Cook now top of the menu after title win

Glove affair: Nicky Cook and Alex Arthur

Nicky Cook's position as one of British boxing's leading lights will be confirmed later this week when the Londoner is announced as headlining a top bill in December, with a vanquished Amir Khan relegated to the undercard.

Cook realised his dream of becoming a world champion in Manchester when he outpointed World Boxing Organisation super-featherweight title-holder Alex Arthur.

His 29th victory from 30 fights was overshadowed by Khan's shock first-round defeat by Colombian Breidis Prescott.

But 28-year-old Cook will have his day in the spotlight when he stars in a show to be promoted by Frank Warren in Birmingham on 6 December.

He won't, however, be sharing the ring with leading contender Kevin Mitchell, who ruled out an all-London showdown because he is trained by Cook's father, Paul. Mitchell, who holds the WBO inter-continental belt, said: "I wouldn't fight Nicky. He's like a brother to me."

Scotsman Arthur claimed he was robbed of his championship by the three English judges who gave Cook a unanimous verdict.

Terry O'Connor scored the contest the closest, giving it to Cook 115-114. Dave Parris made it a more convincing 117-111, with Roy Francis scoring it 117-112.

Warren and Scotland's former WBC lightweight champion, Jim Watt, who was working as a television pundit, also thought the Edinburgh fighter had fallen short.

Arthur, 30, said: "I really think they robbed me of my title. It was three English judges - in England. A fighter knows in his heart if he has won or lost a fight and I really thought I had won."

Cook said: "Alex is a fantastic boxer and I didn't realise he was that strong but we had a game plan and stuck to it for 12 rounds. We kept it simple and it paid off - I'm a world champion now."

Cook's victory preceded a dramatic first professional defeat for Khan, who was knocked out inside a minute by Prescott.

Warren believes a fight between Khan and Arthur on Cook's undercard could be one way forward for both beaten boxers.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in