Horton to get stuck in on Pickering undercard by Tom Podmore Jan 14th 2008

Unbeaten Black Country middleweight Sam ‘The Man' Horton has vowed to fight his fight when he steps into action on Hennessy Sports and GoldenPalace.net's seven-fight card on Friday evening (January 18). The all-action Stourbridge crowdpleaser has already been involved in some hard-fought scraps in his 15-month pro journey and knows that doesn't make for a particularly long career. But a well-measured, career-best performance in his last contest has made him realise what he needs to do in the future. He meets Barnsley's ‘Lightning' Lee Noble, 9-6 (2), over six-threes and is looking to pummel the Ingle-trained middleweight, get the 18-minute distance under his belt for the first time, block out his vociferous support and put in a polished performance in front of the television cameras. Originally trained by former British and Commonwealth title challenger Robert Wright, Horton is now coached by Errol Johnson in Wednesbury, having his last four fights with Johnson at the helm, and is enjoying life at a gym that also boasts the talents of Young Mutley, Dean Hickman and Stuart Elwell. Sam, rated at 20 in BBN's latest ratings and 21 in Boxing News', has also noticed a drastic improvement in his all-round boxing ability since a move that sees him have regular and quality sparring with the likes of Matty Hough, Jonjo Finnegan, Mark Lloyd and Rob Kenney. And the 22-year-old First Team-promoted fighter showed an excellent boxing brain to shut-out former Central Area and British Masters title challenger Davey Jones over six rounds in Birmingham at the end of October. He is planning on similar tactics at Burton's Meadowside Leisure Centre in a few days time. “I hear my supporters cheering and I just want to get stuck in and have a fight,” admitted the former Lions ABC unpaid performer, 6-0 (1), who knows a good performance at the atmospheric Staffordshire venue could lead to his fight being featured on the two-hour Sky Sports broadcast. “I'll be the first to admit I get a bit carried away when I hear them cheering and then I forget about my boxing,” added a man who hasn't lost a round since his third paid outing (November 2006). “I'll just stick to what I do in the gym – use the jab at range, varying the attack between head and body – and I can continue my march towards my first professional title at some stage in the next couple of years. “I'm learning all the time and I know all I have to do is block out my supporters in Burton.” British super-bantamweight champ Esham Pickering tops the bill in a defence of his belt against Pontefract southpaw Sean Hughes, who shockingly outpointed the Newark stylist (a former European champion and world title challenger) in an eight-rounder at the end of last year. Midland Area welterweight boss Adnan Amar, Nottingham, takes on French portsider Anthony Guillet in the chief support and the bill also includes touted Derby trio Jack Perry, Dave Ryan and debutant Matthew Hainy. Another Derbyshire prospect, Woodville's Duane Parker, has his second paid outing.

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