‘I am mentally and physically prepared for the defence of my middleweight title against whoever it is, whether it is Eastman or Raul Frank or whoever they put in front of me’
By Calvin Roberts
The Guyana Boxing Board of Control’s (GBBC) Judgement Day card is fast approaching and `Deadly’ Denny Dalton is mentally and physically prepared for the defence of his national middleweight title against Howard Eastman, the boxer told this newspaper yesterday.
“I am mentally and physically prepared for the defence of my middleweight title against whoever it is, whether it is Eastman or Raul Frank or whoever they put in front of me. It does not matter who it is I will be going up against come 5th July.”
The rugged Dalton, whose trilogy with Andrew Six Head’ Lewis has been the high points of his chequered career, will face and experienced and cagey fighter in Eastman.
“Once you are in a sport, you are expected to go against a particular opponent at sometime or the other and I am prepared to go against whoever it is in the defence of my national middleweight title next Saturday,” Dalton added.
Dalton and Eastman will clash in the main bout of the GBBC’s card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
alton, who took time out from his training schedule at the Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis gym in Albouystown yesterday to speak with the media added:“With my belt on the line when it comes to these times and I have to fight guys like the Eastmans, Franks and whoever else, well that is it. That’s the way it goes in boxing at some time or the other.”
Dalton was scheduled to face USA-based Raul Frank in the main bout of the card but Frank pulled out of the match-up after sustaining a back injury during training.
The GBBC then contacted Eastman, who is at the moment in Berbice to fill the breach and he readily accepted.
The 37-year-old Eastman, known as the `Battersea Bomber’, has never fought in Guyana having fought for most of his career in the United Kingdom where he migrated almost a quarter of a century ago.
In his last fight he lost on points to John Duddy in Kings Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland last year.
He has fought twice for world titles and held the British, Commonwealth and European titles all in the middleweight division respectively.
Dalton, who lost his welterweight title to Lewis, did not let that deter him as he stepped up in the weight division and defeated Winston Pompey to win the national middleweight title last year.
He also fought and defeated Trinidad and Tobago’s Kevin Placide last September for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) and World Boxing Union (WBU) junior welterweight titles.
He had a rematch with Placide in March of this year but this time it was in the junior middleweight division and he lost on a disqualification.
Dalton was accused of unsportsmanlike conduct after it was alleged that he had pushed his opponent out of the ring. Upon investigations after reviewing the tape, the commission of inquiry set up by the WBC and the WBU discovered that Placide was punched and not pushed out of the ring.
A protest was lodged and Dalton’s management team is still awaiting the outcome of that protest despite the fact that the entire Trinidad and Tobago boxing board has been dismantled.
Dalton yesterday said changes had to be made to his style of training which was being done with Frank in mind.
“I have been preparing for this fight for the last two months. During that time, I was training to suit the style of Frank my first opponent but with him having picked up the injury and I do sympathize with him, I had to change my style of training to suit that of Eastman but as I said, I am prepared for whoever it is.
“However I must say that I am looking forward to facing Frank who would have been a worthy opponent for me, some time in the future. I was looking forward to the opportunity of meeting him next week but such things (his injury) do occur, ” he added.
“Eastman is a worthy opponent also based on his ring record along with his experience. He is also a taller guy than I am and if you are to add his international recognition a victory over him would be a good feather in my cap.”
There is no doubt that judging from the words of Dalton and the experience of Eastman, come Saturday 5th July it will surely be Judgement Day but for whom, is left to be seen.
