Boxing News Boxing News
Ian ‘Dapa’ Napa has given £500 to injured boxer Gilbert Eastman. Napa donated his cash prize for being voted ‘Fighter of the Night’ after taking the European Bantamweight title from Carmelo Ballone on October 17. In winning the cash prize, Hackney’s pocket dynamo edged out lightweight Henry Castle, who knocked out Graham Earl on the York Hall show.
When Napa was told of his £500 windfall, he immediately insisted the money went to Eastman, the Battersea boxer who needed brain surgery after collapsing shortly after losing to light middleweight Sam Webb on the same bill and is thankfully now on the mend.
Napa, 30, said: “It was nice to be voted ‘Fighter of the Night’ by the fans and I could certainly do with the money. Boxers deserve every penny they earn, but I have still got a few years ahead of me in the ring.
“My world title dream is still there, but poor Gilbert will not box again. He deserves this prize more than me and hopefully when he recovers he will still be involved in boxing. Boxing is such a unique sport. When we face adversity we are always there for each other when it comes to the crunch.”
Big-Hearted Napa (18-6) will make the first defence of his newly won crown early in the New Year when he could be in the world title shake-up.
Promoter Frank Maloney jets to the WBC convention in Chengdu, China on Saturday and will be campaigning for his latest stable star to be ranked highly by the prestigious organisation.
“It is a fairytale that Ian has got this far and it could get even better for him in 2009,” said Maloney.
