No gimmes, no easy touches for Cooper - instead a super-fight

Owen Cooper…”wants to prove a point”. Pic: Manjit Narotra/BCB

IN the words of trainer Malcolm Melvin, there will be “no gimmes, no walkabouts, no easy touches” for his fighter Owen Cooper following the Worcester welter’s first professional loss.

Instead, the talented contender marches back into the lion’s den and again goes to war with a top warrior. Cooper could’ve marked time in a meaningless match, yet he has signed up for a contest that promises magnificent mayhem.

On May 10 at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena, 24-year-old Cooper rolls the dice by facing top contender Chris Kongo. The major Queensberry bill bristles with explosive bouts, the 10 rounder between Kongo, who has lost only two of 19, and Cooper may produce the biggest bang of them all.

It is a barnstormer.

Only the best have beaten 32-year-old Kongo. He dropped a majority decision to British champ Ekow Essuman and was outpointed by world ranked Michael McKinson, a very slippery customer.

“Owen didn’t want any easy way back in,” said former title contender Melvin, “and I think that’s  testimony to him. He didn’t want a warm-up fight. He is a very good fighter and when you’re at that level, you are at that level – these are the fights you have to have.

“Kongo is a top quality lad,” Melvin said, “he’s technically very good, he’s only lost two to very good fighters. It’s a great fight for Owen, a great fight for Kongo, a great fight for the public. It could be the fight of the night.”

Cooper looked one of the country’s richest boxing talents in peeling off an unbeaten 10 bout run: his head movement was sublime, he hooked with lights out, lightning speed.

Then, last July, came the epic with former British champ Ekow Essuman, declared Midlands fight of the year.

In a bout that could’ve been scripted for a Rocky movie, Cooper was dropped in the sixth, decked Essuman heavily in the ninth, then – ahead on points – was halted in the 10th and final round. Owen was two minutes away from memorable victory.

I’ve watched the bout a number of times and each re-run doesn’t diminish the surprise over Essuman’s recovery from that ninth round knockdown. The man bounced off the canvas.

He puts the remarkable recovery down to a regime of breathing exercises. It looked more like old fashioned bottle to me.

“Today, too much emphasis is put on preserving unbeaten records,” Melvin said. “In my day, that (the loss to Essuman) would’ve been seen as a perfect learning fight. If you learn from it, it’s not a loss, in my book.

“This fight couldn’t have come soon enough for us. We’re excited about it, we’re very confident about it, it’s a very winnable fight.”

Melvin added: “You can throw whatever cliches you want at it, but Owen is in a good place, he knows the reasons why he lost and he is looking to put on a strong performance. Importantly, he wants to prove a point.”