By Terence Dooley
Jason Cook’s recent return to boxing saw the former European lightweight boss reach the semi-finals of December’s Prizefighter: The light-welterweights tournament. Cook will challenge Lenny Daws for the British light-welterweight at the legendary York Hall on February the 12th.
“I’m very happy, ecstatic, but I didn’t think I would get the opportunity after Prizefighter when I lost to Gavin Rees,” said Cook when speaking to Matchroomsport.com.
“I thought I gave a good account of myself at Prizefighter but thought Colin Lynes or David Barnes would’ve had a shot. Being in Prizefighter has given me a great opportunity to get back into the mix and that’s the reason why I took Prizefighter on.”
Cook, 34, believes that he has a tough job ahead of him come next Friday but he is fully confident of bringing the British title back home to Wales. “Lenny is a tough fighter and he has a tremendous work rate,” declared Cook.
“I’ve seen a video of him and he’s a tough fighter so I’ll have to work hard but over 12 rounds that will suit my style more than Prizefighter did. People say about my age but that’s just a number but I’m now training and doing things I wasn’t doing eight years ago.
“If I win the British title then the sky’s the limit as the Light-Welterweight division is red hot at the moment at domestic, European and worldwide. The training has been brilliant, even with all the snow. I’ve been doing work like Ivan Drago with a five or six mile run on an incline machine and then a 10,000 metre row on the rowing machine.
“Against Lenny I have to be at the top of my game and fitter than I’ve ever been. I will have to be more controlled, not just looking for the big shots. People know I can punch and he will be weary of that but people don’t realise how much boxing ability I’ve got as well as my punching power. I promise I’ll be in the best shape of my life and I want to bring the title back to Wales,” predicted the former ABA featherweight champion.
MATCHROOM SPORT BOXING
Friday, February 12, 2010
York Hall, Bethnal Green, London
12 x 3 mins British Light-Welterweight Championship @ 10st
Lenny Daws (Morden) v Jason Cook (Maesteg)
10 x 3 mins Vacant English Light-Welterweight Championship @ 10st
Steve Williams (Liverpool) v Michael Grant (Tottenham)
6 x 3 mins Super-bantamweight contest @ 8st 12lbs
Carl Frampton (Belfast) v TBA
6 x 3 mins Featherweight contest @ 9st 3lbs
Ben Jones (Crawley) v TBA
4 x 3 mins Super-middleweight contest @ 12st 10lbs
Paul Bowen (West Ham) v TBA
4 x 3 mins Light-welterweight contest @ 10st 3lbs
Chris Evangelou (Wood Green) v TBA
4 x 3 mins Light-middleweight contest @ 11st 2lbs
Freddie Turner ( Canning Town) v John Dennard (Chelmsford)
10 x 3 mins EU Middleweight Championship @ 11st 3lbs
Gregorsz Proksa (Poland) v TBA
Tickets cost £30 (unreserved) and £50 (ringside) and are available from Matchroom Sport on 01277 359900.
