MIRANDA ROCKS EASTMAN AT THE HARD ROCK!
By Laz Izada

Hollywood, FL (www.insideboxing.com, March 24, 2006) - With ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” in the house at the Seminole Hard Rock Arena, approximately 2,000 fight fans anxiously awaited the main event. Young 25 year old middleweight Columbian power puncher Edison “Pantera” Miranda 26-0 (23 KO’s) was taking on classy seasoned veteran 35 year old Howard Eastman 40-4 (34 KO’s) of Guyana, by way of England. The match up pitted a classic confrontation of youth versus experience. It was Miranda’s first big test of his career. Eastman was looking for his first victory on U.S. soil. After losing close decisions to William Joppy in 2001 and Bernard Hopkins in 2005. The bout was an IBF Middleweight Title Eliminator, with the winner moving on to face IBF Middleweight champion Arthur Abraham 20-0 (17 KO’s) from Germany in August. Eastman wanted a rematch with Abraham who he had lost to last year in Germany. Miranda, who at 9 years old grew up alone in the streets of Buenaventura, Columbia, was looking to continue his rags to riches journey.

Both fighters weighed in at 159 pounds. The action started out slowly in the 1st round as Eastman was back pedaling circling around the outside, keeping away from Miranda. In the 2nd round they were a bit more engaged. Eastman was hitting, and holding for most of the round. In the last few seconds of the 2nd round, Eastman had Miranda in the corner and hit him with a solid left. It was a clean hit but it didn’t faze Miranda as the bell rang. In the 3rd round Eastman continued to hit and hold and with about a minute remaining Miranda had Eastman in the corner and landed a solid left. Eastman got away from the corner onto the side ropes as Miranda continued with a flurry of missed punches as Eastman was ducking. Then Miranda hit him with a low blow and was warned by referee Brian Garry. With about 20 seconds left in the 3rd round, Eastman landed a solid left and Miranda ended the round with a solid right.

Things started heating up in the 4th round as Miranda came out aggressively throwing and landing big punches, holding and pushing Eastman, wearing him down. Towards the end of the round Miranda threw 2 massive rights that barely missed. It started to look like Eastman might be in for some real trouble. Through the 5th, hitting and holding was the norm, until with 25 seconds left in the round, Miranda landed 2 big right handed bombs , staggering Eastman backwards and then missing with the left as Eastman ducked and held. Had that left handed punch landed, the fight would have been over right then and there with no doubt. In the 6th round Eastman started out back pedaling again, but Miranda caught up with him and gave him another low blow. No point was deducted and Eastman barely took any time to recoup. With about a minute left in the round Eastman caught Miranda with a solid right that hurt him and he started to hold Eastman around the back of the neck. Miranda was hit again with another right with 5 seconds left, and was saved by the bell as his legs wobbled.

The 6th round was Eastman’s best as Miranda came out strong in the 7th round throwing big punches that were not connecting solidly. With 30 seconds left in the 7th round he had Eastman in the corner and surprisingly nailed him again with a double right and a quick overpowering left uppercut, then another strong quick right. Referee Brian Garry had seen enough and stopped the bout at 2:33 of the 7th. It was the first time Eastman had been stopped by a TKO in 43 fights.

Maybe Eastman could have had a better chance fighting Miranda from the outside, but he didn’t do so. He decided to brawl with the young slugger and paid the price for it. Miranda proved that he is for real and can walk the walk as well as talk the talk. The showdown with Abraham should prove to be an exciting one. They are both undefeated.

The co-main event featured a battle of cruiserweights. With southpaw Felix “Bad News” Cora Jr. 18-0-2 (9 KO’s) of Galveston, TX squaring off against tough Darnell “The Ding-a-ling Man” Wilson 18-4-3 (15 KO’s) of Silver Springs, MD. The bout was for Cora’s NABF Cruiserweight title, and was his biggest challenge up to date. Wilson, who is known as being a tough opponent, had just went the distance, 8 rounds, losing a unanimous decision while hurting heavyweight contender Owen Beck on January 7th.

Wilson has defeated southpaws before. In the 3rd round Wilson hit Cora with a strong solid right moving Cora back some. Cora looked hurt but resisted and traded fire with fire and left Wilson with a bloody nose from an effective left that he dealt him. Throughout the 10 round contest Wilson was looking for that one shot, but he couldn’t do it. Cora displayed excellent offensive and defensive skills. He had a very quick jab and threw solid power punches. He was also in excellent condition as the Ding-a-Ling Man looked out of gas from the 5th round on.

Cora easily won by unanimous decision, 99-91 on all three judges cards. This was Cora’s first bout under contract with Warrior’s Boxing. He stayed a long time after the bout talking and posing for pictures with fans. It looks like he will be another crowd favorite for Warriors at Hard Rock here in Hollywood, FL. Not to mention maybe another World Champ. He is ranked 10 by the WBC.

In the under card, Warriors’ Heavyweight contender Timur Ibragimov 21-0 (13 KO’s) of Hallandale, FL by way of Russia, easily disposed of journeyman Kenny Craven 27-17 (22 KO’s). This was a tune up fight for Timur, who will take on Calvin Brock in Las Vegas June 24th on HBO.

Hector “Macho” Camacho Sr., who was supposed to take on Keith Sims on this card, could not do so because he hurt his Achilles heel while training. He will be out for 4 weeks. Inside the ring during a break in the action he promised fans that he will be back later this year. The cancelled bout with Sims was scheduled at middleweight. Wednesday at the press conference he informed me that he would like to be at Junior Middleweight. “That is where the sharpest and strongest guys are at,” he said. “That is where the action is.”

Warriors Boxing Promotions’ next show here at the Seminole Hard Rock Live Arena will be May 18th. Local Favorite Ricky Quiles 39-6 (8 KO’s) will be taking on Julio Diaz 32-3-0 (24 KO’s) for the IBF Lightweight Interim Title.