Paul Appleby retained his British featherweight crown at Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow last night, by dint of a unanimous points win over Esham Pickering.

The 21-year-old rising ring star from South Queensferry dominated the fight after Pickering went on the run for six rounds in an effort to frustrate the Scot and encourage him to throw caution to the wind.

But for all that he landed a barrage of body shots and several stinging rights to the head, Appleby was unable to deliver the big punch he craved to stop Pickering in his tracks.

However, it was a largely one-sided affair resulting in Appleby holding on to his crown by points margins of 117-11, 117-112 and 116-113.

It was also a valuable learning experience for Appleby ahead of his next defence, against talented Ulsterman Martin Lindsay, who is also undefeated.

Appleby was surprisingly critical of his performance, claiming: "It wasn't up to much, but I got the win and that was what mattered. Pickering made it awkward for me, bit it was a great learning experience. After all, he was British, Commonwealth and European super-bantamweight champion and he knows how to survive which is exactly what he did because he wasn't there to win."

The same could not be said of the champion who gave it his best shot early on to deliver a knock-out blow. But Pickering is a wily old fox and, at 32, has an 11-year advantage of Appleby in terms of experience.

Appleby began powerfully and aggressively and landed several good shots in the opening round while Pickering concentrated on retreating.

Pickering's tactics turned it into a boring, one-sided affair for much of the time but no blame can be attached to Appleby, who was faster, slicker and much more determined.

It seemed inevitable that Pickering would eventually crumple under the onslaught of shots to the body but he is clearly a highly durable character, for he rarely showed signs of any distress.

Just for a change, Pickering opened the fourth round with an aggressive right, but Appleby responded immediately although his opponent attempted to crowd him and reduce his flow of power.

Pickering looked as if he might nick the fifth round, but Appleby bounced back with a strong finish to build on his already impressive lead.

After taking further sustained punishment in the sixth and seventh rounds, Pickering reduced the next to a scrappy affair by holding on at every opportunity and employing spoiling tactics.

As a consequence of his growing frustration, Appleby allowed his composure to slip in the ninth and Pickering began to make more of a fight of it.

Even though Appleby again finished the round the stronger, it went to Pickering, but only just, and I had Appleby ahead by eight at that juncture.

But with both fighters tiring noticeably and Appleby prone to leaving himself a tad exposed as he went in search an early finish, there was always the risk of a major upset. However, despite suffering a gash across his left eyebrow in the 11th round, Appleby never looked in great danger of blowing it against a fighter whose best days are behind him.

Pickering may have three others Scots on his record, Mike Deveny, Louis Veitch and Brian Carr, but Appleby was not for joining them.