By Mark Vester

WBO featherweight champion Scott Harrison has announced his return to the ring, a defense against  Nicky Cook on December 9. After numerous legal issues over the last 12 months, which saw Harrison charged with assault, fraud, breaching the peace - Harrison is preparing to get his career back on track.

After Harrison went into treatment for depression and alcohol problems, many experts wrote him off. The champion has been away from the ring for over a year.

"I just turn things into a positive and use it to motivate myself," he told BBC Sport. "People can try and bring me down for no good reason but I'm looking forward to getting back to where I should be - defending world titles."

"I turned professional at 18, won my first title at 21, my first world title at 25 and I've been defending it ever since," Harrison added. "I've been champion four years and this will be my 12th defense. I've been constantly busy, so because I've been out of the ring for a year it's made me very focused. I feel completely refreshed. I usually train for seven or eight weeks before a fight and this time I'll have been training for 17 weeks, and on the night it's going to be the Scott Harrison of old."