Hughes batters Pickering on Froch-Reid undercard by Tom Podmore Nov 10th 2007

An excellent Hennessy Sports and GoldenPalace.net-promoted undercard last night (November 9) saw Pontefract's Sean ‘Short Fuse' Hughes pull off a career-best scalp, outpointing reigning British super-bantamweight champ Esham Pickering over a cracking eight. Pickering had been battered, bruised and bloodied by an inspired Hughes, who got a 77-75 vote from referee Sean Messer. I had it slightly wider at 78-75 in favour of the Yorkshire southpaw. Rendall Munroe, the English champion from nearby Leicester, is next in line for a crack at Esham's British belt and looked on unimpressed. He confidently boasted he would see off the former world title challenger in three rounds. A former Commonwealth and European boss, Esham was looking for a shot at the European title next year, currently held by Spanish banger Kiko Martinez, but will have to seriously consider his future after being battered by Hughes. Pickering, to put it simply, couldn't find a way past Sean's straight, hard punches – walking on to them for the duration of the 24-minute featherweight contest in the East Midlands. It had started ominously for the 31-year-old, now with Carl Greaves, when he was tagged by a right, hurt and forced to roll on the ropes as Hughes tossed 15 or 16 unanswered punches at his dazed dome. But Esham, trapped between the top and the third rope, managed to survive the storm. He had a better second – one of only two (the sixth being the other one) sessions I had the Newark stylist winning. Although never totally in command, Pickering (8st 13lbs) drew Sean in, hit him when his back was on the ropes and forced his opponent to defend stoutly after a solid right. The third was a much closer affair. Pickering started well with lefts and rights but Hughes fought well on the retreat and got through with several piercing leads. The fourth, however, was all Sean. He got his punches off quicker, banged in straight punch after straight punch and a counter right cross saw ‘Brown Sugar's' pins dip alarmingly. By the fifth Esham's face was red and puffy after taking so many solid shots from the 25-year-old Michael Marsden-trained warrior (9st). The misery didn't end there. Oh no. Esham missed with a wide hook and was immediately clattered with a straight left, making blood leak badly from his nose. Though the Midlander had a better sixth – forcing the pace and knocking the former Central Area champion's mouthpiece out with a right – normal service was resumed in round seven. Again, the former Ingle-trained boxer was rocked, almost fell through the ropes and looked as if his nose had been broken. Hughes, boxing the fight of his life, battered poor Pickering, his face a bloody, sorry mess, in the last with punches down the pipe. He jumped jubilantly into his delighted trainer/manager's arms when his hand was raised. A huge victory for the brave southpaw, 14-6-1 (1), who could find himself getting a second British title shot next year, possibly in a rematch with Esham. For Pickering, now 32-6 (12), he is going to have a long look at what he wants. In a fight that simmered but never sizzled, Manchester's John Murray added the vacant English lightweight belt to his WBC Youth strap with a four-round stoppage over West Bromwich puncher Dean Hickman. After a promising opener, Hickman (9st 8lbs) found himself being broken down bit by bit by the undefeated Mancunian pressure-fighter, who showed a cool head on young shoulders to take his time, pick his punches and wear his hard-hitting foe down. Both started the ten-rounder cautiously, as if knowing one mistake could lead to them staring up at the lights. However, I gave the opener to the Black Country scrapper, stepping down from ten-stone. Murray, although never in any significant danger, was forced back on several occasions by fast-handed left-rights. Murray's class came forth in the second, finding space to land with short right uppercuts through Deano's tight, high guard. Both had their moments, however, and Hickman charged forward and fired back after most Murray (9st 9lbs) attacks. Solid jabs had left Errol Johnson-trained Hickman with a swollen and puffy left eye by the third. John, trained by Joe Gallagher, kept his left glove high at all times and continued to chip away with short punches to the head and hooks to the body. The calm, measured approach from John paid off in the fourth, with a right hook to the body sending a look of pain across the West Midlanders face. Dean, 27, tried to battle back but was moved onto the ropes – where a right hand-left hook sent him crashing to the floor. He made it to his feet at nine, but referee Ian John-Lewis had seen enough and waived it off at 2-50, much to the scaffolder's disgust. Hickman, now 15-4-1 (5), angrily kicked his gumshield into the crowd. I thought the stoppage was a tad premature. Dean said afterwards: “I waited for the count to reach nine and then got up ready to continue the fight. It wasn't like I was staggering across the ring, but he waived it off and that really upset me. I could have easily carried on.” He boxed well enough in the early going to suggest he might have a decent future at nine-stone-nine. However, he met a man who looks as if he has the tools to go a very long way in professional boxing. The 23-year-old Mancunian, 22-0 (12), had sparred with the worlds number one light-welterweight, Hyde's Ricky Hatton, in the run-up to this and could box in Las Vegas in December. It proved to be a bad night for the Black Country as Walsall's Darren Gethin, making the maiden defence of the belt he won at this arena in March, was relieved off his Midland Area welterweight title by Nottingham's Adnan Amar in the tenth and last round. A left hook sent Gethin, exhausted after continuously pursuing the southpaw around the ring, down heavily – and Sean Messer sensibly waived it off without counting at 1-41 so paramedics could check Darren out. He made it to his feet after a few minutes. Incidentally, I had Ingle-trained Amar in a commanding 89-84 lead at the time of the stoppage. Although Gethin charged forward relentlessly throughout the first four rounds, taller Amar, using fast feet and excellent upper-body movement, defused his opponents attacks by holding on the inside and tattooing him on the outside with long uppercuts. Adnan never presented a stationary target but had trouble keeping the Errol Johnson-trained former British Masters champion off him in rounds five and six, however, though a left uppercut-right hand bloodied Gethin's mouth in the latter stages of the sixth. Control was re-asserted in rounds seven, eight and nine, Gethin shipping solid punches from the outside. Darren, now a deceiving 8-11-5 (2) (he has only boxed one man with a losing record), continued to plow forward but was miles behind at the time of the stoppage. Now 19-1 (4), the only loss coming against Dean Hickman in a vacant Midland Area title challenge in 2004, ticket-selling Amar can look forward to an English title fight in the New Year. Both were 10st 6 1/2lbs. Lincoln's Michael Monaghan is seriously deluding himself if he thinks he won his clash with Paul David for the vacant Midland Area super-middleweight title. Michael cried robbery after Terry O'Connor gave the Northampton-born boxer a 96-94 nod, which (if anything) was extremely generous to the loser. I had Ingle-trained David (11st 13lbs) – taller by a couple of inches, looking chiselled and fighting at the twelve-stone limit for the first time – winning massively at 99-92. Nottingham-born Monaghan (11st 12lbs) has some nice skills and moves around the ring well, but slaps with his punches and spent most of the time being speared with a long, sharp jab from the ultra-confident former Kingsthorpe ABC fighter. Paul, who scored back-to-back wins over English light-heavyweight champ Peter Haymer and British title challenger Andrew Lowe entering this fight, swept the first seven rounds for me. He was the first to the punch, brought in some solid right hooks and uppercuts from the fifth onwards and seldom took anything in return. The Matt Scriven-trained 31-year-old had a better eighth, however. Monaghan, although he had his nose bloodied earlier on in the session, found the target with several double jabs and two solid hooks to the body. But David, for me at least, regained control in the last two and improves to 8-3 (3). He fights Tony Dodson in Liverpool for the English twelve-stone title next year (February). Lincoln's Kelly Oliver returned after a four-year absence but was bludgeoned to defeat by brick-fisted John Anthony, the basic Dave Coldwell-trained Doncaster scrapper, in the fifth of a excellent cruiserweight six-threes. Had it been a four-threes, as originally agreed, then Oliver would have won for the twentieth time. That said, it was always likely to be a risky comeback against a man with a reputation as a concusive puncher. Chris Sanigar-handled Oliver, a former WBO Intercontinental and British Masters boss, had beaten future British champ Buster Keeton in the past but found himself taking a count after only 20 seconds in his comeback. Kelly (13st 13lbs) hadn't properly warmed up, had his hands held low and was punished when several clubbing rights bounced off his chin, making him slide down the ropes. He beat the count, survived an extremely crude follow-up and took rounds two, three and four with solid jabs and long rights, punches that rocked Anthony on several occasions. It looked like Mr Messer might step in at one point. But Anthony (14st 7lbs) always had the potential to be dangerous with those hail-Mary rights – thrown like grenades – and found the exposed chin again in round five, seriously hurting the former four-time ABA champion, who slumped to his knees. Although he bravely got up at eight, Dudley official Sean Messer could see Kelly's legs were gone and correctly called a halt to a fight at 1-18. Oliver, now 19-3 (10), had done well to get back into the fight, but Anthony hit too hard with that right. John, 6-7 (4), challenges for his first title, the British Masters cruiserweight, against former British and Commonwealth champ Neil Simpson in Coventry on December 1. Sleaford light-welterweight Amir Unsworth looked a trifle fortunate to get a 40-38 decision from Nigel Gill over Northampton stylist Leonard Lothian, 4-4-2 (0), who fights former English lightweight champion Scott Lawton in Stoke next week, in the show-opener. Although a lot of the three-minute rounds were undoubtedly close, Ingle-trained Lothian (9st 12lbs) was the fighter doing the greater volume of work – hit-and-move tactics working well. I had him winning the intriguing scrap 39-38. It's the second close decision to go against him in as many weeks. Twenty-six-year-old Carl Greaves-trained Unsworth (9st 11 1/4lbs) did his best work behind his jab, occasionally following with a powerful right, but was often frustrated by the former NABC champion's use of the ring and holding when he got in close. Amir, now 3-0 (1), goes over to Iraq with the Army on November 17, but is looking to be back in action in February and in a position to claim his first pro title by this time next year. Nigel Gill gave the reigning Midland Area light-heavyweight champion, Nottingham's Tyrone Wright, a deserved 40-36 nod over Worksop's Simeon Cover, a former British Masters twelve-stone champ, in the four-twos show-closer. Heavy-handed Wright, now 7-1-1 (3), could have stopped Cover (12st 8 3/4lbs) had he picked his punches better, but didn't straighten them and wasted too many when he had the Ingle-trained switch-hitter badly hurt on the ropes in rounds three and four. Jason Shinfield-trained Tyrone (12st 9lbs) is also a former British Masters champion and finished the cruiserweight contest with a cut over his left eye. He plans to drop down to twelve-stone and get in the mix for the soon-to-be vacant British belt. Rod Anderton, 9-2-1 (3), the hard-hitting Nottingham light-heavyweight, had his four-rounder with Nick Okoth called of at the last minute (literally) when Okoth vomited in his dressing room.

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