Nicky Cook has been training at altitude as he prepares to defend his WBO title for the first time on Saturday night.
World champ steps it up for first defence
Nicky Cook is ready to scale new heights as a world champion.
The WBO super-featherweight champion has stepped up his preparations as he makes the first defence of his title on Saturday, live on
Sky Box Office.
Cook will take on unbeaten Puerto Rican mandatory challenger Roman Martinez at the MEN Arena, after wrestling the belt away from Alex Arthur in September.
The 29-year-old's first defence has been delayed due to a cold, but now he is foot and following in the footsteps of previous British world champions Nigel Benn and Frank Bruno by training in Tenerife.
"It's a lovely little island, I like the place," he told
Sky Sports.
"I like to come here and train and I like to come here for a holiday with the family. It's a home away from home, which is why I feel so comfortable here."
Tough
There is more to Cook's camp than sun, sea and sand though.
Like Benn before him, he has been pounding the hills on the island and has warned Martinez that he will be in the shape of his life for what will be only his second fight at super-feather.
"We're up Mount Teide a lot," he said.
"We've done a bit of altitude training, we've done nine runs up there in this camp and every run is over an hour, so it's tough going up there.
"It's good to get some altitude to build them lungs up!
"I've stepped it a bit more, now I'm mixing in world class. I've really tried to time everything perfectly - as you've got to do as a world champion."
