Alex Arthur, the WBO super-featherweight champion, will be over the moon if he defeats Nicky Cook to retain the title that was bestowed on him by dint of former holder Joan Guzman's refusal to defend against his Edinburgh rival.

Cook will be the eighth Englishman to pit his wits against Arthur when the pair do battle at Manchester's MEN Arena on September 6 on a bill featuring five title bouts, including an appearance by Commonwealth lightweight champion Amir Khan.

Arthur has so far accounted for six of his rivals from south of the border, with only Manchester-based Michael Gomez having succeeded in getting the better of the 30 year old Scot.

"I made mistakes in terms of how I prepared for that fight," Arthur said of the defeat at Meadowbank in October 2003. "I thought all I had to do was turn up and hit the guy and he would fall over. But losing was probably the best thing that could have happened to me because it taught me a valuable lesson."

Consequently, Arthur says he has never prepared more diligently for a fight than his upcoming showdown with 28-year-old Cook from Essex, pointing out that he is currently only seven pounds over the nine stone four pounds limit, with three weeks still to go.

Not that Arthur feels he has anything to prove to those who have labelled him a paper champion due to the fact that he did not win his world title in the ring.

"I felt like I earned the title against Koba Gogoladze last July when we fought for the interim belt," said Arthur. "Gogoladze was the main challenger to Guzman at the time and an Olympic medallist, but I still managed to stop him."

For his part, Cook, who failed in his previous attempt to win a world title when he was stopped by Steven Luevano in a contest for the vacant WBO featherweight belt, believes he has the tools to inflict a second career defeat on Arthur.

He wasn't underestimating his opponent, however: "It certainly won't be a walk in the park," he admitted. "Alex is a quality fighter, the same as me."