Ollie can go as far as he wants to - trainer

Ollie Cooper…England’s new super-middle king. Pic: Manjit Narotra/BCB

THE future is as bright as Ollie Cooper wants it to be, his trainer insisted, after the tall, unbeaten super-middle added the English title to his collection.

In a sweltering York Hall, Bethnal Green, Cooper chipped the resistance from bull-like James Osborne, then clinically despatched him in the eighth.

The 25-year-old southpaw – near freakishly tall for the division at 6ft 4ins – can now dream big. And so can his Wolverhampton gym following Ollie’s victory and Gully Powar’s draw for the British featherweight title.

As head coach Richie Carter told me: “It’s winner, winner chicken dinner at the moment, mate.”

Lessons were learned after Gully’s controversial stalemate – and executed in the East End on Friday night. The gold and black gym is in no mood to leave things in the hands of judges.

“Ollie was in control of the fight in the seventh,” head coach Richard Carter said. “I told him at the end of the round, ‘you have to get rid of this kid now, it’s time. I said, ‘I can’t keep having this, you have to bite on your gumshield and get the kid out of there.”

Cannock’s Cooper, who scored his 13th straight win, did that in some style. An uppercut sent 34-year-old Osborne sinking to the canvas, he rose early for a standing count and was then slammed by left hands before toppling again.

The Essex fighter again clambered to his feet too quickly, but had nothing left. The contest was halted with only two seconds of the round remaining. He was gone.

Rugged Osborne, eight inches shorter, came into the vacant title clash with a puncher’s reputation. Before Cooper, he’d won GBM Sports’ lucrative “The Heist” 12st knockout tournament in spectacular fashion. He’d lost only one of 14.

But the physical disadvantages he faced against Ollie meant risks had to be taken, he had to press forward, try to get under his opponent’s long levers. Against a puncher like Cooper, that comes with big risks.

The Black Country lad has come on leaps and bounds since his early pro outings. He has fulfilled Carter’s pledge that the better the opposition, the better his fighter will be. He needs a dog fight to bring out the dog in him. Osborne attempted to give him a dog fight and paid the price.

“Ollie’s rocked all his opponents,” Carter said. “If he wants to put them away he’ll put them away. If they don’t bother, he doesn’t bother – if they come to fight, he’ll step it up.

“Osborne was ranked number six and what Ollie did with him he’ll do with most because he hits that hard. He’d hurt Osborne a couple of times before the finish, you could see it, but Ollie wanted to take his time.”

Big fights await Cooper. He has conquered the Midlands and England, now the British title beckons.

“There’ll probably be a defence of the English,” Carter said, “but we’re aiming for a British title fight and Ollie can win it, 100 per cent.

“He has so much ability, it’s down to him what he wants to do. If he wants to press down on it, he can go all the way – that’s a fact, no drama. He has real punching power – I think he stopped his last three opponents in the amateurs.

“He hits, he’s a southpaw, he’s a nightmare for most.”

Despite Cooper’s size and the fact he’s not yet reached full physical maturity, Carter insists there’ll be no move up to light-heavy.

“He done it (the weight) easy this time, he even made a comment he could make middleweight. His nutritionist Jack Coak is dynamite. Before, Ollie was trying to do it himself, now it’s plain sailing.”

From the small halls, Cooper has emerged as the 12st division’s dark horse. And, ominously, he and his team believe the public ain’t seen nothing yet.