Its London for Harrison, Khan and Mitchell.

Post Reply
emma
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 1421
Joined: 20 Mar 2006, 12:28

Its London for Harrison, Khan and Mitchell.

Post by emma »

Scott Harrison has vowed to put his troubles to one side when he defends his WBO featherweight title against unbeaten former European champion Nicky Cook.

The pair will clash at London's ExCel Centre on Saturday, December 9, two months before Harrison appears in court in Glasgow to answer charges of assault, breach of the peace and fraud.

Amir Khan's first eight-round contest will serve as chief support alongside British heavyweight champion Matt Skelton, both against opponents yet to be named.

Harrison, who pulled out of his last fight in Belfast in May at two days notice because of depression and alcoholism issues which saw him check into the Priory Clinic, claims he has been off the drink "for months and months."

He added: "I've been training for three or four months now and I've never felt fitter."

But he intends to stay out of Scotland by preparing at a secret training camp in southern Spain to escape media attention before arriving in London the week before the fight.

"It's easier being away from Glasgow. There's no temptation," he said.

Promoter allegedly said: "We would normally go to Scotland with Scott but because of his publicised problems we are bringing the fight to London.

"The broadcasters I am working with were worried that if the fight took place in Scotland and Scott pulled out they would be left without a main event."

Warren added: "He has been working hard on the other issues in his life and I commend him for that."

The 28-year-old champion was clearly up for the fight after flying into London from Spain today to announce it.

He insisted his problems were in the past, stating: "I feel as if I've come back stronger for it. I feel as though I've never been anywhere.

"He's a good challenger, he's undefeated but I don't see him going 12 rounds. I've watched his last few fights and he looks a bit rocky around the chin."

The 27-year-old Cook, from Dagenham, who gave up the British, Commonwealth and European titles to pursue his world championship ambitions, responded: "You've got it coming to you. Are you nervous already?"

Cook added: "He's just made for me in every way."

Harrison pointed out that the Cook camp had rejected a fight with him two years ago, claiming their man was not ready.

Cook countered: "I wanted to win the European title first."

Shrugging off any suggestion he would be distracted by his pending court appearance, Harrison said: "I can still stay focused, stay world champion and then go to court in February. I can use it as a positive, I'm a fighter."

Harrison, who will have been out of the ring of 13 months by the time he fights, was originally supposed to defend against interim challenger Juan Manuel Marquez in Glasgow on November 4, but the Mexican pulled out to take another fight in El Paso, Texas, next month.

Promoter Warren said: "We agreed with his management that such a big fight needed a bigger build-up but the winner will fight Marquez next year."

The ExCel bill will also feature Matt Skelton defending his Commonwealth heavyweight title against an opponent to be named next week.

Dagenham's Kevin Mitchell will also appear if he comes through successfully when he meets Ghana's George Ashia for the vacant Commonwealth super-featherweight title at York Hall, Bethnal Green, on October 28.

British light-heavyweight champion Peter Oboh will defend against Portsmouth's Tony Oakey in his first fight for two years, with Olympic silver medallist Khan figuring in an eight-round contest.



Must say i doubt Amir's fight will go eight rounds :roll:
leforge
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 7790
Joined: 04 Mar 2005, 12:44

Post by leforge »

I wonder if Harrison pulls out , will the WBU title be on the line?
mrbassie
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 1563
Joined: 26 Oct 2003, 00:55

Re: Its London for Harrison, Khan and Mitchell.

Post by mrbassie »

emma wrote:Scott Harrison has vowed to put his troubles to one side when he defends his WBO featherweight title against unbeaten former European champion Nicky Cook.
Bugger, freudian slip (I hope not), I read that as 'Scott Harrison has vowed to put his trousers to one side
leforge
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 7790
Joined: 04 Mar 2005, 12:44

Post by leforge »

Good to see Oboh fighting again.
holyfields_ear
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 95
Joined: 10 Jan 2005, 20:15

Post by holyfields_ear »

Great to see Kevin Mitchell going for the Commonwealth and none of that WBU shite. I gave up on him going the tradional Commonwealth - British - European route when he turned down that British eliminator. A fight with Johanesson is down the line hopefully.... :TU:
stujones
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 27497
Joined: 29 Aug 2003, 15:08

Post by stujones »

Looking like a good one. I hope Craig Docherty (if he is still fighting) will be given the chance vs Mitchell in the near future.

I wonder who Skelton's opponent will be? The big vibe is that it will be "Its all about the world, baby" Harrison.

Oboh vs Oakey could be a good one, Oakey is not ideal for a ring rusty fighter. He'll want to slowly get back into things, but Oakey won't give him a chance. Oboh still must be the favourite though.
SticknMove
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 5992
Joined: 04 Aug 2006, 09:02

Post by SticknMove »

This could make a promising bill of boxing. But please keep the HWs off this one. I just recoil in disappointment when a commentator says, "and we also have some top HW action featuring.......", knowing that the fight is going to take up the bulk of the show in a snorefest. Give the lighter weight guys some proper exposure and stop selling the sport based on the big guys until they really show some promise.
boxingchat
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 1934
Joined: 12 Aug 2005, 05:26

Post by boxingchat »

SticknMove wrote:This could make a promising bill of boxing. But please keep the HWs off this one. I just recoil in disappointment when a commentator says, "and we also have some top HW action featuring.......", knowing that the fight is going to take up the bulk of the show in a snorefest. Give the lighter weight guys some proper exposure and stop selling the sport based on the big guys until they really show some promise.

Excellent post!
jamesmcdonnell
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 45231
Joined: 12 Nov 2003, 06:11

Post by jamesmcdonnell »

Cracking fight this as a 'build up' to the Marquez bout. Got the potential to be an excellent fight. Cook looks a well rounded fighter to me, though he's been campaigning at a lower level that the likes of Harrison.

Cook seems to pack a significant dig, whilst not a puncher per se, I think those body shots could give Harrison some problems. It's whether or not Harrison can weather anything Cook lands and come back with his own or not. If cook gets stuck into him early on, I can see Harrison coming unstuck, but the longer it goes on without Harrison being hurt, the worse it will look for cookie.
Old bones Ian
Heavyweight
Heavyweight
Posts: 11805
Joined: 13 Jul 2004, 07:33

Post by Old bones Ian »

How has George Ashia been allowed to box for the superfeather title, he lost his last fight a 6 rounder to Martin Watson, and if you look at his record Ashia's 12 other opponents records all added together comes to W4-L33.
F*ck me, this is a complete mismatch, I just can't see how Ashia has been allowed to box Mitchell, how will this further his education in the ring, I thought his last opponent Andrey Isaev showed up some flaws in Mitchell, which is what the young guy needed, something to work on.
Now it seems to be a huge step backwards in type of opponent.
There are at least 30 other guys in the commonwealth rating better than Ashia.

http://www.boxrec.com/boxer_display.php?boxer_id=223755
Post Reply