ARTHUR NO LONGER KING
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Sep 2008
In a night of stunning upsets WBO super featherweight champion Alex Arthur who once boasted he could beat Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao was beaten by Nicky Cook and lost his crown as 130 pound king.
In an even more shocking outcome highly touted Amir Khan who had also spoken of facing Pacquiao didn't last 60 seconds and was knocked out in the first round by a comparatively unknown Colombian in Manxhester, England.
Cook won in impressive fashion by margins of won 117-112, 117-111 and a surprisingly close 115-114 on the scorecard of one judge.
Arthur, from Scotland, dropped to 26-2, with 19 knockouts. It was his second defense of the title.
Cook improved to 29-1; with 16.knockouts.
The 28-year-old Cook lost to "The Canadian Kid" Steve Luevano in the eleventh round in a battle for the vacant WBO featherweight belt in July last year. In his last fight Cooke stopped Kirkov Kirkorov in the second round.
Arthur became the interim WBO super featherweight champion when he stopped Koba Gogoladza in July last year. He retained the belt when he beat Stephen Foster in December.
The 30-year-old Arthur was awarded the WBO belt when champion Joan Guzman chose not to defend it against him.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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