Gloucestershire boxer Anton Esson says he wants to fight for gold in the near future before his step up in class on Saturday as he fights at the O2 arena on the undercard of Joseph Parker v Fabio Wardley
The Bishop Cleeve resident has high aspirations of rising through the ranks, but he wants to do it the ‘traditional’ way.
“My main focus in boxing is to keep beating the opponents they put in front of me and then eventually I’d like to start competing for titles.
“I want to do it the traditional way, go for the Southern Area title and then fight for the English title, then the British title, and then go to European and World level then, that’s the way I’d like to do it.
The 25-year old southpaw is scheduled to fight Jordan Ellison, a journeyman with a record of 15 wins and 58 losses with five draws.
Esson said: “I’m looking forward to it, I can’t wait. I’m excited, it’s a bit of a tougher opponent this time.
Esson trains out of Baker Street ABC’s gym in Gloucester under the tutelage of Todd Roberts, and under the management of Mark Neilson.
“I’ve always been from Baker Street since the start, I started when I was nine years old with Todd Roberts who is my boxing coach and I’ve fought there ever since.
“I had 42 amateur fights and then I turned professional two years ago and turned me into the boxer I am today.
Esson has only fought locally in the first four professional fights of his career, but now steps up to fight in the O2 arena in the nation’s capital.
“It’s a big opportunity for me, the biggest one yet and I’m just looking forward to fighting on a big show, to be seen and perform in front of a big crowd,” he said.
“I’ve only ever fought in Swindon, Gloucester and Cheltenham so compared to that it’s going to be a big difference, I think it holds 20,000 people.”
Out of his first four fights, the super lightweight has three finishes, two TKO’s and one corner retirement.
On his strengths, Esson said: “I’m a very explosive, entertaining fighter and that’s all I can really say about my style.”
Esson’s fight only materialised in recent weeks, with his opponent only being confirmed officially in the last 48 hours.
“I only found out about this fight a couple of weeks ago, so I haven’t had a proper training camp as such, but I just came out of a training camp because I fought on September 13.
“I’m still fit, I’m ready to go and sometimes these fights just come on short notice , so that’s why you’ve got to stay ready and stay fit in the gym to take opportunities like this.
“It doesn’t make a difference to me, like I said, I’m fit, just come out of a training camp, so I’m ready to do the business.
“I don’t look at tape, I leave that to my coach, I just go off what he says and I just listen to him.”
The sport of boxing requires dedication to make a name for yourself and therefore can be quite difficult to find time for anything else.
“Boxing takes up so much of my time that I don’t have any other hobbies outside of it.
“I class boxing as my job as well alongside my job as a civil engineer for Openreach.
“My preparation for this fight has just been training day in, day out.”
The second fight of his young, short career was inside GL1 leisure centre in the middle of Gloucester.
On fighting in his home city, Esson said: “I’m from Gloucester so fighting in GL1 made selling tickets easier, there was a good crowd there, a lot of people I know were there, the atmosphere was one to remember.
