Esham Picked Apart

By Kishan Nundloll

Esham Pickering was denied the chance to claim the Lonsdale title outright after he was beaten by Matthew Marsh, at York Hall, Bethnal Green.

Pickering (33-7), who hails from Newark was out pointed on all three judges scorecards. Marsh (10-1) looked the more comfortable fighter throughout and in only his 11th professional bout outclassed his more experienced opponent on the way to claiming the British super bantamweight title.

Pickering had promised to deliver a performance after looking woeful in his previous two fights. Surely after this defeat, there is nothing left for him. Pickering who has held, British, commonwealth and European titles is starting to show his age and was, outworked, out punched and genuinely outclassed by his much younger opponent.

The fight started with both fighters trying to assert themselves, but with Marsh landing the more hurtful shots. Pickering took far too long to settle and eventually got going in the sixth round, but still found Marsh durable and hard to penetrate. The hand speed wasn’t there, and Pickering was far too easy to hit, there were only glimpses of class from the former champion, but he looked devoid of ideas.

He did show bravery throughout the fight taking a flurry of shots in the 9th and 10th,and despite looking dazed, kept throwing punches (mostly missed), but nevertheless he played his part in an entertaining British contest.

The majority of the fans had come to see Marsh, who is from West Ham and he delivered in fine fashion. Taking the decision on points the judges scored the fight 117-111,116-113,and 115-113, all to Marsh.

On the under card John O’ Donnell, went back to winning ways, with a sixth round stoppage win, there were also wins for George Hillyard and up and coming prospect Dwayne Lewis.