Eastman Duddy On Saturday

Howard Eastman (42-5, 17 KOs) takes on undefeated Irish born John Duddy (22-0, 17 KOs) on Saturday at the Kings Hall, in Belfast, Ireland. Despite the fact that Eastman, 36, has lost four out of his last six fights, this bout appears to be pretty evenly matched. Duddy, 28, an extremely hyped fighter, is mostly a brawler type and not much better than a B-level fighter in my estimation, and is vulnerable to a heavy slugger like Eastman. Certainly Eastman, originally from Guyana, isn’t the same fighter he was four years ago, but he still has respectable power in the early going, enough possibly to either take Duddy out with a series of shots or stop him on cuts.

If the bout goes beyond seven, then Duddy will likely have enough stamina to pull out a decision. I don’t believe that Duddy punches hard enough to stop Eastman, so he’ll have to be satisfied working for a decision. Though Eastman has lost four out of his last six, the opponents - Bernard Hopkins, Edison Miranda, Arthur Abraham - are pretty accomplished foes. Eastman’s most recent loss, to a fighter named Wayne Elcock, is more worrisome because he’s not considered a top talent in the middleweight division.

By all accounts, Eastman was doing fine in the first half of the fight but tired out, as always, in the second half of the fight, allowing Elcock to pull out the decision. Duddy likely will ave studied this fight closely and will try and stay away from Eastman while he’s still fresh, then pour in on starting in the 7th round. If, however, Duddy makes the mistake of trying to brawling with Eastman early on, he’ll be taken out in short order. Duddy may be a popular fighter, but he’s only one step removed from a club fighter in my view.