Eastman eyes lucky third title bid

Howard Eastman has vowed to learn from his early mistakes and finally land a version of the world middleweight title.

The Battersea 35-year-old has been given the chance to fight Colombian Edison Miranda in a final eliminator for the IBF crown held by Arthur Abraham.

Eastman lost to Abraham via a contentious points verdict in Germany in July. Abraham subsequently won the vacant IBF crown after it was relinquished by undisputed champion Jermain Taylor.

Eastman – who will meet Miranda sometime this spring at a venue to be confirmed – said: “Because of what’s happened recently I need to prove to people that I can go in there and take these guys out properly.

“There can be no room for doubt – you must make sure that the result comes your way. I have only failed to do that on three occasions in my whole professional career.”

Eastman’s previous world title failures – against Bernard Hopkins last year and William Joppy in 2001 – were marked by an apparent reluctance to get involved.

Many believed he would have won the judges’ verdicts against Joppy but for excessive showboating. Against Hopkins, Eastman did not take advantage of the champion’s negativity.

After the fight with Hopkins Eastman retreated to his native Guyana and will now base himself in the United States to train for his meeting with Miranda.

Eastman added: “I am going to go and train in America. I am going to be fully focused and there will be no more distractions.

“There will be no people saying things into my ear from now on, trying to put thoughts in my head about certain things.”