Newly crowned WBO World Super-Featherweight champion Nicky Cook has backed Amir Khan to return even stronger from defeat at the hands of Breidis Prescott. Khan was beaten in the first round by the heavy-handed Colombian at the M.E.N Arena in Manchester last Saturday night. But Cook insists that Khan’s career is just beginning – and says the 21-year-old can take heart from his own experiences..
Floored five times during a WBO World Featherweight title challenge in July last year against Steven Luevano, Cook regrouped and then returned in spectacular style to dethrone Alex Arthur at the weekend.
Cook, 28, boxed superbly to capture the world title with a unanimous points decision.
“I know the mental pain that Amir is going through because I experienced it after my loss to Luevano,” said Cook.
“But I said at the time that it’s not what you do when you are winning that makes you a champion, but how you react when you have lost. I was soon back in the gym and determined to get a world title around my waist and it happened on Saturday night,”
“It’s great to be winning and to have a perfect undefeated record but I believe a real champion shows his class when he has lost and then comes back even stronger to prove everyone wrong and become a champion again,”
“We are involved in the cruelest, toughest and hardest sport out there and there are no hiding places in the ring.”
“I know as soon as Amir gets back in the gym, he will be ever more hungrier and determined to get back to the top and show everyone what he can really do,”
“One things for sure, Amir has the fight in him as he kept getting up from the knockdowns and wanted to carry on but the referee wisely stopped it,”
“He’s a very talented lad and I’ve no doubts that he will come back from this,”
“All the great champions experience defeat in their careers, including some of the greatest ever British champions like Nigel Benn, Barry McGuigan, and Lennox Lewis were all defeated, and Amir can draw heart from what they went through.”
Domestically Non-Televised Title Bout Scratched From Saturday’s Boxing Card At Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Miss.
IBF Bantamweight Champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko Falls Ill
BILOXI, Miss.—One of the three world championship matches set for Saturday’s Don King Productions fight card in Biloxi, Miss., has been scratched after one of the boxers became ill.
International Boxing Federation bantamweight champion Joseph King Kong Agbeko (25-1, 22 KOs), from Accra, Ghana, was to have made his first title defense against his mandatory challenger, IBF No. 1-ranked William “Chirizo” Gonzalez (21-2, 19 KOs), from Managua, Nicaragua, in a domestically non-televised title bout, but Agbeko contracted Malaria in August while training in Africa.
He arrived at Holy Trinity Hospital in Accra with symptoms including fever on Aug. 14, was treated and was released. Although he contracted a mild form of the disease, responded well to medication and was later deemed to be non-contagious, Agbeko admitted he’s not fit to box on Saturday.
“I wanted to fight but I’m just not strong enough to enter a world championship boxing match,” an obviously disappointed Agbeko said. “I tried my best to recover in time to fight my mandatory challenger William Gonzalez in Biloxi, but I now agree with the doctors that I can’t be ready by then.”
Agbeko saw Florida Boxing Commission Chief Physician and Vice President of the American Association of Professional Ringside Physicians Dr. Allan Fields in South Florida on Friday (Sept. 5).
“He appears to be regaining his strength,” Fields said of Agbeko. “He should complete his treatment and be able to resume training in two to three weeks. If all goes well, he could be able to participate in a match by October.”
Agbeko added, “I look forward to being back in the ring defending my title. I want my fans to know I’m doing fine and will have a beautiful performance for them to see very soon.
Saturday’s event will go on as scheduled in the Beau Rivage Theatre with Nate “The Galaxxy Warrior” Campbell making the first defense of his IBF, World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association lightweight titles against undefeated two-division world champion Joan “Sycuan Warrior” Guzman.
In a world championship co-feature, undefeated World Boxing Council super lightweight champion Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley (22-0, 11 KOs), from Palm Springs, Calif., will defend his title for the first time against Edner “Cherry Bomb” Cherry (24-5-2, 12 KOs), a native of the Bahamas now residing in Wauchula, Fla.
A domestically non-televised WBC featherweight championship elimination bout will also be showcased with No. 1-ranked Hector Velasquez (50-11-2, 35 KOs), from Tijuana, Mexico, against No. 2-ranked Elio “The Kid” Rojas (19-1, 13 KOs), from the Dominican Republic, now fighting out of Brooklyn, N.Y. The winner becomes the WBC featherweight mandatory challenger, guaranteeing a title shot.
The event is being promoted by Don King Productions in association with Beau Rivage. The Campbell vs. Guzman main event will be presented in association with One Punch Productions and Sycuan Ringside Promotions. Both the Campbell-Guzman main event and Bradley vs. Cherry co-feature will be televised live on SHOWTIME Championship Boxing beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT/8 p.m. CT (delayed on the West Coast). Ticket prices are $39.95, $69.95, $89.95 and $299.95 plus tax and service charge and can be purchased at the Beau Rivage Box Office or by calling 888.566.7469 (9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily).. Beau Rivage room reservations can be made by calling 888.567.6667 or visiting www.beaurivage.com.