http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/boxing/6176394.stm


WBO featherweight champ Scott Harrison has told BBC Sport that he is as fit as he has ever been despite spending five weeks in a Spanish prison.

He defends his title against Nicky Cook on 9 December - only three weeks after his enforced stay in Malaga.

Sporting a tan gained whilst running in the prison yard, the 29-year-old Scot said he was ready to face Cook.

"I was training for a month before going in, so in some ways the rest has done me good," said Harrison.

Harrison was in London on Thursday to help promote his fight against the 27-year-old Cook, a former British, European and Commonwealth champion, at the Excel Arena in the city's Docklands.

And the Cambuslang-born boxer was in bright spirits as he explained his prison training regime.

"I trained three times a day by running around the yard, shadow boxing and skipping with a rope that some of the other prisoners made for me," said Harrison, who was in prison on assault charges.

"There were Spaniards and lots of Brits in there - it was like the League of Nations at times.

"We only had two meals a day and it was mostly fish and boiled rice. But that has probably helped me get my weight down for the fight more quickly."


Harrison looked in surprisingly good nick after his release
The British Boxing Board of Control has already added its formal approval for the fight after Harrison underwent a medical examination last week.

Harrison, however, admitted that his stay in custody was not entirely without downsides.

"There were times, as (the bail application process) dragged on, that I worried if I would be released in time to make the fight," he said.

He would have been stripped of his title if he had failed to defend it against Cook.

Harrison, who has admitted to problems with alcohol and depression, was arrested on in Spain on 6 October after several alleged offences, including an assault on a police officer.

He faces another court hearing in Spain on a date which is still to be set.

The fighter, who pulled out of his last fight in Belfast in May because of his personal troubles, is also scheduled to be up before a Scottish court next year to answer a number of charges, including three of assault.

Harrison, who regained his world title four years ago when he avenged his defeat to Manuel Medina, has a 26-2-1 record with 14 KOs, while the Dagenham-born Cook is unbeaten in 26 fights.