It will be a moment of truth in the boxing ring when local boxing star ‘Deadly’ Denny Dalton faces Howard ‘Battersea Bomber’ Eastman on Saturday at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall for the national middleweight title on the Guyana Boxing Board of Control (GBBC) promotion card dubbed `Judgement Day.’
Dalton was scheduled to face former two-time world title challenger Raul Frank, but Frank pulled out owing to a back problem that paved the way for the board to offer Eastman a chance to fight for a local title in Guyana for the first time.
Dalton says he is taking the fight very seriously.
“I don’t underestimate no opponent, I going to win at all cost. I feel very confident and I just going to do what I have to do,” he declared.
The national champion noted that a boxer was just like a soldier.
“He always got to be prepared.”
According to ‘Deadly’, he was very prepared for the Raul Frank fight and was very disappointed when the fight was called off.
”He (Eastman) is very slow and old and I will knock him out.”
This Saturday they will touch gloves at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall (CASH) knowing just how much this fight means to both of them. It is a story that reveals something of the heart of the fighting man that is Dalton.
Dalton was born in a small village in Linden on November 29 1977 to Patsy and Denny Dalton snr. He has two brothers and three sisters.
Five years after Denny was born, the family moved to a village called Two Brothers Zag on the East Bank of Demerara.
He started boxing as an amateur when he was 18-years-old and won the Novices and Intermediate championships.
He started his professional boxing career on February 28 1997 defeating Ron Robin over four rounds.
After four wins and one loss, Dalton travelled to Canada to meet Joachim Alcine the new world champion and was knocked out in the third round.
He went on to defeat Michael Benjamin whom he knocked out in the fifth round in December 2000 and also scored an eighth-round knock out victory over Floyd Trumpet of Trinidad in August 2001.
He had his biggest win on December 26 2003 when he knocked out Keith Crusher’ Thomas in the second round to win the vacant junior middleweight title of Guyana. He also won the World Boxing Council (WBC) CABOFE Junior middleweight title when he knocked out Edward Meertens of the USA in the seventh round of their February 2004 fight.
Dalton had his first international title crack when he travelled to Hungary to meet Mihaly Kotai for the International Boxing Federation (IBF) junior middleweight title losing on points.
Under new management, Dalton stepped up in class when he defended his local junior middleweight title on October 15 2005 against former World Boxing Association (WBA) welterweight champion Andrew ‘Six Head’ Lewis which ended in a technical draw after a clash of heads in the fourth round.
Then came “Doomsday Two” on April 7 2007 in which Lewis retired in the seventh round giving Dalton a victory that also allowed him to retain his title.
In their third encounter, Lewis had sweet revenge when he boxed and danced his way to a points decision over Dalton who bounced back to win the local middleweight title when he knocked out Winston Pompey in the 10th round in July last year.
Dalton returned to the ring on October 30 the same year this time at Skinner Park, San Fernando, Trinidad where he met Kevin Placide for the vacant World Boxing Empire (WBE) welterweight title. He knocked out Placide in the 10th round with a crushing right hook that sent the Trinidadian to the canvas for the full count. Dalton also won the vacant WBE CABOFE welterweight title.
The “Deadly” had his first bout this year in Trinidad losing to Placide by a disqualification in the seventh round after Placide received a punch and fell through the ropes and could not continue.
Two boxers with points to prove can best describe Dalton and Eastman at this stage of their respective careers and both are looking forward to Judgement Day to do so.
