Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman suffered a controversial loss to Jamaican, Tsetsi ‘Lights Out’ Davis when the Wray and Nephew Contender Series continued on Wednesday in Kingston.
Eastman 49(38)-13(2)-0 was Guyana’s last hope to capture the Contender title but according to reports out of the Land of Wood and Water, Davis 12(3)-3-0 got a home town unanimous decision victory in the eight-round semi-final bout and advanced to the final.
The 43-year-old voiced his frustration after going down to his 36-year-old opponent in a post-fight rant but the judge’s decision 78-74, 79-73 and 79-72 is final.
All is not lost for the ‘Battersea Bomber’ as he is guaranteed to head to the bank.
The winner of the series will take home J$2 million, second place J$500,000, third place J$250,000 and fourth place J$200,000.
Davis will match gloves with the winner of the second semi-final matchup between his fellow Jamaicans, Donovan ‘Police’ Campbell and Sakima Mullings.
Wednesday’s decision ensures that the final will be an exclusively Jamaican affair, as Eastman was the only non-Jamaican participant to reach the final-four stage of the tournament.
The fight, staged at a new venue in downtown Kingston, was attended by a large, enthusiastic crowd. Next Wednesday, the second semi-final will also be held downtown before the contest goes back uptown, this time to the National Indoor Sports Centre.
In his two bouts prior to Wednesday, Eastman, one of the major attractions in this year’s series, knocked out Jamaican Derrick ‘Guts’ Spencer in one minute 50 seconds of round two of their scheduled six-round bout.
The ‘Battersea Bomber’ then unanimously defeated another Jamaican, Kevin ‘Bus Boy’ Hylton.
This year’s tournament first started with 16 boxers (eight from Jamaica and eight from Guyana, Trinidad and Barbados). Revlon Lake, Derrick ‘Dangerous’ Richmond, Gladwin ‘Tiger’ Dorway and Gardel ‘The Judge’ Roberts were the other Guyanese boxers who were all defeated in their first fights.
