BoxRec

I will stake my membership on it!

I have read this site for a long time, but some recent postings have tempted me to sign up and make my own contributions.

Many of you have seen the obvious, but I am shocked at the number of people who think Duddy has a chance in this fight.

He is a fighter who has been carefully guided up through the ranks, but his handlers have made a massive mistake with this one. It could end his career.

Howard may have lost last time out, but he clearly did his usual: not train enough and try to cheat his way through the 12 rounds. Does anyone really think that Elcock is actually in his league?

It won't happen again. Eastman 50% in shape beats any middleweight in Europe still, despite his age. The man is a freak of nature.

Put everything you can afford on him, (no more: always gamble responsibly!). 5/2 is an outrageous price.

My advice, for what it is worth, is don't get carried away with the other opportunities that have been pointed out for the same night.

Earl is made for Khan. Alledgedly is the cutest matchmaker in the business. Khan inside 6, no doubt.

Hatton may be odds against, but deservedly so. He is fighting the world's best and there is no value there.

Don't waste your money on an acca. Stake the lot on the 'Battersea Bomber'. He has one last roll of the dice and he's not going to throw a Snake Eyes against an upstart like Duddy.

This is the man who forced the pace against Bernard Hopkins. Forget Miranda and Abrahams, (who by my reckoning he actually beat), and the Ashira & Williams snooze fests.

Aside from the fact that Duddy would lose to ALL of them, this fight will see the old Eastman.

If it doesn't I won't post again!

Excellent stuff. Seriously looking over the schedule it has Duddy-Eastman down as a 10 rounder...can anyone confirm this? The other IBF bauble fights are main event 12 rounders. Surely the Duddy fight is going to be 12 rounds; what use is 10 to anybody?

Good post..completely disagree that Eastman beats him but when Duddy outworks him I want it to go down as a big win!!

Still, how anyone can Easyman beating Abraham, well, you must be Howard himself!

Agree, the Duddy camp seem to have looked at the Eastman/Abraham, Miranda and Elcock fights, and thought to themselves:

"Hmmmm...so to get our man a crack at the world title, we just have to put John in with Eastman, like those other guys did, beat him, and next up a title shot - no problemo!"

Only problemo is, Abraham is the Real Deal, Miranda can knock down walls, and Elcock is a cute boxer who managed to beat an Eastman going at half speed.

It's not as easy as that. Especially when your man's speciality is to stand square in front of the other guy, and catch punches on his chin.

Now I admit, I haven't seen too much of Duddy, but I did catch a bit of a recent fight, and from what I saw he's not going anywhere near a title belt.

If the other guys throws a punch, and it looks like missing John, Duddy is likely to move his head, just to make sure it catches him squarely on the jaw.

Eastman is going to Battersea bomb this guy.

Earl The Pearl v Khan - been thinking about this, it's an interesting match no doubt. I get the feeling Khan will win this - I mean the guy is a future star right? He BETTER win this if that's the case.

But while Frankie is a very shrewd matchmaker, did he really WANT this fight? Or did the camp Khan pressure force his hand? He didn't want another Hatton type mutiny on his hands, that's for sure.

And great matchmaking means nothing if your guy has a shaky chin, and the other guy can punch. Limmond was a shrewd match, and look what nearly happened there. Earl does have a great chance here...

When is the Eastman fight?

Next saturday, Dec 8th.

Well ive already put £100 on hatton to win..

so my loot is all gone but if i had a fiver left i would have put it on Eastman too.

Eastman should have no problems - He has fought the best and has the experiance - Duddy is well below in class and has no big names on his record - Eastman should force a stoppage win - The Khan/Earl match is going to be a cracker - I say Frank has been pressured to make this one and isnt optomistic about the outcome - Pressure from ITV to put on a competetive bout for Khan in particular - Pressure also from Khan who wants to run before he can walk and pressure from Graham who wants to shut him up - This I can assure you will be the upset of the night - A clause for a rematch if Khan loses is in the contract and thats fine by Earl because its two massive paydays for him - Khan is supposed to be a star of the future winning a world title in due course but I seriously dont expect him to get past Euro level - You only have to look at the competition with the likes of Diaz and Katsidis for example who are both young to see Khan has little chance of getting a serious world title - Lets be honest he is up against it at domestic level with Earl, Thaxton and Murray - It may well be the case, best in Britain is beyond his reach and my bet is Earl will win and prove that point - Its not going to be the only upset of the night either, Ricky Hatton will pull off a surprise win as well.

In a recent interview Miranda said that the hardest hitting guy he has faced was Eastman. That is a pretty strong statement considering he has faced Pavlik, Abraham and Green since him.

Yori Boy had Duddy almost out and I think he should have won on points (very close). Eastman is a much better boxer than Yori Boy. Much more tricky, and has a shitload more power. I was shocked the day this fight was announced. All this buildup and protection for Duddy and than throw him out there against Eastman. He gains some respect if he wins, but not much gain. If he loses he falls of the face of the earth.

Unless Eastman is going to throw this fight, he KO's Duddy 9 out of 10 times.

I make this fight about 50-50. Eastman could very well "old man" his way to a points victory, but I hope he doesn't, personally. He's a washed up fighter and we need some new contenders. Duddy is clearly not world class, but he's good to watch and I'd rather see him in big fights at this point than Eastman.