Leivars Looking North For Another Win

Undefeated Mansfield pugilist, Nico Leivars (7-0-1;1), heads to Scotland next weekend, challenging fellow undefeated fighter, Dylan Arbuckle (9-0;3) for the British super bantamweight strap, at the OVO Hydro, Glasgow.

It’s a title which has quite a bit of history with Nottingham fighters, well two in particular, Esham ‘Brown Sugar’ Pickering and Jason ‘2 Smooth’ Booth; between 2003 and 2011 these two, multi-weight combatants put together eleven fights involving this particular title.

Pickering, who retired in 2014, with a ledger of 34-11 (14), won the British, Commonwealth, IBF European, and EBU European straps at super bantamweight, whilst also trading at featherweight, lightweight, and bantamweight level, throughout an illustrious career.

During a five-year spell, between 2003 and 2008, Pickering challenged for the British bantamweight strap five times winning three and losing two; his first contesting was a TKO4 success over Brian Carr, in Glasgow’s Braehead Arena, back in July 2003.

He next contested the title in an often-discussed war, over a dozen rounds in Hartlepool; facing hometown favourite, Michael Hunter, at the Borough Hall, it would be Hunter who snatched an MD12 victory in October 2005.

In an interview with Neon Nottingham (March 2022, here) Pickering said of his war with Hunter; “I knocked him down in the first, knocked him down in the second and won the third but he just kept on coming.

“He never bothered me but he was pressing all the time. I thought I just won it but it was in his hometown and he won on the split decision.”

Pickering won his next two attempts at the British title, first defeating Marc Callaghan, UD12, at the Norfolk Showground, Norwich, in March 2007, following that up with a TKO9 of Sean Hughes, at the Meadowside Leisure Centre, Burton-on-Trent, ten months later (January 2008).

Matthew Marsh took the British title from Pickering, at the famous York Hall, Bethnall Green, via a UD12, less than six months after the win over Hughes; at the time of Pickering’s latter career, another Nottingham fighter was coming to the fore, Jason Booth, 38-15 (15), carrying the flag for a baying generation of fight fans.

Booth and Pickering had both debuted back in 1996, 2 Smooth titling in the flyweight division, winning the British and Commonwealth, and challenging for the EBU European (twice), before going on to win the IBO World super flyweight title in 2003 (against Lunga Ntontela), and defending it in 2004 (against Dale Robinson).

Come 2007 and Booth was challenging for, and winning, bantamweight titles, prior to a super bantamweight reign from 2009 – 2011; he picked up the belt following a TKO6 success against Mark Moran, at the Leigh Sports Village, Leigh, in April ’09.

His first defence was a UD12 over Rocky Dean at York Hall (June 2009), following up with victories over Michael Hunter (RTD5, October 2009, Seaburn Leisure Centre, Sunderland), and Matthew Marsh (TKO11, February 2010, Harvey Hadden Leisure Centre, Nottingham).

Defeat (MD12) to Steve Molitor, for the IBF World super bantamweight strap came in Houghton-le-Spring in September 2010, before being successful for the British again, this time against Jamie Arthur (SD12) in Brentwood, February 2011 – the fights against both Marsh, and Arthur, were for the British and Commonwealth super bantamweight straps.

A run of five straight losses then followed, against Kiko Martinez, Scott Quigg, Kid Galahad, Willie Casey, and Martin Ward, with the Quigg fight, in October 2011, again for the British title -Booth’s in-ring career would see it come to its cataclysmic conclusion with nine losses from his final eleven outings.

In the latter throes of his career, and having signed with Matchroom Boxing, Booth said in an interview HERE ahead of his British bantamweight title clash with Ryan Burnett in 2015 that; “I’ve got ambitions to be a three weight British champion and I feel that this is my time to make history.

“There is no one in our generation that has won it in three weight classes, I think you would have to go back to the 1940’s until the last time it was done.”

Booth was un-done that night, suffering a UD12 defeat at the Manchester Arena, before wrapping up his career, with another loss, this to Sean Davis three months for the English super bantamweight in Birmingham.

With it a highlight reel chapter of Nottingham boxing came to a close in the bantamweight, super bantamweight divisions – now though, it’s time for another Nottinghamshire fighter, Nico Leivars, to reignite that flickering flame.

Leivars challenges Scotland’s Dylan Arbuckle, for the British super bantamweight strap, at the OVO Hydra, Glasgow, on Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions fight card topped by a WBC Silver featherweight clash between Nathaniel Collins (Scotland) and Cristobal Llorente (Spain), and featuring a British and Commonwealth super featherweight dance between Royston Barney-Smith (Southampton) and Conor McIntosh (Northern Ireland-born, Welshman).