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After concluding a very
successful amateur career,
former world Super Featherweight
champion Nicky Cook from
England is one of many top-class
boxers over the years who won a
WBF Intercontinental title on
the way to even bigger things.
Son of a former professional
boxer (Paul Cook), Nicky was
born in Stepney in London’s East
End on September 13, 1979, but
despite growing up around boxing
he initially didn’t have any
plans of pursuing the sport
himself. Football was his
passion, but when his older
brother, Paul Jr., started
boxing, he eventually persuaded
Nicky to join him.
He had around seventy unpaid
bouts, losing only a handful,
and won several junior titles.
While he fell short of winning a
senior ABA title, the English
national amateur championship,
he was selected to represent his
country in the 1998 Commonwealth
Games in Kuala Lumpur.
But instead of going to
Malaysia, Cook decided to accept
an offer to turn professional at
just 19, and made his
bare-chested debut December 11,
1998 on a show promoted by
former pro Heavyweight Jess
Harding at the Grundy Park
Leisure Centre in London-suburb
Cheshunt.
He had an easy night, scoring a
knockout of Sean Grant (2-3) in
the first round, and in the next
two and a half years, while
serving his boxing-apprentice,
he consistently showed that he
carried considerable power,
stopping eight of his first
fifteen victims.
In building his 15-0 record, he
had been served the usual mix of
tough British journeymen and
rugged Eastern Europeans, but a
June 2000 victory (W6) over
future French and European Union
titlist Salem Bouaiti (9-5) from
France, was perhaps the first
clear sign that he was soon
ready for championship fights.
But first he followed the
Bouaiti-victory up by seeing off
usually tough Bulgarian Wladimir
Borov (12-8-1) in round one,
before winning a unanimous
decision over eight rounds
against experienced Rakhim
Mingaleyev (24-18) from Ukraine,
and stopping Algeria´s Foudil
Madani (4-6) in the opener.
On November 28, 2001, teak-tough
trial-horse Woody Greenway
(8-31) was the final hurdle
before a crack at the WBF
Intercontinental Super
Featherweight title the
following month, and Cook
impressively paved the way by
forcing referee Dave Parris to
wave it off in round three.
In the opposite corner, that
December 19 at the Skydome in
Coventry, stood Argentinean
Marcelo Gabriel Ackermann
(18-8). Cook was a favorite to
claim the vacant WBF belt, but
the fashion in which he did so
was very impressive as he
dominated and got rid of the
South American in three
one-sided stanzas.
With Robin Reid defending his
WBF World Super Middleweight
crown against Julio Cesar
Vasquez in the main event, a
star was born on the undercard.
Cook had arrived as a
championship caliber fighter,
and, amazingly, fourteen of his
remaining eighteen fights would
be for some sort of title.
In April of 2002 he stepped up
in class to make his first
title-defense against former
South African champion, and IBF
world title-challenger, Jackie
Gunguluza (39-7) in London.
Gunguluza, a veteran of thirteen
previous title fights, was by
far the biggest challenge so far
for the 22-year-old.
But he handled it well, and went
on to retain his title when
Gunguluza retired after three
completed rounds. The victory
further cemented Cook´s position
as one of Britain’s brightest
young hopes, and a second
title-defense was already in the
pine-line for the following
October.
In the meantime he stayed busy
over the summer with a close
decision over Russian Andrey
Devyataykin (7-2-1), before it
was announced that he would
defend his WBF championship
against former British champion
Gary Thornhill (22-3-1) from
Liverpool. And it would take
place in Liverpool!
Not much more than a year
removed from losing his British
crown to world champion-to-be
Scott Harrison, Thornhill had
only additionally lost to very
good fighters in Justin Juuku
and Michael Gomez. He was by no
means considered a spent force,
and, fighting in his home-town,
some considered him a favorite
to beat the defending WBF
champion.
With Jess Harding promoting, as
he had done with most of
“Cookie´s” bouts up to that
point, the fight headlined a
show at the famous Liverpool
Olympia. A large part of the
noisy crowd obviously cheered
for the home-man, but Cook was
very focused, and just too good,
emerging victorious by seventh
round stoppage.
Now 19-0 (11), and with three
successful championship fights
under his belt, Cook set out to
add to his strap-collection,
moving down to Featherweight for
a chance to pick up the vacant
Commonwealth title against
Zimbabwean co-challenger Meshack
Kondwani (19-6) on February 8,
2003 in London.
The African fought his chance,
even inflicting a cut to Cook´s
right cheek in round ten, but
the Londoner was too strong and
didn’t appear to have lost a
step at the lighter weight. Game
as they come, and never off his
feet, Kondwani was eventually
saved by referee Mickey Vann in
the twelfth and final round.
Cook closed out 2003 by
retaining the Commonwealth title
twice, stopping Kenyan David
Kiilu (13-3-1) and decisioning
Anyetei Laryea (11-1) from
Ghana. His first fight of 2004
would be for the European title,
against undefeated defending
champion Cyril Thomas (22-0-3)
from France.
“I’ll
never forget that night (March
20, 2004) at the Wembley Arena
against Cyril Thomas”, Cook told
Boxing Scene in 2012. “We took
the fight and it was a bit of a
gamble as he was undefeated and
a fantastic fighter.”
“I
remember my dad coming up to me
agyer seeing on of his defenses,
telling me he´s good, but we
have seen flawas in him and we
think you can beat him. He was
about to face me on his fourth
or fifth defense (actually, it
was Thomas´third defense).”
“It
was a fantastic fight, and I
knocked him out in the ninth
round. This really catapulted me
onto the world scene.”
With some well-deserved time off
to bask in his glory, it would
be almost seven months before
Cook returned to the ring,
scoring a unanimous decision
over French champion Johny Begue
(13-13-1), who tried hard to
reclaim the European title for
his country but lost almost
every round.
In June of 2005 Cook defended
his European and Commonwealth
crowns against British champion
Dazzo Williams (12-2), stopping
him in two rounds to take his
title and become a rare
European, Commonwealth and
British champion at the same
time.
With another successful defense
of the European title in early
2006, a unanimous decision over
Ukrainian contender Yuriy
Voronin (23-4-1), it was time to
set sights on world honors for
the undefeated Brit. At 27-0
(15), and victorious in ten
fights for four various
championships, he was highly
ranked and deemed more than
ready.
But it would still be a while
before his big opportunity came.
He ticked-over with an
eight-rounder ten months after
the Voronin fight, beating
UK-based South African Harry
Ramagoadi (18-5-2) on points,
and was out of action for
another seven months before “the
big one” finally arrived.
Cook was matched with American
Steve Luevano (32-1) for the
vacant WBO World Featherweight
title on July 14, 2007 at the O2
Arena, then called the
Millennium Dome, in London.
Unfortunately it was a
heart-breaking night for the
local boxer, who fought bravely
but was stopped in eleven
rounds.
“Frank
Warren (who promoted the fight)
spoke to me and said that
boiling down to featherweight
had done me, and that if I move
up a weight he’d get me another
title shot, which happened the
following year and I won”, said
Cook in the Boxing Scene
interview.
The mentioned world
title-victory at Super
Featherweight came against
highly touted defending WBO
World Super Featherweight
champion Alex Arthur (26-1) in
September of 2007. At the M.E.N.
Arena in Manchester, Cook and
Arthur went to war for twelve
rounds, and this time Cook came
out on top with a unanimous
decision.
It was a magnificent
achievement, and a big night for
Nicky Cook. It would turn out to
be his biggest night, as he lost
(TKO 4) the world title in his
first defense to Roman “Rocky”
Martinez (21-0-1) from Puerto
Rico six months later, also at
the M.E.N. Arena.
More than two years passed
before he fought again, easing
back with a decision over
journeyman Youssef Al Hamidi
(8-33-2) in May of 2011. He was
given a shot at his old world
title two months later, against
Ricky Burns (31-2), who had
unseated Martinez the previous
year, but it ended in
heart-break again for Cook.
Reoccurring back-problems had
troubled him for years, and when
a vertebra was knockout out in
the first round it was all over
before it really got started.
Cook was unable to move
properly, and went down three
times before his corner wisely
threw in the towel. Cook was
carried out on a stretcher, and
this would be his last fight.
It didn’t end on a high-note,
but former WBF Intercontinental
Super Featherweight Champion
Nicky “Cookie” Cook achieved so
much in the ring. He finished
with a fine 30-3 (16) record,
and turned to training young
boxers who will undoubtedly
benefit greatly from his
experiences and achievements.
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