PAUL Appleby declared himself dissatisfied with his performance, despite making an impressive first defence of his British featherweight title against Esham Pickering at Glasgow's Bellahouston Leisure Centre.
The South Queensferry boxer, 21, is 11 years younger than his English opponent but made up for his lack of experience with talent, speed and boundless enthusiasm.
The result was a one-sided fight, notwithstanding a tricky ninth round in which the
young Scot looked to be momentarily in danger.
The three judges' scorecards – 116-113, 117-112, 117-111 in the champion's favour – confirmed Appleby had taken another step in the right direction, while taking his record to 13-0.
However, Appleby declared after the Friday night fight that he was less than pleased with the second 12-rounder of his career.
"My performance wasn't up to much, but I got the win," he said.
"He made it really awkward for me.
"He couldn't hit at all – it was awkwardness and it was frustrating.
"I thought I won it with eight or nine rounds, and so the judges' scores were about fair.
"I respect the guy – he came up here and put up a good performance when a lot of people said he was shot.
"I hit him with some solid shots, and he didn't go – so I don't think he is shot yet."
Appleby is confident he will benefit from coming through the test.
"It was a great learning experience, because he has fought for world titles and has won European and Commonwealth belts," he added.
"He knew how to survive, and that's what he did.
"He wasn't there to win it; he was there to prove a point that he could survive – and so congratulations to him for doing so."
The full article contains 299 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
