HE IS NO longer Amazing. And neither is Amir Kahn. On one of the most shocking nights in recent British boxing history, Scotland's Alex Arthur surrendered his world super-featherweight title, to be followed moments later by Khan's career collapsing around him when he was knocked out inside 54 seconds by unknown Colombian Breidis Prescott.
With a performance that was no better than ordinary compared to his best, Arthur lost his WBO belt on a unanimous points decision to England's Nicky Cook after close and tough 12 rounds in the MEN Arena in Manchester.
Following Scotland's World Cup defeat in Macedonia only Arthur's close friend Andy Murray can preserve Scottish sporting pride this weekend after Cook, the former British, European and Commonwealth featherweight champion, outworked the Edinburgh boxer, who must surely now move up to lightweight.
But the shock of seeing Arthur lose his title – the Scot could not believe it – was nothing compared to the astonishing end to the much-hyped ascent of Amir Khan. The massive crowd, many of them from his nearby home town of Bolton, could not believe their eyes when Prescott came charging out of his corner like a madman.
Khan was defending his WBO intercontinental lightweight title against the unbeaten Colombian, and what a mess he made of it. A left hook from the challenger followed by a thunderous right floored Khan inside 30 seconds.
The former Olympic silver medallist bravely got to his feet, but Prescott merely steamed in again and flattened Khan, this time for the full count of ten. Indeed, the count wasn't necessary, so spark out was Khan. He recovered quickly after medical attention, but his career may not recover for many, many months, if at all – as Scotland's Willie Limond and Ireland's Michael Gomez had shown, and now Prescott has proved, Khan can't take a serious punch.
"The buck stops with me," said his promoter Frank Warren, who clearly picked too good an opponent at this stage. Prescott was little known outwith South America but had a 19-0 record and 14 KOs. Warren then held out the intriguing possibility that Khan could meet Arthur – "I think Alex will have to move up to lightweight now," said Warren. "I will sit down and talk with Amir and Alex and decide what to do next."
Alex Arthur reacts after hearing he has lost the bout
Arthur's fight was close, very close, but Cook definitely shaded it. Two of the judges scored it by six and five rounds to Cook, and they should never be allowed ringside again – shades of John Simpson's decision loss to Derry Matthews last year. Judge Terry O'Connor gave it 115-114 to Cook, and that was more like it. Promoter Frank Warren and most of the press gave it to Cook by two rounds by Arthur was adamant he had done enough.
"I was a bit rusty having been out of the ring for six months," the Scot admitted. "(But] I felt I won the fight. I was much stronger than Nicky."
Cook lost bravely against the classy Steve Luevano in a world title fight in the nine stone division last year. He said he felt stronger at the bigger weight, but his tactics were straightforward – to work harder than Arthur.
"My game plan was simple," said Cook, "to stay at arm's length and box for 12 rounds and that is what I did."
With his main title rivals of recent years such as Manny Pacquiao, Joan Guzman and Juan Manuel Marquez having moved up to lightweight, Arthur must surely do as Warren suggests. He did not attend the post-fight press conference at first, Warren reporting that Arthur and his father were very disappointed and believed he had won. In the cold light of day he will see that he did not.
The boxers entered the ring to the usual cheers, and as happened with the Tartan Army earlier in Skopje, the Scottish contingent did their best to outshout the opposition camp who were in the majority by far. To be fair, they cheered Alex, too.
Arthur had been accused of taking his last opponent, Stephen Foster, far too lightly and turned in a sluggish performance by his standards, even taking a count late on. But there was nothing other than fierce concentration on the Scot's face from long before the start.
Round one was cagey stuff, Cook missing with a few wild ones, while Arthur hadn't quite found his rage. The second saw some decent body shots from Arthur but Cook responded in kind.
Into the third and it was clear that Cook could not seriously hurt Arthur even with a decent right that landed early in the round. By the seventh, Cook was ahead, but Arthur dazed him with two rights. "It was the only time I was rocked," said Cook.
Arthur went looking for the knockdown which might have clinched the fight and clearly won the penultimate round, but the 12th was won by the experienced Cook, who knew he just had to keep out of harm's way.
Arthur's earlier defeat by Gomez set him back years and meant he missed out on a money-spinning golden era in the super-featherweight division. But curiously this second loss may not be so devastating.
The long-term future for Arthur is surely in the lightweight division, where of course he triumphed as an amateur. Going up a weight is normal as boxers get older, and Arthur has had problems making the 9st 4lb limit.
As for Khan, his chin was tested and found wanting. "I've been hit harder but it was early in the fight and he caught me cold," said Khan. The Bolton lad took defeat gracefully, it should be said.
Amir Khan is knocked out in the first round by Breidis Prescott
"I'll come back stronger," Khan promised. He will need to find some jaw strengthening exercises first.
The fights were a pay-per-view deal on Sky Box Office, and those who paid to see Audley Harrison proceed to a pedestrian victory over Brazilian heavyweight champion George Arias may think they were short-changed. The crowd in the MEN Arena certainly thought so, and roundly booed Harrison throughout ten rounds of sparse action. Britain's last boxing gold medallist was in safety first mood, and if Arias had any power he would have won the fight easily.
On what Frank Warren called "a night of shocks", that Harrison would let everybody down was the only predictable thing.
The full article contains 1084 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
