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| Two warriors, namely Esham Pickering and Michael Hunter, met in the historic harbour town of Hartlepool on a frenzied Friday night in order to see just who would win bragging rights to be a future world champion and also to decide who would be the British, Commonwealth and European kingpin at super-bantamweight. As we have all seen in many sporting arenas, the extra push for the |  Click for larger image © Paul Henderson SaddoBoxing.com |
home gladiator derives from the support they receive. Just like the famous Kop of Anfield, the home crowd spurred Hunter on to win in heart thumping fashion at the stuffed Borough Hall of Hartlepool, making the Matchroom Promotions event a resounding success for the fans in attendance and those who viewed the bill on ITV.
As the fight started, it was European and Commonwealth Champion Pickering whom looked the stronger physically. He was sharper to the punch and seemed to float around the ring with the confidence of a man with two titles to his name. It was the British Champion Hunter that got caught in the opening round and had to take an eight count, albeit a flash knockdown.
The second round took a similar turn for the worst for Hunter as again he was floored, this time though, the hometown man looked a little shaken. A late rally towards the end of the round by Hunter made sure Pickering knew he was in a scrap, however.
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Once Hunter had settled himself to the task he started to put together some terrific punches in bunches, catching Pickering with clean shots to the head and body, yet just lacking the power to seriously trouble the reigning European beltholder. The crowd within the small hall boxing arena were going barmy, which no doubt helped push Hunter on through the early to middle rounds.
Hunter was looking strong now, bossing Pickering around the squared circle, and just like his namesake, he hunted Pickering down to the point where a cut appeared on the bridge of the visitor’s nose.
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During the later rounds of the fight one could sense an upset, in that Hunter could actually stop Pickering, such was the intensity and desire in his own work. Once again, Pickering was tagged coming in, which resulted in the cut re-opening in the tenth. With the fight now looking more likely to go the distance, it was Hunter looking the stronger now in the closing rounds.
The eleventh was too close to call as both boxers were looking to end it. Hunter looked the stronger in the last round as again he caught Pickering with some fantastic four and five punch combinations.
At the end of the bout, I had Hunter three rounds ahead, which was echoed by the scoring judges at ringside, albeit one judge had it level on 113-113. The remaining scorecards read 115-112 and 114-113 in favour of Hunter.
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When the announcement arrived that Hunter was now the proud owner of three title belts, the roof was literally lifted off the place from the cacophony of noise supporting the home fighter.
There was one local I was speaking to who described Hunter as a street-fighter with a heart of steel. Based on his display on Friday night, this kid has more heart and bottle than you can shake a stick at and could prove to be North East boxing’s greatest export since IBF/British/Commonwealth Champion Glen McCrory.
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