05.11.03 – Howard Eastman has withdrawn from the mandatory defence of his European Middleweight Title. Eastman damaged his knee whilst preparing for the contest. “It was disappointing to hear about Howard, but we will be looking to re-schedule Howard’s mandatory defence against Jorge Sendra early next year.” said promoter Mick Hennessy.
Eyes now turn to Eastman’s Hennessy Sports team-mate Carl Froch to headline the event.
Carl Froch – the hottest prospect in world boxing – made history as an amateur.
Now he is ready to start taking major steps towards replicating those achievements as a professional.
The confident 26-year-old from Nottingham tops a bill that sees fellow Midlander Damon Hague as chief support.
“I am pleased to announce that Carl Froch will now headline the event on November 28th at the Derby Storm Arena,” said Mick Hennessy.
“Anyone who has seen Carl perform – particularly last time out, when he turned in an impressive display against Vage Kochryan- knows he is ready for championship class, despite only having had nine fights.”
“Our strategy for Carl is going exactly to plan. Every challenge we have given him, Carl has met and exceeded in remarkable style. I am now looking to line up Carl to fight for the British and Commonwealth Titles early next year.”
Froch is happy to fill the breach.
“This is where things start to get really interesting,” began Carl, the first ever-English fighter to win a world senior amateur championships medal.
“I am going out to impress. This will be a showcase of my skills and a declaration of my intent. Being a local, there will be a lot of my fans travelling from Nottingham to watch me in Derby and again I’ll be supported by the BBC who will be broadcasting the event.”
“My main goal in Derby is to throw down the gauntlet to anyone who holds a title that I want.” concluded Carl.
The event will also feature other Hennessy Sports stars Gilbert Eastman, Billy Corcoran, Lenny Daws, Daniel Cadman, the returning Lee Meager and former world title challenger Ryan Rhodes.
That is to say nothing of what promises to be a raucous chief support contest featuring two of the countries biggest ticket sellers in Hennessy backed WBF middleweight champion Damon Hague – who will be boxing in front of a hometown crowd – and former Midlands Area champion Roddy Doran from nearby Shrewsbury.
Carl’s headline event takes place at the Derby Storm Arena on Friday 28th November. Highlights from the event will be broadcast on BBC Grandstand on Saturday 29th November.