Howard Eastman vs Richard Williams
EASTMAN V WILLIAMS BOXING COUNTDOWN…
Howard Eastman Wins via KO round 12
Howard EastmanRecord: 40 Wins 4 Losses |
Richard WilliamsRecord: 21 Wins 3 Losses 1 Draw |
Common Opponent: Hussain Osman
Eastman Won TKO Round 4 – Williams Won on points over 10
Eastman-Williams Promotion: Matchroom Boxing
Tickets: Matchroom
Venue: York Hall, Bethnal Green.
TV: Sky Sports One
Eastman-Williams
By James Oakley
Less than two years ago, Howard “The Battersea Bomber” Eastman was preparing for the fight of his life, one that could turn him into the great fighter he always believed he was. An undisputed middleweight championship crown was within his grasp, with only the legend himself, Bernard Hopkins, standing in the way. Now Eastman is fighting another fight of his life, except this time his reward for winning will be a recovery, as after three straight defeats, another loss could end the 35 year olds career, meaning no third time lucky crack at the title.
Born in Guyana, Eastman’s career started off to a blaze, 32 straight wins propelled him to a WBA title shot. 28 of those wins were by knockout and Eastman had beaten noticeable fighters such as Sam Soliman and Robert McCracken and came into the WBA title fight as the European, Commonwealth and British Middleweight Champion.
The WBA title shot itself in 2001 would be Eastman’s first fight out of the British isles, and despite knocking the champion, William Joppy, down in the finals seconds of the fight, Howard lost an agonizingly close majority decision at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.
Eastman, like the champions of the past that he admired, came back to win eight in a row, six by knockout, after the Joppy fight. He had now earned his shot against the undisputed middleweight king, Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins in February of 2005.
The fight with Hopkins was not a happy one, the champion electing to dance around the ring and make Eastman come to him, refusing to go toe to toe and thereby negating Eastman’s power and youth advantage. The fight did not heat up until round five when both men landed a barrage of punches, which got the crowd on it’s feet.
By the midway stage, it appeared that Hopkins was leading by one or two points. Things never really got better for Eastman and Hopkins won at least four of the next six rounds to claim a unanimous decision and break Eastman’s heart
Knowing that time was running out on his career, the London man then rushed into a fight in July of last year with undefeated middleweight contender and now IBF titleholder, Arthur Abraham. This turned out to be another close fight and another which Eastman lost.
Once more realizing that time was short, Howard knew that he had to bounce back strongly, and no better way to do it than to fight another undefeated middleweight; Edison Miranda. Yet again it ended in heartbreak for Eastman as he was stopped in the seventh round and it appeared his career was all but over in March of this year.
There still may be a light at the end of the tunnel as Eastman will be returning for what in just about everyone’s mind is a last chance saloon fight against another man who is on the verge of being thrown of the boxing scene, Richard “The Secret” Williams. The two are set to clash for the vacant British Middleweight title on December 15 at London’s York Hall.
Defeat here will spell the end for one of these men in the sport but as both Eastman and Williams are 35 years of age, the bout could be a stepping stone to one last chance at genuine glory for the winner.
Williams Eastman
Howard Eastman has vowed to put his recent setbacks behind him and begin the process of rebuilding towards another world title shot when he takes on long-term friend Richard Williams for the vacant British middleweight title this Friday at the York Hall in Bethnal Green live on Sky Sports.
The “Battersea Bomber’ is coming off the back of three losses, but the figures only tell half the story. The run has come at the very highest level and in controversial circumstances, supporting the 36-year-old’s conviction that he still has the ability to capture a major honour.
The former British, Commonwealth and European champion suffered the first of these defeats against pound-for-pound king Bernard Hopkins last February. Whilst Hopkins claimed a clear decision, there was a definite sense that he adopted evasive tactics to avoid having to stand and trade with his heavy-handed challenger. The rematch that Eastman was promised in the ring immediately afterwards never materialised.
Eastman, however, was presented with an alternative route to immediately rebuild. His promoter Mick Hennessy got him the opportunity to meet world ranked Arthur Abraham in Germany just 5 months later in an eliminator for the IBF title.
He repaid the faith placed in him by out-boxing Abraham, despite not being at 100% for the fight. Unfortunately the judges, perhaps swayed by a raucous hometown crowd, saw things differently and gave the nod to the other corner.
Abraham went on to win the IBF title. Looking to set the record straight, Eastman contested another eliminator for the governing body’s championship this March, with the right to fight Abrahams at stake.
He met Edison Miranda – a teak tough Colombian with a reputation for being extremely heavy handed. It was, though, Eastman’s power that looked to be winning the day in Florida, with his opponent clearly rocked in the sixth.
But “Pantera’ got through to the bell and staged a last rally in the next that proved decisive.
After backing to the ropes voluntarily Eastman, who claims he was luring his opponent in, was caught with some heavy blows. The referee jumped in and stopped him for the first time in his career, even though he was firmly on his feet. Eastman has still never been floored – amateur or pro.
“Considering I have never even been staggered before, I was definitely stopped prematurely,†he claims. “The referee should have known I have never been close to being stopped – and I have fought Bernard Hopkins and boxed Arthur Abrahams in Germany.â€
“The round prior I had the guy, the guy was gone. I was working to my tactics. You go into the rain you will get wet, but I knew that was his last round left. I was letting him punch. OK he caught me and he was a strong kid, but the referee didn’t help my case. He should have given me a chance. I know in my heart I wasn’t really hurt – it will take a great fighter to really beat me like that.â€
Miranda has since gone on to face Abrahams in an absolute war that he controversially lost after being deducted two points, despite breaking his opponents jaw.
Whilst the Miranda defeat saw Eastman temporarily slip out of world title contention –the process of getting back in the frame begins this Friday against an opponent who he feels has not mixed at the same level.
“I’m putting the defeats behind me and learning from the experience,†he adds. “I’ve got a good promoter in the mix getting me these fights. I’ve got to learn from the past and grab them when they come.
“Mick Hennessy has got some plans for me, to get me back into the world zone. I will put up a show against Richard, win that belt, and we can see where we go from there.
“Bernard Hopkins ran away from me for 12 rounds. Lets see what Richard Williams can do. This is a different league – a higher level of boxing. We will see come Friday night if Richard is in that league.
“For me, losing is not even an option. It doesn’t even come in to this. My mission is not complete yet.â€
Despite his confidence, Eastman admits that the prospect of facing Williams for the vacant Championship he once held for six years is not one he is relishing given their history.
“I have known Richard for a long time,†he explains. “We go back a long way. Fighting him, it’s like something in my throat. I have got to swallow it. I don’t want to, but it’s something I have to do – I view this as one of the most important fights of my career.
“I have a lot of respect for the British Title. I always wanted to be a British champion. I felt gutted having to give it up, but I had to give it up when I went onto bigger titles before. This is an opportunity to win it again.â€
On Williams he added: “I beat Richard as an amateur and surprised a lot of people, but I haven’t seen him fight for a long time. I don’t know if he’s improved. I don’t really look at opponents. It’s no disrespect to them, but I try to figure them out when I am in the ring.
“My trainer will tell me some things. He will show me weaknesses and tell me about what they do and we will work on a couple of shots. We develop a little game plan about what my opponent will do, so I do have plans in my head when the bell goes ding dong.â€
Howard Eastman fights Richard Williams for the vacant British Middleweight Championship on a Matchroom Sports promotion at the York Hall in Bethnal Green on Friday 15th December. For ticket information please call: 01277 359900.
Eastman Vs Williams Result
By James Oakley
Click for larger image © David Oakley / Saddo Boxing
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Friday night saw the re-emergence of Howard “The Battersea Bomber” Eastman as a major player in the middleweight division, as the previous king of Europe showed he’s still dominant at domestic level, with a twelfth round knockout of friend Richard “The Secret” Williams on a Matchroom promotion at York Hall, Bethnal Green, London.
At the weigh-in on Thursday, Eastman had scaled eleven stone six (160 lb) and while Williams’ tipped the beam at eleven stone five and a quarter (159 1/4) lb), it was clear that former triple champion was the much larger man with a three-inch height advantage.
The first round saw Williams trying to work of the jab, but the crafty Eastman was able to push his opponent back, successfully slowing his rival down with effective counterpunching.
The second, third and fourth rounds were arguably Williams’ best, hitting Eastman flush with at least two or three shots per round, and forcing the “Battersea Bomber” to fight on the back foot. The positive for Eastman during these rounds was that despite being hit flush, it was clear his iron chin was still intact, and at no point did he look hurt.
It appeared that Eastman was the stronger man and when he pushed, he was able to force Williams onto the back foot, however his defensive performance could no doubt be seen as a lazy one by the average boxing fan.
The fifth and sixth rounds were debatably not much better for Eastman, who finally shaved his white beard off for the fight. He appeared to be to defensive, but when he did counterpunch, he did it effectively, and for some part of the sixth, Williams was almost running into the punches.
At the halfway stage of the bout, it appeared that Williams was most certainly in the fight, if not winning it. However, this was perhaps the last time that “The Secret” dominated the fight and the crowd favorite, despite still chasing his opponent around the ring, was getting caught more often and looking almost in a daze at times.
After the eighth frame, it appeared that the tide had changed for good and the strength of Eastman was perhaps taking a toll on his friend of 20 years. “The Secret” came out for the ninth with a look of sorrow for himself, as if to say he had done his best and through the later rounds, it appeared this was true. Williams was still moving forward, but hitting the man who beat him in the amateurs less and less progressively, and had to fall back onto the ropes a few times.
The bell for the twelfth and final round rang and the two fighters hugged before getting back down to business. Williams threw with all that as left in his tank, managing to hit Howard cleanly a number of times, but it was clear that he was spent.
The final moment of the contest came with a beautiful counter straight right off the ropes from Eastman, a punch that caused Williams, 21-4-1 (17), to look as if he had been shot. The ex-IBO Light Middleweight Champion sunk to the floor and was unable to beat the count.
Howard Eastman, 41-4 (35), once again has regained the British title belt, which he had previously used to catapult himself into huge fights, and will be hoping now for a similar turn of events.
It appears that the Battersea man may have done just enough to give himself enough time for a third time lucky crack at the world middleweight crown, however as to whether he is up to the challenge of winning it remains to be seen.
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Also on the card:
Hungarian light middle Jozsef “Shatter Machine” Matolcsi, 24-9 (16), lost a point for head butting in the ninth round but still widely outscored German based Turk, Turgay Uzun, 22-9-2 (14), 119-110, 118-111 and 117-112 over twelve rounds to retain the WBF title.
At welter, Marcus Portman, 16-5-1 (2), towered over George Hillyard, 5-3 (4), using his height and reach to post a points win over eight rounds.
In a battle of southpaws, ex-IBO Light Middle Champ Steve Conway, 34-8 (6), dropped his second straight bout, losing to WBC/IBF Youth Middleweight titlist Grzegorz Proksa, 9-0 (5), of Hungary, in a shocker.
Former IBO Light Welter beltholder Colin Lynes, 27-3 (10), stopped yet another Hungarian, Janos Petrovics, 9-4 (6), in the sixth and final round.
English Super Bantam boss Marc P. Callaghan, 19-10-1 (3), outpointed Polish journeyman Dariusz Snarski, 18-25-1 (4), over four rounds.
Light middle southpaw Michael Lomax, 10-0 (2), remained undefeated by posting a six round decision over iron chinned veteran Billy Smith, 8-45 (0).
Middleweight Scott Jordan, 3-0 (0), bested Greg Barton, 1-2 (1), over four frames.
Boxing Photos by David Oakley Photography.co.uk
Howard Eastman Vs Richard Williams Boxing Undercard
correct at time of printing
12 x 3 mins WBF Light-Middleweight Championship
Jozsef Matolcsi (Hungary) v Turgay Uzun (Germany)
8 x 3 mins Light-Welterweight contest
Colin Lynes (Dagenham) v TBA
8 x 3 mins Welterweight contest
George Hillyard (Canning Town) v Marcus Portman (West Bromwich)
6 x 3 mins Light-Welterweight contest
Michael Lomax (Chingford) v Gary O’Connor (Manchester)
6 x 3 mins Featherweight contest
Jamie McKeever (Birkenhead) v Buster Dennis (Canning Town)
6 x 3 mins Featherweight contest
Marc Callaghan (Barking) v Dariusz Snarski (Poland)
6 x 3 mins Middleweight contest
Grzegorz Proksa (Poland) v Steve Conway (Dewsbury)
4 x 3 mins Super-Featherweight contest
Ben Jones (Crawley) v Steve Gethin (Walsall)
4 x 3 mins Light-Middleweight contest
Greg Barton (Southend) v Scott Jordan (Belfast)
Williams Eastman Boxing News
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