PAUL APPLEBY has vowed to "do a number" on England's Esham Pickering when the pair clash for the South Queensferry boxer's British featherweight crown at Glasgow's Bellahouston Leisure Centre on Friday, November 28.
Appleby has been promised a big-money bout with Belfast's Martin Lindsay should he see off Pickering and he's determined not to let that chance slip through his fingers.
Ahead of his first defence of the nine-stone title, 20-year-old Appleby said:
"I've been told by my manager, Tommy Gilmour, that, if I beat Pickering, I'll be guaranteed a defence against Martin Lindsay in March.
"Once I've polished off Lindsay, I will get the chance to make even more money and win my Lonsdale Belt outright by giving Greennock's John Simpson, who I beat to become British champion earlier this year, a rematch."
Appleby, though, insists he won't be taking Newark-based Pickering lightly.
He said: "Pickering will be tricky for four or five rounds – until he starts to feel my left hooks to the body."
Meanwhile, challenger Pickering admitted: "I admit that I'm the underdog against Appleby – after all, I've lost four out of my last nine fights – but that's what makes me so dangerous a challenger. If I lose this fight, I've nowhere else to go career wise, so I'm coming north to ensure my own boxing future.
"Appleby's in for a heck of a surprise if he thinks I'm just coming up to Glasgow to fall over and pick up a payday."
• FORMER Sparta boxer Mike Reid is negotiating with Tommy Gilmour to make a comeback at welterweight early in 2009 after taking a three-year break from the ring.
