Boxing: Eastman faces tough test in search for limelight

Nobody has paid much attention to Howard Eastman's return to the ring, but he fights for the second time in two months tonight and in January he fights for the European middleweight title.

Eastman is the unofficial main event this evening at the Goresbrook Leisure Centre when he meets the London-based Syrian Hussain Osman over 10 rounds. It is an ideal test for Eastman because Osman, who has won 12 of his 16 fights, is one of the toughest fighters active in Britain today.

Two months ago the Guyana-born Eastman ended an 11-month exile from the ring but with a low-key but impressive first-round stoppage of Charden Ansoula. Eastman had not fought since losing his unbeaten record when he dropped a split decision in a meaningful world title challenge against William Joppy in Las Vegas in November 2001.

After the Ansoula win, Eastman secured a European title fight for against the Frenchman Erland Betare, which will take place in London on 28 January. Since 1994 Eastman has stopped or knocked out 29 of the 33 men he has beaten so far but has done so in virtual anonymity. The fight against Betare will change that because the BBC plans to screen it live.

The nominal main event this evening features David Walker in a potentially difficult final eliminator for the British welterweight title against Jimmy Vincent. It is the type of fight that has slowly vanished off the British circuit as, if Walker loses, he will fall out of the British title picture.

There are very few who are prepared to take a single risk on their way to a title. If Walker can beat Vincent he is likely to fight for the vacant title because Belfast's Neil Sinclair, the incumbent, has secured a world title fight and that means he will relinquish his domestic version.