Elcock dethrones British Champion Eastman in Coventry by Tom Podmore Sep 29th 2007

Birmingham's Wayne Elcock became the first British fighter to beat two-time world title challenger Howard Eastman and, more importantly, procured the British middleweight title when he unanimously outpointed the Londoner at a partisan Skydome in Coventry last night (September 28). Wayne, the English champion, has become the Second City's first British champion since Rob McCracken, Eastman's trainer and former foe, twelve long years ago. In an engaging twelve-rounder, Elcock's greater hunger, fitness and tactical nous was enough to defuse the Battersea fighter's hard right hands and pressurising gameplan. And even though Howard, the taller man by an inch-and-a-half at 5ft 11ins, was on the front-foot for most of the 36 minute duration, he did little punching of note when he had the challenger on the ropes or in a corner. But Wayne, who admitted he'd trained so hard at the Lynch's Garrets Green gym in Birmingham for this title shot and that he was on the verge of crying through pain after almost every session, never let Eastman do what he wanted. It just shows how much the scalp of long-time domestic and European king Eastman and the title meant to the ardent Birmingham City supporter from the Shard End area of the city. Many, myself included, had tipped Howard to know a little too much for Elcock in the run-up to the title fight. He had been on the peripheries of world-class for seven years, beaten world-class fighters, men like Sam Soliman and former WBC champ Hacine Cherifi, and had that bonus of never tasting defeat to a British boxer. He had broken up and stopped skilful Londoner Richard Williams to regain the Lonsdale belt last Christmas. Howard chipped away at ‘The Secret' and knocked him out in the last. Many good judges feared a similar fate for the Brummie, urged on by hundreds of vociferous supporters from nearby Birmingham. However, Elcock executed a perfect strategy of never staying in the same place for too long, got under Eastman's long arms and exploding with hooks – shots that Howard felt on more than one occasion. Wayne really wanted this title badly; he needed to prove to himself that he could rise to the big occasion once more. His below-par performance against Scott Dann for the same belt in 2005 left a sour taste in his mouth. He wasn't going to coast through rounds this time. This was a performance to top the Anthony Farnell WBU title win, the Lawrence Murphy rematch knockout and the annihilation over Steve Bendall, who fought on the undercard, for the English middleweight title last December. But where Hennessy Sports-promoted Eastman goes from here is anybody's guess. He still holds the Commonwealth strap – a title he won over Evans Ashira in April – but the loss draws a line under his ambitions of getting a world title shot and certainly of winning one. He'll probably be remembered as the Herol Graham of this era: a fighter who should have won a respected version of a world title but didn't have that little extra something to make the jump from the fringes. I'm sure the former European champion has an excuse lined up for this defeat, however. Wayne, however, has plenty of mouth-watering matches involving Midlands men to look forward to in Birmingham, where a first defence is likely to happen early next year. Dudley's unbeaten Midland Area champion Darren McDermott, who won a title eliminator in February and was ringside with advisor Ronnie Brown, is the man 99.9 per cent of the Midlands want to see Elcock in with next. But Brummie puncher Matthew Macklin, another fervent Birmingham City supporter, is another fight that whets the appetite. That clash has been mooted for sometime and both want it. To the fight, and it was an intense, intriguing and compelling twelve-round contest. Elcock (11st 5lbs), calm, composed and compact, had started the first well – tagging the experienced, worldly-wise Guyana-born puncher with hooks before moving out of punching range. Howard, who swiped at the Midlander when the bell rang, did little. A familiar side of Eastman came to the fore in the second, the Howard who likes to tie-up when anyone gets inside his long arms. Again, Elcock was the one forcing the fight, and one overhand right got a nod of acknowledgement from the Lonsdale belt holder late on. Pat Cowdell, the former British, Commonwealth and European champion who promoted this five-fight show, continually called for his fellow Brummie to “work the body” throughout the second session. The Battersea Bomber had become more purposeful in the third. Elcock was forced to retreat when he shipped long right hands as Eastman, with the same semi-grin on his face at all times, walked forward, fighting harder than he had done in the previous six minutes. But Paddy Lynch-trained Elcock was back in the driving seat in round four. After a bright start, Howard was tagged six or seven times by powerful right and left hands from muscled Wayne – one such right made Eastman blink heavily and step back. Howard, with hands by his chest, continued to walk down Elcock in the fifth, however – never giving him a chance to breathe. But the Brummie worked well off the ropes and sent perspiration flying from the Rob McCracken-trained middleweight's head with a peach of a right hand. By the sixth Eastman (11st 6lbs) seemed to be getting on top, slowing the hit-and-move Elcock with bodyshots. It was never one-way traffic, however, and although under the cosh for a while, Wayne got in some decent punches – most notably a left-right that caught the champion off-balance. The seventh saw Howard, 36, continuing to chip away with bodyshots on the inside and long rights on the outside. He was looking to make Elcock fall short before bringing up a whipping right uppercut. After taking the last two rounds, on my scorecard at least, I thought we might have a Richard Williams-type fight in progress with the former undisputed world title challenger taking over in the last few rounds. But Wayne, who has now won three titles in his last three contests, took the eighth. Eastman, now visibly tiring, had his head snapped back and sweat sent flying skywards when he walked onto a perfectly-timed left hook-right hand late on. The ninth was a much closer affair (in fact, I couldn't split them). Both had moments in a round of two halves, with Eastman, hitting the body well, the boss in the first part and Elcock, tagging the champion with hooks to the head, in the second half. Thirty-three-year-old Elcock boxed smartly in round ten, hitting Eastman, who went the distance with modern great Bernard Hopkins, with straights, hooks and uppercuts before sliding across the ropes to make the hard-hitting champion miss with his own replies. A left hook-cum-uppercut startled Eastman, urged on at ringside by promoter Mick Hennessy, early in the eleventh – and it never got any better as he stood there with his mouth wide open as the pumped-up challenger got through with more-and-more straight rights. Even though referee Phil Edwards warned Elcock for hitting-and-holding in the last round, Wayne was lifted by chants of ‘Elcock, Elcock', beat Eastman, now 42-5 (35), to the punch and rocked the soon-to-be deposed champion with a huge uppercut. The bell rang and Elcock knew he was champion, raising his arms. Eastman, by way of contrast, nodded in approval at the new champion. The scorecards, however, were a tad close. Terry O'Connor (Birmingham) scored it 115-113, Howard Foster (Doncaster) 115-114 and Mark Green (London) 116-113, which tallied with my scorecard, unanimously for the man from Birmingham. And new British champion… A jubilant Elcock, now 18-2 (8), said: “I can't believe this, I'm over the moon and I must say a big thanks to everyone who came out to support me from Birmingham and beyond. “Howard Eastman is a legend in British circles and he gave me a real fight. But I beat him, became the first British fighter to do so and won a belt I've been after for a long, long time. “I've worked so hard for this, trained hard, lived the life and I always believed I could win the British title and beat Eastman to do so,” nice guy Wayne continued. “I must thank Pat Cowdell for putting this fight on, it saved me from career disruption. “Pat is a legend and has given me loads of advice and showed me his Lonsdale belt in the week to give me an extra spur to what I could have in my possession. “Big thanks to Paddy, Tommy (Lynch) and Don (Ageson), trainers, for their help, motivation and training methods. “I can't wait to make the first defence of my British title in Birmingham. I'm so confident I'd beat anyone when I fight in the Midlands.”

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