Eastman intent; Ulster round up by Steve Wellings Dec 4th 2007

The countdown to perhaps the biggest weekend in British boxing history continues as Howard Eastman and John Duddy limber up for their Saturday night showdown at the King's Hall, Belfast. Brian Peters Promotions have organised a head to head press conference at the Balmoral Hotel today at 12.30pm with questions and answers then lunch provided. The weigh in will be more keenly observed than normal given the weight making fiasco of last Saturday's aborted Wayne McCullough return. Eastman has arrived in town 12 days early and this is a clear sign of his intent to come away victorious after only leaving Guyana late on prior to previous appointments. Howard worked out and fielded press questions in Breen's gym last week, acting up his usual moody and sullen persona while dismissing his age as being a factor in the fight. “I'm like a fine wine, you can't drink me though!” he said in typical laconic fashion, later opening up in a BBC NI interview to reveal his intense training regime and stern belief in victory. The aforementioned weigh in takes place at the King's Hall Conference Suite on 2pm, Friday afternoon. The doors will open at 4.30 pm come fight night. An intriguing undercard continues to fill out with two Irish title bouts and an IBF Intercontinental fight scheduled. In addition, some up and coming young talent will take to the stage as RTE (9pm) and BBC2 NI (9.40pm) televise the action. In other news, Jason McKay will put his Commonwealth title aspirations on hold as he gets a tasty Irish Super Middleweight title assignment on December 15th at the National Stadium, Dublin. He faces unbeaten Emmanuel Steward hope Andy Lee in a mouth watering clash due to headline the show. “I've been looking for a big fight like this for ages,” explained McKay “and finally it's here. There was talk of me maybe fighting John Duddy at one point and then I was matched with Matthew Macklin for the Irish title but that fell through as well but now I have the Lee fight and it's a big chance for me. It just shows you that boxing's a real rollercoaster. I've had a few disappointments this year with fights falling through but this is a chance for me to end the year with a bang.” A packed undercard features Eddie Hyland, John O'Donnell, Colin Moffett and Paul Truscott. It was close but not quite enough for Kevin “Sweet Pea” O'Hara as he returned to the ring after a lengthy layoff only to go down 78-75 to Henry Castle on the Ian Napa-Martin Power II support card. O'Hara was contesting his first bout with Frank Maloney after signing a recent deal but Castle was sharper, in a fight perhaps closer than the scoreline suggested at the Newham Leisure Centre last Friday evening. Castle will now be looking to avenge a shock stoppage loss to unheralded Ian Wilson when a British title shot looked on the cards. O'Hara in contrast will go back to the drawing board and try to keep more active in an attempt to push himself back into title contention.

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