Four days before the most important bout of Nicky Cook’s career, a pie and mash shop in East London was an unlikely place to find him yesterday. Cook meets Steven Luevano, of the United States, for the vacant WBO featherweight title at the O2 Arena on Saturday, so he was not tucking in – if he could eat pies 72 hours before the weigh-in, he should think about being a bantamweight.
Cook, 27, has waited too long for his opportunity to blow it on the scales. In December, he was meant to face Scott Harrison for the same title. The bout was off and on as Harrison’s problems with the law escalated and was finally scrapped at two days’ notice when the Scot could not make weight.
Despite the initial upset, that experience has not made Cook bitter. “It’s a waste of time hating anyone,” he said. “I don’t think Harrison will box again, but if he does, good luck to him.
“I lost money on that fight because I had paid for a training camp, but that meant I was fit when I went to camp for this. This is my first world-title fight, but I’ve experienced the build-up already once, so that will help me.”
Being the first person to contest a world title at the former Millennium Dome is not an experience he would swap. “I always had confidence I would get my chance again,” Cook, the undefeated former British, Commonwealth and European champion, said. “This is by far the biggest fight of my life and I’m in the best shape of my life. I can’t wait for Saturday.”