Duddy has Bomber in Sights

Irish Voice Sport

Duddy has Bomber in Sights

November 7, 2007

By Declan O’Kelly

JOHN Duddy will fight Howard Eastman at the King’s Hall in Belfast on December 8. The 22-0 Derry middleweight will put his unbeaten record on the line against the 36-year-old “Battersea Bomber” who has a record of 42-5.

Eastman, Guyana-born but London-based, has won 35 of his 42 victories by knockout. He challenged for the world title twice, losing a close points decision against Walter Joppy in 2001 and by unanimous decision to Bernard Hopkins in 2005.

“It’s going to be amazing, it doesn’t get much better than fighting a guy with Eastman’s reputation at the Kings Hall. He’s had almost twice as many KO’s as I’ve had fights so that tells you everything about him. He has an amazing record, and there’s no doubt he’s a very dangerous man,” said Duddy at last week’s press conference.

At 36, Eastman has lost four of his last six fights. However, these defeats were all to quality opponents (Bernard Hopkins, Edson Miranda, Arthur Abraham and Wayne Elcock).

The question is, how much has the Bomber left in his artillery? This fight will provide Duddy with his strongest opponent to date and will be an acid test of whether his defensive skills have really improved under the tutelage of Don Turner.

Duddy soaked up many over hand rights against Alessio Furlan in July, and Prince Aaron did land a few jabs before succumbing in two rounds a few weeks back. Eastman possesses the tools to really punish any holes in the 28-year-old’s rearguard.

Promoter Brian Peters said last week that Duddy would have a real fight on his hands. In Eastman, veteran though he may be, Duddy is being asked to step up a level and put a name on his record that will immediately sit at the top of notable wins should he prevail.

“If John can beat a guy like Eastman then I think he’s certainly ready for that big world title fight next year, but getting past him will be a big, big test for John,” said Peters, who is promoting the Hunky Dory fight night.

In other news, the ubiquitous Peters has signed Limerick native Andy Lee to headline a night of fighting at the National Stadium in Dublin on December 15. Peters has moved fast to paper the crack that was Bernard Dunne’s demise by tapping into the Irish talent in the middleweight division.

He is the go-to man in terms of fight promotion in Ireland and, with Duddy and Lee, he promotes arguably Ireland’s most marketable fighters with genuine world title ambitions. The deal, sponsored by betting firm Ladbrokes.com, will see the 23-year-old 12-0 boxer fight frequently in Ireland over the next 12 months.

“The reception I got at the Point in August was terrific and I really enjoyed the night. I’m looking forward to fighting back home on a more regular basis now and this deal with Brian gives me the opportunity to do just that,” said Lee last week at the Trinity College press conference.

With five-star trainer Emanuel Steward in his corner, Lee trains and spars on a regular basis with Jermain Taylor, Wladimir Klitchsko, Kermit Cintron and Jonathan Banks. The infrastructure is in place for Lee to fulfill the potential that Steward believes he has — the Kronk Gym coach has said in the past that Lee could be a Hall of Fame boxer — and it is now up to his young charge to prove him right.

With the Peters deal, 2008 can be the year that Lee cements his star status in Ireland, while beginning his charge up the world middleweight rankings. Lee has said he hopes to be 18-0 by this time next year after fighting some world-class opponents.

Before his Yuletide headliner, he will fight Brad Austin (8-3) on November 15 at the Compuware Arena in Plymouth, Michigan. Austin was meant to fight Lee in Ireland back in August, but passport problems for the Tennessee man prevented the pair meeting in Dublin.

Austin is a durable if limited opponent, and while he may pose a question or two to Lee in the early rounds, once the Limerick man solves the puzzle he may end it in the mid-section of the contest.

Light heavyweight Alo Kelly will be in action next on November 9 at the Washington Avenue Armory in Albany against Puerto Rico’s William Santiago (5-4-1). The Westmeath native will be ready for action after serving a medical board suspension for the cuts he received in his last fight against Reggie LaCrete in September.

Kelly put up a great performance that night, and has been in camp with Tumbler Davis, a colleague of Don Turner, for the scheduled six round fight.

Also down to fight later this month is light middleweight Henry Coyle. The Chicago-based Mayo native is scheduled to fight on November 16 at Cicero Stadium in Cicero, Illinois against a yet unnamed opponent. He was last in action on September 14 when he had an easy first round KO against Robert Kimbrough on Long Island.

Meanwhile, the Irish Amateur boxing team’s interest in the World Championships ended as all five remaining boxers bowed out last week.

There was one highlight in the second week for the Irish team, as light flyweight Paddy Barnes qualified for the Olympics after making it through to the quarterfinals. The 20-year-old, who is from the Holy Family club in Belfast and was appearing in his first major tournament, was beaten by Shiming Zou of China, the reigning world champion who went on to defend his crown on Saturday night.

Italy’s Dominico Valentino defeated lightweight Eric Donovan, light heavyweight Kenny Egan lost to Croatian Marijo Sivolija 17-9, Alfonso Blanco of Venezuela beat middleweight Darren Sutherland 20-13 and heavyweight John Sweeney lost 28-05 to Rakhim Chakhkiev of Russia, all in the round of 16. There are two qualifying tournaments remaining – in Italy and Greece – for the rest of the team to try and book a place in Beijing.

Also in action in Chicago on Saturday night was world amateur lightweight champion Katie Taylor from St. Fergal’s club in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Taylor defeated Pan American champion Katie Dunn of Canada by the 15 point rule in round one in a contest to promote women’s boxing before the men’s championships finals.

Women’s boxing is not an Olympic event at the moment, but momentum is building for its inclusion in the London Olympics in 2012.

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