Ringside Boxing Report: Howard Eastman – Evans Ashira
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From Dudley Concert Hall in the heart of the West Midlands, UK, came championship boxing on Friday night as Howard Eastman faced Evans Ashira for the vacant Commonwealth Middleweight title on a Hennessy Sports and GoldenPalace.com shared promotion.
Evans Ashira, “The African Warrior”, originally from Kenya but now residing in Denmark, looked relaxed as he walked to the ring escorted by trainer/manager Chris Sanigar of Bristol.
Howard “The Battersea Bomber” Eastman bounced his way to the ring wearing luminous yellow/green gear and escorted by trainer Robert McCracken.
It’s a packed Dudley Concert Hall and there’s plenty of support for Eastman amidst the Dudley crowd.
It’s a steady first round with Eastman tapping away with light shots as he settles in and Ashira throws some good right hand shots. It’s a positive round for Ashira who throws punches with more conviction than his opponent.
Midway through round two, referee John Keane warns Eastman after he almost “legs” Ashira over in a wrestling style move.
In the third, Ashira is starting to throw more left hands and both boxers are holding on. Midway through the round, Ashira throws bodyshots while he has Eastman backed up on the ropes then he throws another swinging overhead right which just misses the target. Eastman is taking some time to settle in to the fight.
In the first half minute of round four, Eastman grabs Ashira’s leg again and the African stumbles backwards. Referee Keane gives Eastman a warning look and they continue boxing. It’s a busier round for Eastman.
Midway through round five and Eastman is looking to land an uppercut but just misses the mark, then moments later Ashira groans from a low blow and referee Keane warns Eastman. It’s a good round for Eastman.
At the start of round seven, there’s a lot of holding on again by both boxers and a reluctance to break when told, which warrants another telling off from referee Keane, but there are better exchanges of punches from the two men this round.
The crowd are fairly quiet now with just the odd shout of “Come on Howard!”
Midway through the eighth round, Eastman hangs on to Ashira after a left followed by a right unsteadies the Londoner momentarily.
In the ninth, Eastman smartly switches between orthodox and southpaw; he’s the busier of the two fighters, but still not as accurate.
John Keane pulls the two men together in round ten and seems to be telling them to tidy it up.
At the start of round eleven, referee Keane gives Eastman a proper warning about the holding on, which has been evident throughout the contest. But just half a minute later, he calls them both together again. It’s been a messy fight! Eastman gets another drenching during the break as his corner men soak him in water.
It’s the twelfth and final round and Eastman grabs Ashira’s leg again, prompting referee Keane, once again, to tell him off; it seems like this fight will end much the same as it started!
With 30 seconds of the round to go, a left hand from Ashira causes Eastman to cling on to the waist of his opponent but he survives and the bell signals the end of the fight.
Howard Eastman wins by the vacant Commonwealth Middleweight title by unanimous points decision, 116-112 and 116-113 (twice) and improves to 42-4 (35). Evans Ashira drops to 26-3 (13).
Afterward, Eastman’s trainer Robert McCracken spoke of his fighter’s difficulty in getting to the UK. Eastman planned to be in the UK for three weeks but he only had six days in London.
Eastman said that he deliberately “made it messy for Ashira…it was all about tactics to deal with him.”
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