Cooper gives his all in points loss to Sam

Cooper pushed world title challenger all the way

THE big gamble failed to produce a windfall, but Shaun Cooper can walk away with head held high following his points loss to former British light-welterweight champ Sam Maxwell.

The Willenhall fighter was adjudged to have lost every session of the six rounder – 60-54 – at Nottingham Arena on Saturday night.

But the scoreline does not reflect Shaun’s commitment or refusal to buckle during the competitive bout. Maxwell never had it easy.

The Liverpool fighter, having his first outing since being stopped by Alejandro Meneses in a bid for the IBO world title 10 months ago, was made to work for his win.

Cooper pledged beforehand that he was coming to cause an upset and, under TV lights, was as good as his words.

But as the contest progressed, Maxwell found more space for straight punches thrown in twos and threes. The gap between the pair widened slightly with each session.

Cooper began aggressively, firing stiff jabs, then belting right hands to the body. Former outstanding amateur Maxwell, with a fight against British champ Dalton Smith in the offing, seemed surprised by the early onslaught, but regrouped and began finding the range with lefts to the body in the second.

Shaun never allowed Sam to coast or take his foot off the pedal. He fired a nice, long right in the third and bulled Maxwell to the ropes in the fourth, only to be caught by a cracking right.

Maxwell had his most dominant moments in the fifth as body shots forced his opponent to retreat, one, in particular, rattling Cooper.

The favourite continued to open the throttle in the sixth, landing in clusters. One left to the body made 26-year-old Shaun stumble back.

Cooper made him work to the very end and can take positives from the performance, if not a victory.

He was not out of his depth against one of the best 10st fighters in Britain. His confidence will have been bolstered.

The day after defeat, Shaun told fans on social media: “We’ll, yesterday didn’t go my way, but I gave it my all!

“Came away with a loss, but a lot of positive comments from a lot of people at the stadium.

“I took this fight knowing how tough it was going to be - look what he had won and his record. I’m a warrior, I’ll keep on going! Thanks for all the support.

“Big thanks to my amazing wife who puts up with everything, from me not being here while I’m training, to being a full time mom with two kids. I take my hat off to her, as being a boxing wife is hard. They sacrifice just as much as us.

“Big thanks to all who came to watch me, love to you all.”