Preview - John Duddy v Howard Eastman by Steve Wellings Dec 7th 2007

Derry native “Irish” John Duddy has his first professional contest in Northern Ireland on Saturday 8th December as he takes on former two-time world title challenger Howard Eastman. Eastman nicknamed the “Battersea Bomber” is a quietly spoken eccentric with a 42-5 (35 KO's) record who's lethargic style and subtle skills have both delighted and frustrated fight fans for thirteen years. Throw in the fact he once held British, Commonwealth and European titles simultaneously and it makes this undeniably the hardest test of Duddy's career so far, but one he is relishing. Duddy is so far undefeated at 22-0 (17 KO's) but has yet to face anyone with the world title experience of Eastman and his propensity to engage in warfare means this scheduled ten rounder is bound to ignite sooner rather than later. John has a solid enough jab but has neglected throwing it as a range finder of late, preferring to lead with the right hand or his improving left hook. One thing new trainer Don Turner will have to iron out is Duddy's habit of leaving the left hand hanging out after throwing the jab, it is just asking for a counter right hand. Duddy has never had the best head movement in the world but his defence has tightened against the lower level operators. But if he still has defensive flaws in his make-up then Eastman has the experience to exploit them, whether he still has the legs is the sticking point. Never an active fighter even in his heyday, Howard was prone to lazy spells and periods of lethargy through fights, we know Duddy will be working and pressing for every minute of the round. This will allow the Irishman to pick up points and put rounds in the bank while Eastman will be looking for opportunities to counter effectively and hurt his man. Duddy has always been prone to cuts and swelling, he had left eye swelling as early as the second round against southpaw Dupre Strickland and was cut in the third round, quite badly over the right eye. He also cut against Yory Boy Campas and Alessio Furlan so if Howard lands flush expect to see the claret flowing or the endswell out early into the contest. Duddy's last contest in Dublin came against overmatched late substitute Prince Arron, a 19-year-old area level operator who was drafted in to save the bill and was predictably overawed. Interestingly enough the tentative Arron landed a couple of skewing jabs early, as Duddy floated into range, John is not difficult to find and connect with, so a period will come when the two inevitably will go toe to toe. This is when we see if the ageing Eastman has any ambition left; will he fight it out with the younger, fresher man or retreat into the same shell that saw him surrender his British title to Wayne Elcock? Duddy is still learning, he admitted after the Anthony Bonsante fight he needed to go back to the gym and work on certain aspects with his team. That team has now changed after switching recently from New Yorker Harry Keitt to respected veteran Don Turner. Duddy was in danger of becoming the new Arturo Gatti “Blood and guts warrior” as he exasperated Keitt by standing right in front of his opponents to unload the big shots. He now moves and probes a lot better than before, but in the Bonsante fight Duddy shipped a few too many uppercuts and was open to the overhand right. He is trying to become more of a thinking fighter though, after dropping the aforementioned Dupre Strickland in the first round with a cuffing left hook he elected to box his way home over the ten rounds. He also waited patiently before catching up with Alessio Furlan in the tenth; Furlan had previously lasted into in the tweflth session with European champion Sebastian Sylvester before being halted. After a decent amateur career, Duddy learned his apprenticeship stateside removing the likes of Lenord Pierre, Wilmer Meija, Shelby Pudwill and Alfredo Cuevas in impressive displays. Cuevas had been in with a lot of good fighters himself and believed Duddy's defence would need to improve if he was to progress to the elite level. Duddy's defining step up came in mid 2006 when he mixed with Yory Boy Campas, a grizzled veteran participating in his 97th paid bout. The fight was an epic; Duddy was cut badly and took an alarming amount of head shots but also dished out more than enough of his own punishment in twleve back and forth rounds. The wide scores failed to do justice to the closeness of the contest which Duddy took unanimously but raised more questions than answers with his cavalier attacks and suspect rearguard. Eastman in contrast has forgotten more than Duddy already knows having challenged for the WBA Middleweight title in 2001, losing a majority decision to William Joppy, electing to showboat as Joppy did the work and stole the fight. He returned under the promotional reigns of Mick Hennessy, where he has remained ever since and beat the likes of Scott Dann, Hacine Cherifi, Sergey Tatevosyan and Jerry Elliott while gunning for a crack at Bernard Hopkins, the undisputed Middleweight king. Howard got that belated chance in 2005 but was out of sorts and mesmerised by Hopkins' frustrating technique in dropping a wide decision to the future hall of fame champion. His next two fights also resulted in losses as Eastman laboured in the later rounds against Arthur Abraham, dropping a 12 round decision and was then stopped for the first time in his career by maverick Colombian puncher Edison Miranda. Eastman complained bitterly, citing the fact he had Miranda hurt in the previous round, but he was in the corner taking punishment and frankly looked an old man. He rebounded with a British title win over Richard Williams and a snoozer of a Commonwealth title victory over decent Kenyan Evans Ashira until Wayne Elcock took his British title last time out. So Eastman has become used to losing the big ones but Duddy is not yet in the class of a number of those names and Eastman has come to Belfast twelve days early for preparations and is always in tip top shape. The smart money is beginning to pour in late on the man originally from Guyana. As the odds narrow and Eastman becomes more of a live underdog he presents punters with a viable option, it's suddenly becoming a 50/50 contest. Both men are understandably confident with Duddy's trainer Don Turner claiming, “John's not getting hit as much. He was a boxer before, as an amateur, but he got off track." He obviously sees Eastman as a feasible threat. “I know Howard Eastman and losing two world title shots is all that's kept him from making real money. He's going to bring his best to get back up there." Eastman's own trainer Robert McCracken has been enthusing about Howard's training regime all week and it's interesting to see the bout made over ten rounds which will suit the older man. It's with a great degree of caution I go for my original instinctive choice that youth will be served and Duddy will be a little bit too active and busy for Eastman. It's an opinion that has faltered significantly since this fight was signed and Howard is sure he will be the man to upset the applecart. John Duddy is no world beater but I feel with a passionate King's Hall crowd roaring him on, he can rack up the points with educated pressure and take a close decision. I get the feeling it will be tight and once again we could see Howard Eastman swaggering away from a ring shouting robbery. I'll leave the last word with Duddy's own trainer. “John has to be aggressive, throw combinations, and push Eastman back." I am inclined to agree, so let's just hope after last weekend's debacle, they both now make the weight! On a solid 9 fight undercard, improving Dungiven light-welterweight Paul McCloskey gets a taste of international experience as he tackles former European champion Tontcho Tontchev in an IBF International 12 rounder. Although Tontchev has seen better days, he represents a tough step-up in class bringing with him a 37-6 (21 KO's) slate and a wealth of championship knowledge. Tontchev lost over eight rounds to prospect John Fewkes in his last contest but contested the European lightweight title the fight previous to that, getting stopped in 3 by Yuri Romanov. Former Alex Arthur victim Sergei Gulyakevitch halted him in two rounds and Luis Lizzaraga beat him in 6 back in 2001. This will give McCloskey 13-0 (6 KO's) hope as he will believe he can hurt Tontchev. Paul is a 28- year-old southpaw and has done most of his business beating the likes of Daniel Thorpe, Silence Saheed and Chill John. This is an ambitious move and Brian Peters must have faith in his man's ability or in Tontchev's decline. McCloskey will need to be at his best and get the Bulgarian's respect early while not letting his foe establish a boxing rhthym. This is no forgone conclusion, unless Tontchev really cannot hold a punch anymore then you could almost smell an upset. That being said, with the aid of a big home crowd and the confidence of an unbeaten record, McCloskey can stay busy and win over the distance. Another fighter in IBF minor belt action is Lurgan welterweight Stephen Haughian who looks to extend his unbeaten run to 13 when he meets Giammario Grassellini for the sanctioning outfit's Intercontinental strap. 23-year-old Haughian has been steadily developing on the Irish undercards and this is his big move up; he did stop Thomas Hengstberger in a single round and beat James Gorman on his pro debut (he later convincingly beat Gorman a second time) so has shown form. Other wins over Silence Saheed, Dwayne Hill and Gary O'Connor make Haughian a decent looking prospect. His opponent on the night Grassellini has an impressive looking 16-1-2 record with 10 knockouts but this has been compiled in the confines of his native Italy. He lost a split decision for the Italian welterweight title and drew over 8 with Mugurel Sebe who fans may remember against Jamie Moore, Giammario is coming off a technical decision with Michael Trabant in Germany. Haughian may find the 12 round distance tough going as the Italian has travelled it twice before but Stephen can hurt a fighter early and is my favourite to claim a tight points win. James Gorman has a quick comeback, fresh from his Northern Ireland area title win over Gary Hamilton as he challenges Andrew Murray for the vacant Irish title proper over 10 rounds. Gorman is on a five fight undefeated streak (including one draw) and has turned his professional career around after a patchy start. Winning just one of his first seven bouts, Gorman is a solid enough ask for any aspiring Light Welterweight, backed by Team Alio out of East Belfast. Nicknamed “The Chin” and having been stopped just twice, Gorman will need his strong jaw as he aims to pop Murray's unbeaten cherry, now at 8-0 (3 KO's). Murray has yet to meet anyone of repute but has beaten some of the usual suspects including Frederic Gosset, Carl Allen and Billy Smith twice. He did the eight rounds last time so will have few qualms about going ten here and may have enough savvy to hold off the charge of Gorman to win on points. Another intriguing Irish title clash comes at light-middleweight as uprooted Belfast man Lee Murtagh tackles Ciaran Healy who is giving away a good bit of experience to his Yorkshire based opponent. Healy has had just 13 fights, losing 6 and drawing 1 as opposed to Murtagh's 23-9-1 slate, Lee has yet to stop anybody while Ciaran has KO'd only one so it's not going to be a battle of punchers. Both men can be hurt though and have been stopped 13 times between them with Murtagh losing in four to rising Gary Woolcombe last year. Lee was also surprisingly stopped by darkhorse Gary Beardsley, Ojay Abrahams and Jimmy Vincent but has recorded good victories in his time over Dean Walker, Jason Rushton and recently Graham Delehedy. He hasn't tasted defeat since the Woolcombe loss 4 fights ago while Healy is coming off the back of a fourth round retirement to Andy Lee. All of his losses have come in very good company including Jason McKay, George Hillyard, Anthony Small and the unpronounceable Lukasz Wawrzyczek! It's going to be tactical at first and probably a bit of a messier brawl later on but I think Murtagh has enough to win on points. This large bill sees the return to the Irish shores of featherweight hope Martin Lindsay after a brief jaunt in Canada. That sort of experience will have done him no harm at all and he brings his 9-0 (3 KO's) record to the table here against a vastly qualified opponent in the form of 39 year old Venezuelan Edison Torres. Although age will do him no favours, this is Edison's 78th professional contest and he has knocked out 27 men from 41 wins, being stopped only six times from 32 losses. He is on a six bout losing streak but has mixed company with the likes of Spend Abazi, Mauricio Martinez, Agapito Sanchez, Lorenzo Parra and Mauricio Pastrana, all which can only benefit Lindsay's progression. Lindsay will be kept busy but should have enough youth on his side to grind out a win over the stipulated eight rounds. Two debutants appear on the show as Light Middleweight Damian Taggart negotiates 6x2's with veteran Peter Dunn whilst Kaine Brodie makes his Super Middleweight bow versus oft beaten Latvian Andrei Tolstihs. Improving Ballyclare Welterweight Willie Thompson aims for his first pro stoppage as he entertains Duncan Cottier over 4x3's and novice Alo Kelly goes in with Sandris Tomson. Brian Peters Irish Ropes promote this “Hunky Dory's” fight night which goes out live on RTE2 from 9pm and BBC NI from 9.40pm. The weigh in is at 1pm on Friday 7th, open to the public.

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