Cook to the boil, Weight cripples AAA

[TFFP]

To be honest, I don't even want to talk about the circus that ensued during the other "co main event"

Fortunately we had at least one real boxing match to enjoy tonight. Perhaps we can have some sensible discussion when the hysteria dies down

Firstly, Nicky Cook was terrific tonight. I was really impressed with him. Angles and feints were used to perfection against the slower Arthur, allowing him to counter with ease. The footwork was spot on. The punches were timed correctly, always snappy, as he was always in perfect range - a product of good footwork. Perhaps he really has found his niche at this weight.

But what of Arthur? He was so terrible tonight. Walking forward so predictably. No authority in the jab to discourage the smaller man. Slow and pedestrian. No stamina at all. No head movement. He didn't even up his work-rate when he was getting schooled or have any urgency, I don't know if he was physically incapable or lacking in desire. The only thing that suprised me is that he wasn't hurt too much in this fight - everything pointed to a guy being so weight drained.

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Also, how did one guy score it by a single solitary point - how did you score it? :roll:

Your thoughts on the fight?

Where do they each go from here?

[GazOC]

AAA has to go up to 135, I'm not sure how effective he will be there. Cooke boxed a great fight and won 8-3-1 in my book, I think he'll need to pick his opponents carefully at real world class. Great win for him though and nice to see the two lads so sporting at the end.

[TFFP]

AAA has to go up to 135, I'm not sure how effective he will be there. Cooke boxed a great fight and won 8-3-1 in my book, I think he'll need to pick his opponents carefully at real world class. Great win for him though and nice to see the two lads so sporting at the end.
Say we put most of this down to weight draining, can he really be a success at 135?

Diaz, Katsidis, Pacquiao (probably out of reach anyway), Guzman, Marquez, Casa, Prescott dare I say it...its stacked

:think

[Droog]

Nicky Cook looked good at superfeather weight. Arthur has not looked good for a while now? Kevin Mitchell vs. Nicky Cook would be a good match up but where Arthur goes now I'm not sure?

[T.C.W]

I like cook at 130 he looked good and I think he can hold on to his title for a bit and make some money

[TFFP]

Dunky, boyd - lets here from you

The Scots in general

[GazOC]

Say we put most of this down to weight draining, can he really be a success at 135?

Diaz, Katsidis, Pacquiao (probably out of reach anyway), Guzman, Marquez, Casa, Prescott dare I say it...its stacked

:think

yep, I think a good run at the Euro title might be the way to go. Earn a few quid, pick up a title and try to get into world title contention that way?

[GazOC]

Nicky Cook looked good at superfeather weight. Arthur has not looked good for a while now? Kevin Mitchell vs. Nicky Cook would be a good match up but where Arthur goes now I'm not sure?

Would they fight though? They are big mates and Mitchell said he was 'like a brother' to him on Bunces show.

[TFFP]

yep, I think a good run at the Euro title might be the way to go. Earn a few quid, pick up a title and try to get into world title contention that way?
He would have to improve immeasurably to even beat Romanov on that showing. I mean there was no work-rate, no speed or snap in his work, no conviction at all. I'd expect it to improve at 135, but by how much?

Arthur - Khan after each has had a rebuilding fight or two?

[stuey]

i had cookie winning comfortabley, he was quick, cute, made angles countered superbly.

that said AAA has always been a hype job, he is slow, not particularly powerful and worst of all does not move his head. been calling this one for ages....

[Max Molyneux]

Arthur was normally a slow starter be he's gotten worse each fight and he should of went for Cook's ribcage like Luenvano did.

[robpalmer135]

cook was awsome last night.

[srb31079]

Arthur was pish tonight, bottom line. Very disappointing performance. I knew he was always a slow starter and not the quickest but he was beaten in every department tonight. I don't even think Cook is that good to be honest.

The talk in Arthur's corner towards the end of the fight was interesting

"talk me up"

wtf

[Beatboxer]

I'm not going to fully comment until I've seen the fight...but it's no secret that the weight issue is a major one with AAA.

That being said, lets not take anything away from Cook. Always thought he was a good little fighter, decent to watch and it seems that he got his tactics spot on tonight despite the 'one dimensional' jibes.

[TFFP]

If anybody looked one dimensional it was definitely AAA. He never changed what he was doing when it was clear as day it wasn't working. Just walked forward all night long, so slow and no urgency, and not enough work.

Cook on the other hand mixed it up perfectly but not too much since the gameplan was inch perfect. Sometimes he'd step in and use his speed, other times he'd work off the backfoot and get out of the bigger mans way.

Very mature performance.

Other champions

WBC - Vacant
WBA - Edwin Valero
IBF - Cassius Baloyi

#1 contender for the WBO is likely to be Kevin Mitchell!

[JonOli]

Cook looked good tonight. Busy, energetic, landed a sprinkling of accurate punches throughout the fight. Arthur looked pedestrian. I held the belief that Arthur's bigger frame would wear down Cook after the early rounds - this didn't happen.

[TFFP]

If Cook really wants to be aggressive in his matchmaking and try to unify titles he won't get a better chance than now. I wouldn't blame him if he takes some easy defences, but it would seem silly...

Baloyi is easily one of the worst beltholders in boxing, that is a belt there for the taking

Valero is dangerous obviously, but pretty wild and agricultural. Cook could outfox him, but I wouldn't blame him if he doesn't fancy it just yet! :yep

[TFFP]

Valero only needs to catch Cook once and it would be over. And it would happen. Cook gave a good performance but it was against a guy who made almost no sincere effort.

It flattered to deceive.
That isn't true man. If you'd have watched Valero you'd realise that as he's actually progressed from the Value range of tomato cans to Heinz the KO win hasn't been forthcoming quite as early

That is underrating Cook and overrating Valero in the extreme. That's not to say I necessarily pick Cook.

[AAA]

Arthur was shit, from what I saw of it. To be honest, I am not overly shocked by the result. After the Foster Jnr fight it was as clear as day that Arthur was no longer a SF...blindingly obvious. Despite making the weight without looking like a terminally ill patient this time, it still didn't mask the problem.

If Arthur doesn't move up now he's a fool. He'll never be top dog in the LW division, but there are some good fights to be had there, as long as he can still get them now.

All credit to cook though, sounds like he put in an inspired performance, and it certainly seems a weight he can do well in.

Arthur vs Khan as a make or break at LW is the way to go. Doubt ****** will do it though. He'll no doubt put Khan in with extremely average fighters for a while to bounce back, and to be honest...I just don't think ****** cares all that much about Arthur!

[TFFP]

Valero = massive puncher. Cook = decent technician who is not world calss. Valero has gotten hall of his opponents out of there early - do you really think Cook will be the one to beat him?

yeh, right. he got caught by Arthur eventually - do you really think he's not be caught by Valero?

cook looked good because he was in against a fringe level world class contender who was shafted at the weight. His "title" is as much of a sham as Alex's was.

I am keenly aware of both Arthur and Cook's level.
You are not aware of Valero's though, thats the problem. He hasn't got all his opponents out early, he got a bunch of low shelf cans out of there early.

His two best opponents, Mosquera who went 10 and the Jap that went 6 or 7 if memory serves. They took more than one punch from Valero.

No reason at all to think Cook would be out with a single punch. Completely overstating his power against good fighters.

[TFFP]

Perhaps i should been more specific by saying within the distance. That suggests he hits hard. I have seen quite a lot of him, have a few of his fights and I'm not the only person that has healthy respect for him.

Cook was seriously wobbled by that right Arthur threw and he took a thrashing from an average hitting Luevano.

Valero is OBVIOUSLY a big hitter, tomato cans or not. The best guys he's faced have had a better defence and have lasted longer but, ultimately, they all go out the same. Cook is barely equivalent to the best valero's faced.

You have a particularly grating tone when you debate - it's near Amsterdam's more twattish attitude and about as knowledgeable too.
How knowledgeable is Amsterdam?

Well perhaps you should say what you mean to avoid confusion. When you say a guy will get knocked out with the first punch landed that sort of dramatic statement should be reserved for Amir Khan, otherwise its pretty disrespectful to a good fighter in Cook.

[TFFP]

What i said was correct - they were knocked out early - ie, before the full rounds were completed. i said I could have been more specific because you were incapable of reading between the lines.
Usually when people say they "got knocked out early" on a boxing forum it means...they got knocked out early

Especially when they are also dramatic enough to believe one punch is going to knock Cook out, despite all the evidence that would suggest otherwise from both fighters. Complete and utter horse shit :good

I wouldn't even necessarily pick Cook in this fight and was merely speculating on possible fights anyway.

[theboy_racer]

AAA is fucked at that weight and should have moved up long ago, a pale shadow of even a few years ago, so so lethargic, on the flip side you had Cook looking strong at that weight but cant be overly impressed due to how rubbish AAA was.

[Betty Swollocks]

combination of the weight and the fact Arthur is not all that good. We all saw what happened to Cook against a real world class fighter in Luevano.

[scurlaruntings]

combination of the weight and the fact Arthur is not all that good. We all saw what happened to Cook against a real world class fighter in Luevano.Indeed. But Cookie has balls of IRON. He kept getting back up so we know full well he has the fighting spirit in him. Iv seen Cookie grit his teeth in EBU wins and just chomp on the bit and keep going despite being hurt. His a hungry fighter who is simply better than AA because he wanted it more. This is what happens when you have had smoke blown up your ass for the best part of your career. Weight aside the facts remain Arthur just simply isnt that good.

[Betty Swollocks]

Indeed. But Cookie has balls of IRON. He kept getting back up so we know full well he has the fighting spirit in him. Iv seen Cookie grit his teeth in EBU wins and just chomp on the bit and keep going despite being hurt. His a hungry fighter who is simply better than AA because he wanted it more. This is what happens when you have had smoke blown up your ass for the best part of your career. Weight aside the facts remain Arthur just simply isnt that good.

yeah totally agree. As a Scot I can't be too disappointed, partly because could never warm to Arthur and felt he was too much of a big-head, also because I like Cook who has never has that red carpet treatment.

[Fat Joe]

Mitchell stated on Buncey's show that he would never fight Cook.

[DamonD]

As well as Cook boxed, and he really did well, I don't feel it would've taken a massive amount more effort from Arthur to have rallied to a knockout win in this fight.

I don't even think it's quite so much an issue of weight-draining as of tactics. While Cook let his shots go in 2s, 3s, 4s, far too often Arthur was all 1s. Heavy shots for sure, but still single.

A more committed attack, an earlier awareness that he'd have to get through a lot of incoming shots to drive home his own, and Arthur could've won this. But his usual slow start and a lack of fireworks cost him.

[Juanjuice4]

I was in the hotel Gym where AA was cutting his weight on Thursday afternoon, he was in a bad way trying to drop 7lb, didn't look healthy at the weight for me, really nice guy though. Hope he can come back at 135. also heard that Wayne Mc only spent 4 days with him for this fight!.

[trotter]

Before the fight Cook looked and spoke like a confident man. Arthur much less so. I'm no expert on those things but the vibes seemed strong.

Lots of consideration has to be given to the weight issue. Can't understand why fighters insist on fighting weakened, it makes no sense to me.

[Bill Butcher]

Dunky, boyd - lets here from you

The Scots in general

Im so glad that Im not one of those dumb fucks that support a boxer just because he`s from the same country as me... THANK FUCK after that embarassment last night.
Arthur is only slightly less embarassing than that waster Scott Harrison - the true definition of a prick.

Why cant Scotland produce any TRUE world class fighters since Buchanan ? who knows & who cares.

Amir Kahn - this was on the cards, especially after seeing the way he struggled with the very limited & light punching Limond. No suprise here. Next ?

:thumbsup

[cockney wankers]

Im so glad that Im not one of those dumb fucks that support a boxer just because he`s from the same country as me... THANK FUCK after that embarassment last night.
Arthur is only slightly less embarassing than that waster Scott Harrison - the true definition of a prick.

Why cant Scotland produce any TRUE world class fighters since Buchanan ? who knows & who cares.

Amir Kahn - this was on the cards, especially after seeing the way he struggled with the very limited & light punching Limond. No suprise here. Next ?

:thumbsup

You're right about Scott Harrison,truly the biggest arsehole British boxing has ever seen.

AA comes across as a decent fella though. It's not his fault he was naive enough to sign with Frank****** who has mismanaged his career with easy fights whilst always promising after every victory that he was now looking to 'make the really big fights' for Alex

[scurlaruntings]

I was in the hotel Gym where AA was cutting his weight on Thursday afternoon, he was in a bad way trying to drop 7lb, didn't look healthy at the weight for me, really nice guy though. Hope he can come back at 135. also heard that Wayne Mc only spent 4 days with him for this fight!.I feel bad for AA only because his been genuinely humbled. He was one to look out for as a prospect and i remember when he was featured in the "Ring". But the facts remain he was flat as a pancake for this fight and his just not world class. Nicky himself is on the fringes but he won this fight because he wanted it more.

[girv]

Dunky, boyd - lets here from you

The Scots in general

No excuses, Cook was the better man on the night. Arthur was lacklustre from the opening bell.

Making weight can't be used as an excuse - if a fighter is killing themselves to make a weight they should move up.

Arthur will almost certainly fight at 135 from now, he should probably have been a lightweight a while ago. Maybe the extra pounds will revitalise him like it did Cook last nights.

Lightweight is stacked with talent and I cant see Arthur winning a second belt unless he is a lot lot better than last night.

Incidentaly did I hear Arthur asking for gods help last night before the final round? No one is going to help you in the ring but yourself.

[GazOC]

Going from what TV showed that corner was poor all night.