Hi everyone , i need some info on Esham Pickering , i know he'll be fighting in december and in jenuary for a title.
Is he good? is he a orthodox or southpaw?
thanks to you all
Esham Pickering
Re: Esham Pickering
NEWARK'S British and Commonwealth super-bantamweight champion Esham Pickering contests the vacant European super-bantamweight title with Italy's Vincenzo Gigliotti (the title was vacated by Frenchman Mahyar Monshipour after he won the WBA title from compatriot Salim Medjkoune last July) at Bradford or Leeds on January 16 (no venue confirmed as yet).Chimaira wrote:Hi everyone , i need some info on Esham Pickering , i know he'll be fighting in december and in jenuary for a title.
Is he good? is he a orthodox or southpaw?
thanks to you all
Gigliotti, 23-4 (14), like Pickering, came up short in a challenge for the 'world' title when he was outpointed over 12 tough rounds by Medjkoune for the WBA title in his last fight in April in France. Pickering was drilled in one by WBO bantamweight champion Mauricio Martinez back in 2000, but got his career back on track by concentrating on legitimate, traditional titles. He continues in that worthy vein. And, deservedly, this next fight is something of a win-win affair for him. He has the chance to win the European title on home soil, earn some good money and move on to the world scene if he wins. If he loses, he'll probably defend his British and Commonwealth titles in a real trade fight with Hartlepool's unbeaten Michael Hunter. Both Brits want the fight.
Esham has been sparrring in Denmark in preparation for this fight, though a tune-up on the Ottke-Reid undercard in Germany on Saturday was cancelled when he came down with a chest infection.
Gigliotti, a 31-year-old from Verretto in Italy, is a stocky, aggressive fighter who turned pro back in December 1995 and won nine fights in a row before losing in six rounds to Frenchman Johnny Begue in Milan in 1998. He reeled off another nine wins, including a fine second round knockout of Alessandro Di Meco for the Italian super-bantam title and a third round stoppage of Nice toughman Fabien Guillerme (who went 12 rounds with Noel Wilders), before challenging Mexico's WBU super-bantamweight champion Carlos Contreras in Italy in December 2000. The fight was action-packed, with both fighters going toe to toe throughout. One judge (presumably the Italian) went 114-113 for Gigliotti, but was overruled by scores of 115-112 and 117-110 for Contreras, who had won his title from the previously unbeaten but badly weight-weakened Carlos Navarro.
The local man bounced back to win the WBA international title a year later, but looked fortunate to retain that crown in his first defence against French fighter Frederic Bonifai, who lost in five rounds to Michael Brodie and was also stopped by former British featherweight champion Roy Rutherford in this country. British judge Terry O'Connor scored it 116-113 to Bonifai, but the other two judges favoured Gigliotti.
He lost his belt in his next defence to the unremarkable Frenchman Turcay Kaya on a unanimous decision in Italy, but retained his long-held Italian title by knocking out Francesco D'Arcangelo with a vicious body shot in round nine and erased the controversey surrounding that first Bonifai win by outpointing him in a rematch in late 2002. Those two wins secured him a shot at the talented Salim Medjkoune for the WBA crown earlier this year in France. The gutsy Italian pressed the action, but southpaw Medjkoune countered smoothly and stood his ground in the final two rounds to rock the challenger and set the seal on a unanimous decision victory (117-112; 115-113 and 116-111). Gigliotti finished cut over both eyes. He hasn't fought since that fight in April.
Pickering, 24-3 [8], on the other hand, is on a run of quick, impresssive wins and looked better than ever in stopping Ghanaian dangerman Alfred Tetteh in the seventh round in defence of his Commonwealth title in October. Tetteh was no mug, and the champion survived a difficult first couple of rounds before his better technique took over. "I took a little while to get going," admitted Pickering afterwards. "but when I settled down, I felt I got stronger as the fight wore on." He whipped in the counters, and proved elusive. By the sixth, the Ghanaian was missing wildly. The end came a round later when the oncoming Tetteh was nailed with a beautifully-timed right uppercut, which sent him crashing to the canvas. Tetteh struggled up at eight, but referee Mark Green rightly waved the contest off, much to Tetteh's anger.
Pickering had won the vacant Commonwealth title with an imposing fifth round stoppage of Kenya's Duncan Karanja in February. He seems to be punching harder than ever at super-bantam after struggling to find his natural weight in a career that dates back to 1996. He was outpointed by John Irwin for the British featherweight title in 1998, suffered that quick knockout at the hands of Mauricio Martinez for the WBO bantamweight title in 2000 - and just a year ago in Spain was robbed against Alejandro Monzon in a super-featherweight 12-rounder.
But they remain his only defeats, and the Karanja destruction earlier this year raised hopes that the 27-year-old who boxes out of Brendan Ingle's illustrious Sheffield stable was ready to live up to his undoubted potential. Sure enough, he added the vacant British super-bantamweight title in July with an equally sharp and powerful performance against hometowner Brian Carr on the Manuel Medina-Scott Harrison undercard in Glasgow, flooring the experienced Scot with a big right in the fourth and opening up to force a stoppage moments later. Then came the Tetteh destruction. He's right on top of his game.
Gigliotti looks a decent fighter, but Italian boxing is going through a particularly bad patch at the moment, so he may not be as good as Italian fighters we've seen here in the past (and 10 years ago, Esham would almost certainly have been forced to travel over there for a crack).
Vincenzo has a high stoppage ratio, but Pickering has stopped his last three and will have height and reach over the short, compact Italian, whose aggression could prove the perfect foil for Pickering's orthodox and flashy Wincobank boxing skills. The home man's sharp counters should pile up the points and could even badly cut the visitor. He should make it a hat trick of legitimate titles with a wide points win.