His dream is within striking distance. Brandon “Bad Boy” Cook is about to be in the biggest boxing match of his life.
“Never thought I’d ever fight for a world title this quick,” said Cook, a professional boxer.
The 32-year-old has only been boxing professionally for seven years, and in that span, he’s 20 and one.
Now, on September 15 in Las Vegas, on the biggest card of the year — broadcast on pay-per-view — Cook will get his shot at the WBO Junior Middleweight World Title.
“This is everything I ever wanted,” Cook said, “so I’m going to do everything that I can to win it and bring it back to Ontario.”
It hasn’t been an easy road to get to this moment. Last month, the Ajax fighter had big, back-to-back fights in London, England called off.
“I’ve been training all summer, so I’m ready,” Cook said. “They contacted us with only five weeks’ notice, but this is any boxer’s dream.”
“Now all I got to do is win this fight and then everything changes.”
“Sometimes the journey goes so quick you don’t really get a chance to stop and look around,” said Michael Guyett, Cook’s trainer — and the one who introduced the “Bad Boy” to the sport.
While Cook didn’t step into the ring until he was 19, his opponent Jaime Munguia, who is 21, turned pro at 16 and hasn’t lost a fight in 30 bouts.
“Brandon’s not the biggest guy in the world but he’s definitely a big puncher, as well as Munguia,” Guyett said. “I think Munguia likes to get guys he’s fighting to go backwards a lot; so does Brandon. I think they’re going to meet in the middle and we’ll see who hits harder and who can make the other guy backpedal.”
Cook trains two to three times a day, six days a week. He quit his job and sold his house last year to focus on boxing. He’s all in, and his sacrifice has paid off.
“Millions of people around the world are going to see this. It’s probably not going to hit me until I get off the plane and when I get off the plane, I’m going to enjoy the moment. I’m going to make sure everyone who’s watching this pay-per-view is going to know who I am after this,” said Cook.
Not many get to fight for a world title. In three weeks, Cook will get his chance to land the shot.