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From Boxing Monthly, November 2005, vol 17, issue 7, just out now (www.boxing-monthly.co.uk):
"He's a laid-back fighter. I consider Eastman my friend from afar, and honestly Eastman has to pull the trigger every time he fights - and he's lost again since fighting me, and that's not a good sign.
Do [sic] he have a chance in the middleweight division that doesn't run deep? Yes he does. Can he beat a lot of American guys over here. Yes he can.
What I did with Eastman was take the fight away from him psychologically, and once he played into trying to wait for one big shot it never came. I wanted to get my 20th defence for history* and win without any kind of risk. My whole thing, and my plan, was to win tonight and I'll fight tomorrow. But I'm gonna win.
I wasn't concerned about how I was going to win as long as I got that 20 defences, and that was very important to me. It wasn't a lacklustre fight - it had some moments - but it wasn't one that I would say to myself, other than the history part, that it was one of my most exciting fights. It was a fight that I got past, and I did what I had to do."
* I still don't get why people are saying Hopkins successfully defended the title 20 times. The first bout with Robert Allen was a No Contest, so Eastman was his 19th defence. This means that for his real 20th defence Taylor and the judges spoiled the party, surely?
"He's a laid-back fighter. I consider Eastman my friend from afar, and honestly Eastman has to pull the trigger every time he fights - and he's lost again since fighting me, and that's not a good sign.
Do [sic] he have a chance in the middleweight division that doesn't run deep? Yes he does. Can he beat a lot of American guys over here. Yes he can.
What I did with Eastman was take the fight away from him psychologically, and once he played into trying to wait for one big shot it never came. I wanted to get my 20th defence for history* and win without any kind of risk. My whole thing, and my plan, was to win tonight and I'll fight tomorrow. But I'm gonna win.
I wasn't concerned about how I was going to win as long as I got that 20 defences, and that was very important to me. It wasn't a lacklustre fight - it had some moments - but it wasn't one that I would say to myself, other than the history part, that it was one of my most exciting fights. It was a fight that I got past, and I did what I had to do."
* I still don't get why people are saying Hopkins successfully defended the title 20 times. The first bout with Robert Allen was a No Contest, so Eastman was his 19th defence. This means that for his real 20th defence Taylor and the judges spoiled the party, surely?
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