Howard Eastman

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 31 Jan 2004, 08:37

I actually thought he lost the fight! I was impressed with this Russian guy who at times made Eastman (supposedly the 2nd best Middle in the world) look ordinary. It was interesting to see that the Beeb were defending Eastman saying he only had 3 weeks to prepare, what about Tatevosyan!

I'm still awaiting evidence of this "5th gear" that the Sky team used to talk about when he was there, this fight was too close for me and we have learned an awful lot about Eastman. There wasn't the showboating and messing around with the Joppy fight that people use as an excuse.

As for Richie Woodhall, "Eastman has as much chance of beating Hopkins as Roy Jones" WTF. Eastman is simply not good enough, no I'm not saying his opponent was poor, cause he wasn't. However, I think there are now more than just 3 Middles who I think are better than him.

Jermain Taylor would beat Eastman, Robert Allen too, Karmazin should he wish to move up, I'd even think Hakkar would give Eastman all kinds of problems. Clazaghe would anhilate him. What worried me is when Eastman did pick up the pace (which is still too slow for world level - i.e. the 4th) he looked tired after about a minute and couldn't (not wouldn't) sustain it.

Give Tatevosyan more time and I think he would win a rematch! His workrate suffered towards the end, which cost him in the eyes of the judges. But I thought he still knicked it by 1.

I have learned alot about Eastman from this.

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 31 Jan 2004, 09:06

a lot of people r going over the top on this :x

yes eastman struggles with movers but so does calzaghe, calzaghe struggles with guys who don't come to fight that is a fact.

hopkins has a totally different style to that guy last nite and in a way that could be a blessing.

bennie · Post by **bennie** » 31 Jan 2004, 09:07

I'm a 'rounds' person. Eastman got 12 under his belt and will be better for it against Cristian Sanavia next time.
Froch, however, needed more rounds before fighting Dodson.
Believe me, boxing is sometimes that simple.

Shirow · Post by **Shirow** » 31 Jan 2004, 10:07

That was a very disappointing performance for Eastman. He genuinely seemed to be trying to step up the workrate and pressure but only had one highly successful round.

Can't help feeling sorry for the Russian. I thought he narrowly won it then one of the judges gives him 109. :(

I couldn't help thinking how humiliated Howard would have been if he put in that showing against Hopkins. He would be made to look truly pitiful. He would be 2 steps behind Bernard all night who would be able to do exactly as he pleased. I almost of wanted him to lose the decision last night to save him the future embarrassment.

People were saying that Howard was expected to win but it was the manner of the victory that was important.

Nuff said.

bigynzing · Post by **bigynzing** » 31 Jan 2004, 11:00

C`mon...that russian must have been terrible to fight, you could see Eastman getting frustrated..in all honesty..i think anyone would have been made to look lethargic lastnight..including Hopkins. Im not saying that Howard beats Hopkins because i cant see it myself, but first fight in 7 months against the slickest boxer to come out of Siberia..c`mon guys.

One thing i must stress though was the fact that H.E. totally neglected the straight right..I was always taught that the straight right was the pet punch against Southpaws..the russian ws gettting head on as he tried to move to the side..the straight right instead of the long arcing right would have made the fight much easier for Howard.

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 31 Jan 2004, 13:26

any1 who scored that for the ruski is obviously a big fan of sven ottke and chris byrd

cos he was ultra negative. yes he frustrated eastman but come on guys thats all he did.

eastman clearly won the 2nd half of the fight and pulled away for me i think 3 or 4 pts was about right, however 11 pts was ludicrous. its a shame that judge doesn't judge sven ottke fights

any1 know how this sanavia fights

whats his style

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 31 Jan 2004, 20:43

I think the fight showed that yes, Eastman is always going to struggle with movers, but I think the guy was perhaps a bad choice of stand in opponent.

Howard looked extremely frustrated and went to sleep at times as he was unable to tag the Russian cleanly. The Russian guy wasn't totally negative I didn't think, he did let his hands go when Eastman got into range,

Howard didn't look sharp, I think even he would admit that, a combination of a difficult style, the fact the guy was a stand in, and a bit of tightness in Howard, contributed to a bad night's work I think.

I think it's a bit too easy to start writing Eastman off based on that 1 performance, but to be fair, that was by far his worst performance I've seen, so to a degree it could well have been a one off.

It did highlight for me that Howard is basically quite a flat footed fighter, he punches on flat feet, rather than on his toes, which makes it hard for him to adjust against a target which is constantly moving.

I'd like to see Howard keep busy, and it would be great if he could get some sparring in over in America, I think he needs some tough rounds where he really has to work hard all the way though a whole session.

It does worry me that Howard can be frustrated like he was. I didn't think he lost the fight, but I don't think he was enjoying his night's work, and at times defensively he looked the inferior fighter out there.

I'd give his performance a C that night, and would say let's see how he looks against a different type of fighter.

tolstoy · Post by **tolstoy** » 02 Feb 2004, 05:09

Probably more alarming for me was the lack of stamina he displayed. He was breathing heavily towards the end of every round after the halfway mark.

I don't want to write him off after one bad night but I reckon Hopkins would destroy him.

steve689 · Post by **steve689** » 02 Feb 2004, 05:25

I would not to as far as to say Hopkins would destroy him, Eastman is above all things resilient and has a good strong chin so i doubt Bernard would stop him. Hopkins is after all nearly 40 so father time will not be on his side forever either, Eastman will easily master the ordinary Sanavia if they fight.

adamiw · Post by **adamiw** » 02 Feb 2004, 06:30

Eastman needed a fight like that, i dont think he was as well prepared ashe could of been, but he was in with a quick awkward opponent, and got the result. It was a risk, of course if he lost then we could say it was a bad choice of opponent (not that he had much choice), but seeing as he won, it was exactly what he needed. Looking back at his career, that was one of only 2 real competitive fights. He had to dig deep.

Goz · Post by **Goz** » 02 Feb 2004, 07:00

I do give Eastman some stick from time to time but I thought he won the fight fairly comfortably.

But he should find a Plan B for his career ASAP. If he hangs around and waits 12 months to get a shot at Hopkins, Hopkins will beat him so conclusively that it will effectively finish him in the eyes of the US.

I say find another 'world' title (WBO, anything) to go for as soon as you can, time is running out and the present incumbent of the main title will make you his plaything.

Whilst I don't normally advocate money over glory in a boxers career, Eastman is 33 and can't have made that much.

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 02 Feb 2004, 09:03

What I find interesting is that Eastman is supposedly fighting his WBC eliminator match up soon. Supposing he fights and wins that one before Hopkins has made a significant plans, then Hopkins agrees to move up and vacant at least his WBC Middleweight belt.

What will happen then, will Eastman have to fight another fighter or will he be awarded the belt, ala Lewis. If he only has to be the Sedra fellow for the title, then I would feel very wary about calling him a world champ. If he fights a Taylor, Allen, Keith Holmes, Aaron Mitchell, Aaron Davis type opponent then I would call it a world title challenge.

I would favour them all to beat him, I hope he proves me wrong.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 02 Feb 2004, 09:04

I would have liked to see Howard really turn it into a brawl against Tatevosyan, possibly he wasn't in as good shape as normal, he didn't seem to fight with as much intensity as he showed against Cherifi, where he really busted him up.

Lugh · Post by **Lugh** » 02 Feb 2004, 10:33

Calzaghe and Eastman should be allowed to fight in a

"WHO'S CAREER IS BEING HANDLED THE WORST - WHO HAS MADE THE LEAST PROGRESS?"

headliner.

JC can refer to his one step forward (MItchell, Brewer or Sheika) and two steps back (Mcintyre, Jimenez and Mger Whothef**K)?

Eastman can do the same (Joppy, McCracken) to these mugs.

To be honest I won't even be watching these two until they are put in a real fight - ideally against eachother - then I get to see JC slap HE's stupid custard-topped head all around the ring for half an hour.

until then them beat up as many Russian/Armenian/Venusians as they like - I won't be watching.

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 02 Feb 2004, 16:31

all this rubbish about eastmans career being handled all wrong

tell me how he can change matters :x he's the wbc no 1 contender and there is an undisputed champion

so he's dependent on the wbc forcing the champions hand and for him to keep winning. why fight someone like a robert allen or jermain taylor when u could risk ya rating theres just no point to it whatsoever.

joe calzaghe's situation is entirely different he's a champion in the division and widely regarded as no 1 but he has a poor promoter who doesn't wanna stick his hands in his pockets and get a unification match.

Lugh · Post by **Lugh** » 03 Feb 2004, 05:54

hitman_hatton1 wrote:all this rubbish about eastmans career being handled all wrong tell me how he can change matters :x he's the wbc no 1 contender and there is an undisputed champion so he's dependent on the wbc forcing the champions hand and for him to keep winning. why fight someone like a robert allen or jermain taylor when u could risk ya rating theres just no point to it whatsoever.

joe calzaghe's situation is entirely different he's a champion in the division and widely regarded as no 1 but he has a poor promoter who doesn't wanna stick his hands in his pockets and get a unification match.

Blah, Blah Blah!

They are both both idling and waiting - Eastman's been the top contender for ages with no result - Calzaghe has been perceived as top dog without fighting any of the contenders - both disappointing and underachieving

Calzaghe/warren's defence would be exactly tha same as the lame one you gave - "why fight someone like a Sven Ottke or Danny Green when u could risk ya rating theres just no point to it whatsoever"

Eastman is supposedly waiting for Hopkins (good luck!) and Calzaghe for RJJ/Hopkins (good luck).

What are either doing to push these fights?

Bashing up Russian/Armenian nobodies.

hitman_hatton1 · Post by **hitman_hatton1** » 03 Feb 2004, 08:49

i never mentioned the calzaghe situation i agree thats a farce :x but eastman's in a different situation. he's waiting on the champion, he can only do what the champion wants to do. i agree eastman could be doing more to force his hand but i can also c why he's willing to settle on his rating, but of boxing as u will have discovered over the years is playing the political game and that is what eastman is doing and i don't really blame him.

Lugh · Post by **Lugh** » 03 Feb 2004, 08:57

hitman_hatton1 wrote:i never mentioned the calzaghe situation i agree thats a farce :x but eastman's in a different situation. he's waiting on the champion, he can only do what the champion wants to do. i agree eastman could be doing more to force his hand but i can also c why he's willing to settle on his rating, but of boxing as u will have discovered over the years is playing the political game and that is what eastman is doing and i don't really blame him.

Do you think that US fans recognise ANY WBO champs as legit?

The situation is essentially the same and is not aceptable.

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 03 Feb 2004, 09:52

They do if it is a yank who holds the WBO belt.