scoby – a native of Duarte, California who trains at the famed Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn – represents a different level of competition for Carmona. The 25-year-old southpaw has beaten only three opponents with winning records, and none that were better than 11-5 entering those bouts.
“I know that he can box,” DiBella said of Carmona. “I don’t know what he has that’ll keep Scoby off of him, but I don’t know many people who will have anything to keep him off of them.”
Australia’s John Mannu couldn’t keep Scoby off of him in Scoby’s last televised fight. Scoby knocked Mannu (8-1-1, 5 KOs) to the canvas four times in the second round, when their scheduled eight-rounder was halted February 17 at Stormont Vail Event Center in Topeka, Kansas.
Scoby stopped faded veteran Hank Lundy (31-14-1, 14 KOs) in the second round of his subsequent bout, another eight-rounder June 29 at Sony Hall in New York.
“For an athlete that switched from football to boxing, [Scoby is] developing faster than expected,” DiBella said. “This will be his sixth fight in 12 months. We’re keeping him active and part of keeping him active is that he clearly is a work in progress. But, I mean, he’s already capable of beating world-rated guys. I don’t wanna get too carried away, because he’s got another undefeated kid in front of him. But I’m very excited about the kid.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.