Boxing In Britain: Appleby Defeats Pickering In Scotland

Last night at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Sports Centre, British Featherweight title challenger Paul Appleby, 13-0 (8), won his most important test to date by outpointing former super bantamweight triple champion Esham Pickering, 33-8 (13), after twelve rounds.

Appleby was aggressive from the start and looked to tire the aging Pickering but the Newark stylist drew on his long experience to survive the onslaught and even win a few rounds later in the bout when the champion began to flag from the effort.

But Pickering, never a big puncher, just couldn’t keep his 21 year old antagonist off and loses the third bout over his last four outings on points. Appleby retains the British Featherweight title for the first time.

The man Appleby defeated to win that belt, fellow Scot John Simpson, 18-6 (6), was also in action on the bill, outpointing Kenyan import John Gicharu, 10-3-1 (5), in a competitive eight round featherweight contest.