James Onque Scott Jr. (October 17, 1947 – May 8, 2018) was an American boxer and convicted felon. He became the second-highest-ranked contender in the World Boxing Association's (WBA) light heavyweight division while incarcerated at Rahway State Prison in Avenel, New Jersey. Scott fought a total of 22 professional fights, 11 of which were contested while he was in prison. Scott earned pay and WBA rankings from many of those fights, which was considered controversial.
Scott was born in Newark, New Jersey, and spent much of his life in prison from the age of 13. After taking up boxing as an amateur in Trenton State Prison, he was granted parole to work as a boxer for a manager in Florida. He fought 11 professional fights in Miami. While on a visit to New Jersey, he was arrested and charged with the murder of Everett Russ, as well as armed robbery. Convicted of the robbery but with a hung jury on the murder charge, Scott was sent back to prison in New Jersey. After being transferred to Rahway State Prison, Scott formed the Rahway State Boxing Association with prison warden Robert Hatrak, and was allowed to continue boxing professionally at Rahway after connecting with promoter Murad Muhammad.
Muhammad convinced Eddie Gregory, the WBA number 1 contender for the light heavyweight championship, to fight Scott at Rahway in a match televised by HBO. Despite being an underdog, Scott won the fight, leading to him being ranked by the WBA. He fought several more nationally televised matches and rose as high as number 2, but was later stripped of the ranking because of his criminal record and incarceration. After losing his rank and a brief retirement, Scott defeated another number 1 contender in Yaqui López.
After suffering his first loss more than five months after the López fight, Scott was retried for the murder of Russ, found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He fought twice more, winning the first fight and losing the second to Dwight Braxton. Scott was paroled in 2005 after serving 28 years. He was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012, and died in 2018.
Early life
Scott was born on October 17, 1947, to Ursaleen and James Onque Scott Sr. in Newark, New Jersey. He was the second of twelve siblings. Scott grew up in various areas of Newark, including the Felix Fuld public housing complex and later in the central ward. In 1978, he described his family as "a typical Black family." He also stated that his parents were divorced and that his mother was on welfare. Scott's brother Malcolm was serving life in prison for murder. According to Scott, "I wasn't attracted to pimps or narcotic dealers; I was attracted to the gangs and their leaders." Scott was given his first pair of boxing gloves by his uncle at age 10.
According to Scott, his formal education stopped at seventh grade. He spent much of his time behind bars starting at the age of 13, when he was sent to a reformatory for truancy. At the age of 18, he was declared an incorrigible and sent to Trenton State Prison. While at Trenton, Scott befriended former Army boxer Al Dickens, who was serving a 51-year sentence for armed robbery. Dickens claimed that he convinced Scott to consider boxing instead of violent crime. One of Scott's early amateur fights at Trenton was against Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, against whom he lasted three rounds.
Scott stated that he only pursued boxing seriously after being released in 1968 and subsequently being arrested and convicted of armed robbery. He was sentenced to 13 to 17 years in prison. During this time, Scott became the light heavyweight champion of the New Jersey prison system. According to Pat Putnam of Sports Illustrated, Scott "destroy[ed] opponents until there were no more challengers".
Professional career
Parole and initial fights
During his time in prison, Scott sent letters to various boxing promoters and reached out to them via collect calls. He was offered management by an architect named Murray Gaby, who was based in Miami. Gaby made arrangements using political connections to have Scott paroled and allowed to live in Florida. On January 8, 1974, Scott was granted work parole. He trained at the 5th Street Gym, the same gym where Muhammad Ali trained, and fought at the Miami Beach Auditorium. According to Ali's personal physician, who was present at Scott's first sparring session, Scott did not have money and arrived in a pair of cut-off denim shorts and basketball shoes, and had to have boxing gear put together from available equipment at the gym. Gaby said of Scott's performance in his first sparring session, "When Scott started throwing punches, there was dead silence in the gym. Other fighters stopped and watched. He went two rounds, had the guy out on his feet. Everybody gave him an ovation. Very dramatic."
Scott's first professional fight was against John L. Johnson, who was undefeated at the time. He won the fight and handed Johnson his first loss. Scott fought twice the next month, defeating both opponents Hydra Lacy and Willie "The Invader" Johnson. As Scott defeated more and more opponents and subsequently fought in the main event, Gaby recalls that it was becoming more difficult for the promoter to find opponents willing to fight Scott. During this time in his life, Scott found adjusting to life outside of prison to be difficult, oftentimes being confrontational with others. He found it difficult to cope or communicate his feelings, except to his common-law wife.
Having won his first eight fights, Scott was ranked as the number 8 light heavyweight contender according to boxing publication The Ring. In his next match, he fought to a draw against Dave Lee Royster. In the sixth round of the fight, Royster headbutted Scott, and Scott responded with a low blow, resulting in the referee deducting two points from Scott. Royster headbutted Scott again in the eighth round and cut him open above the right eye with the blow. Neither headbutt by Royster resulted in a points deduction. Scott would later claim that he was not inspired to win the fight because he did not receive a letter before the bout from Dickens, who had written to Scott before every professional fight with a plan to defeat his opponent. After the bout, Scott's promoter Chris Dundee called out Bob Foster and publicly offered him $100,000 for a fight with Scott.
Scott fought twice more in Miami, earning two more victories. At this point, he had earned approximately $15,000, was living with a woman in an apartment, and had a vehicle. Scott also had a title bout scheduled against John Conteh, the World Boxing Council (WBC) light heavyweight champion, with a $100,000 purse. Despite warnings from Gaby and that it was a parole violation, Scott was driving to Newark for visits home.
Arrest for murder and armed robbery While in New Jersey on a visit to the state on May 8, 1975, Scott was arrested and charged with murder and armed robbery. Sources vary on how Scott was arrested. In one account, Scott heard that Newark police wanted to speak with him. Deciding not to speak with an attorney first, Scott went to the Newark police headquarters. In another account, Scott was picked up by the police for a parole violation. After initially being held as a material witness, he was arrested. According to Scott, the arrest occurred the day before his fight with Conteh was to be announced at a press conference.
According to the Essex County prosecutor's office, around midnight on May 7, Scott and others with him picked up Everett Russ, who was standing outside a bar with a friend. Scott asked Russ to take him to a drug dealer, so Russ led Scott to an apartment belonging to Leo Skinner, who planned to buy drugs from a building next door. While in the next building, Scott, Russ, Skinner, and William Spinks—one of the men traveling with Scott—took the elevator up but held it for Yvonne Barrett, who was headed to the same apartment they were. Skinner did not want a crowd at this apartment, so he stopped the elevator at the eighth floor. Spinks then pulled out a handgun and ordered Barrett and Skinner out; Scott stepped off as well, while Russ took the elevator down to wait in the car with another member of Scott's group. Scott received the gun from Spinks and pistol-whipped Skinner, ordered him to strip, and threatened to throw him off the building over concerns he would tell police. Afterward, Spinks pointed the gun at Barrett and took her to her sister's tenth-floor apartment, where $283 and bags containing a white powder substance were stolen. Scott then shot Russ in his car to prevent him from telling police. Russ' body was pushed out of the car, which then sped off, and a nearby motorist wrote down the license plate number, which was that of Scott's car. Newark police located the car and found blood stains and bullet holes.
Scott's version of events varies based on the source. In one account, he stated that he let Spinks borrow the car, and that Spinks partnered with someone from Newark with the nickname "Black Jack", whom Scott stated that he resembled. He also alleged that Newark police were conspiring against him. In another account, Scott claimed he was taking the fall for the robbery for a friend and refused to talk about who borrowed his car, saying, "[t]errible things happen to stool pigeons" (informants). Spinks was killed in an armed robbery one month later, before he could speak to police about Russ' death. Skinner stated that while "Black Jack" and Scott did look alike, he identified differences in their appearances and identified Scott as the man who beat him.
In March 1976, Scott was found guilty of armed robbery, but the jury was hung on the murder charge. As Scott was a repeat offender, judge Ralph L. Fusco sentenced him to 30 to 40 years in prison. Initially imprisoned at Trenton, he was transferred to Rahway State Prison on May 27, 1977. He was assigned the inmate number 57735.
Rahway State Boxing Association and fight with Eddie Gregory
At Rahway, the prison warden was Robert Hatrak, who had a reputation considered controversial for sympathy toward inmates and an openness toward rehabilitation. Several programs aimed at rehabilitation were operated by Hatrak, including vocational training such as automotive repair and barbershop skills, as well as a singing group and a "scared straight" program. He then conceived of a boxing program, not simply for recreation but where inmates could train to be fighters, corner men, referees, and cutmen as a profession. Upon hearing that Scott was being transferred to Rahway, Hatrak planned to partner with him to utilize Scott's connections in the sport. Scott was placed in charge of the new Rahway State Boxing Association. Inmates in the program received pay and credit toward a reduction of their sentence or parole. By 1980, the program had over 75 members, screened by inmates, and held between 40 and 50 fights per year. According to Scott, not one of his program members had ever been in trouble since being in the program, which he attributed to the amount of time his members spent on boxing.