Hi just heard his first defence it will be on the 28/11 against Esham Pickering.it is on sky sports and expect it to be made official. pickering is experinced fighter and should be a decent test for young appleby. he is a former european,commonwealth and british super bantamweight champion.
Jeez Esham is shot to ****. I thought he had a fight lined up against Morran and I expected him to lose that. Appleby by KO round 1.
Pickering is a flashy fighter who can still hold his own at domestic level(at least a few rounds) but unluckily for Esham he's not up against a wee fud like Khan, this time he's up against someone who can fecht
Yep just had a look and it seems Pickering has bottled and looks to fight Appleby instead. It will not matter as the guy is shot to ****.
Esham has skills , ok he isnt what he was,certainly, but i see this as a good test for Paul,a good fight and a learning curve for him. K.O. in one ? I dont see it, and if it happened, im sure Paul himself wouldnt be walking around proud of it. I see it similar to Khan/Gomez in the sense of "it should be done and is expected" Same reason he maybe isnt fighting for this "mandatory" english title, theres more money in it for Esham ( bottled DWilson ?) and a possible chance of an upset as slim as it seems or would be on paper. Anyways Hairy :bbb
I think it will be late stoppage. Pickering is not as good as he was, but still pretty savvy - this is probably a smart move from Esham to pick up a payday and walk away.
Looking forward to this fight, can't see Pickering winning it (mid to late stoppage for Appleby) but fair play to Pickering for going with this fight, can't really see how he's bottled fighting a bigger fight?