By Emmerson Campbell
“Eastman is not a guy everybody can take out, he has experience and is very crafty, but I have something special that not everybody has, the chin checker.”
This was the proclamation of undefeated Caribbean Boxing Federation (CABOFE) welterweight champion Simeon ‘Candy Man’ Hardy yesterday during an interview with Stabroek Sport at his training base, the Forgotten Youth Foundation (FYF) Gym.
Hardy will match gloves with former European middleweight champion Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman in a 10-round junior middleweight headline bout on the 23rd edition of the Guyana Fight Night Pro Am card at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall this Friday night.
The 24-year-old Hardy is a known knockout specialist with his patented punch dubbed the ‘chin checker’ which has disposed of seven of his eight opponents. In his first professional bout in October 2010, his patented punch collided with the chin of Patrick Boston just 20 seconds into the bout and made Hardy the proud owner of South America’s fastest knockout.
Eastman, 42, is a battle tested warrior with a record of 46 wins and nine losses, with 36 of his wins by the knockout route.
The former European champion has fought former world champions Bernard Hopkins and William Joppy. Hopkins had knocked out former world champions like Felix Trinidad and Oscar de la Hoya but he failed to do so against Eastman.
In each of those fights, although Eastman lost, he did not taste the canvas, nevertheless Hardy says he is going to defuse the ‘Battersea Bomber’.
“I am going to take the fight to him and see how he handles it; I will show everybody why I am undefeated and why they call me Mr. Chin Checker,” Hardy boasted.
He continued: “Eastman is legend and I am building a legacy – I am a legend in the making, winning this fight here is a major step in my career but I don’t want to just win it, I want to win it impressively.”
Will Eastman fail the chin check test or will the ‘Candy Man’ suffer his first bitter defeat? The answer will be known in three nights.
Undercard
The professional undercard will feature Trinidad and Tobago-based Guyanese Iwan ‘Pure Gold’ Azore matching gloves with undefeated CABOFE junior welterweight champion, Barbadian, Miguel ‘Hands of Stone’ Antoine in a six-round junior welterweight contest.
Rudolph Fraser will face Cassius ‘Classy’ Matthews in a four-round lightweight encounter while James Walcott, a seasoned campaigner, will be up against young Kelsie George in a four-round grudge match. Walcott and George have thrown several verbal jabs at each other in the past and will have a chance to settle the score on Friday night.
Travis Fraser and Damien Ross will match gloves in the headline bout of the amateur segment of the card.
On the undercard, Shaka Moore of Essequibo Boxing Gym will take on Tyron Lashley of Rose Hall Jammers in an 85 to 89-pound bout. Another 85 to 89- pound encounter will pit Michael April from Tiger Eye Gym against Orin Bancroft of Harpy Eagles Gym.
The undercard will also feature Anton Branch of Harpy Eagles matching gloves with Five Star Gym product Matthew Hollingsworth (110 to 114 pounds). All bouts are scheduled for three rounds.
The monthly card is an initiative of the GBBC in collaboration with the Sports Ministry and the National Communications Network (NCN). Sponsors of the event include Digicel, Giftland Office Max, Courts, Banks DIH Limited and ANSA McAL.
Admission is $1,000, while children will be asked to pay half price. Bell time is 20:00 hrs.
