Boxing: Eastman puts judges in dock as he loses title
By JOHN RAWLING

The Guardian – United Kingdom; Jul 18, 2005

Howard Eastman, “the Battersea Bomber”, faces an uncertain future after
losing his European middleweight title to the undefeated German-based
Armenian Arthur Abraham in Nuremberg.

He has called for a rematch but it seems unlikely he will get it even
though he claimed to have been robbed by the judges. “The judges here
in Germany are from a different planet,” the 34-year-old Londoner
said after the fight had been scored 119-110, 116-112 and 115-113 in
the challenger’s favour.

“This is like daylight robbery. It is ridiculous and a shame to
professional fighting. The officials at ringside were watching a
different fight. It’s like you have to be a German to win a decision
here or you have to kill the guy.

“He never hurt me. No fighter has ever hurt me in my life. I did
enough to win the fight. He might be strong and raw but he is not in
my league. I want a rematch in London.”

It was the third defeat of Eastman’s career, the others coming in
world title fights against William Joppy and, this year, Bernard
Hopkins. And on each occasion he has claimed the judges made errors
of judgment. Now, with his promoter Mick Hennessy no longer having a
contract to broadcast his fights on BBC Television, it seems unlikely
he will be given home advantage even if he gets the chance to face
the rugged Abraham for a second time.

Abraham is a powerful, aggressive fighter who is developing a following
in Germany and it seems more likely he will now build towards his own
world-title shot. The 25-year-old has won all 17 of his professional
appearances and won this fight through his constant aggression and
work rate, with Eastman seeming some way short of his best.

On the same bill Belfast’s Brian Magee seemed to have more
justification than Eastman for complaining about the judging as
he lost a controversial split decision in a fight for the vacant
European super-middleweight title against Vitali Tsypko of Ukraine.
In a battle between two southpaws Magee seemed to dominate the spindly
6ft 3in champion but two judges scored 115-114 to Tsypko, the third
making Magee the 115-114 winner.

Magee had been offered a September World Boxing Organisation
world-title challenge against the Welshman Joe Calzaghe in Belfast but
had rejected terms offered by the promoter Frank Warren and elected to
travel Germany instead for a contest he believed would be worthwhile
as a calculated risk to give him greater bargaining power to secure
a lucrative deal for a Calzaghe fight.

But now, with plans at an advanced stage for Calzaghe to defend his
title in Cardiff on September 10, Magee’s position seems to be weaker
and defeat may have cost him the chance of a world-title shot.