CHASING HE ATTERSEA OMBER
“IN LIFE SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH THE UGLY TO GET TO THE BEAUTY. I HAD TO GO THROUGH SOME STUFF”
IN GUYANA, his homeland, they prefer to call him ‘Boxer’ and he likes it this way. By choosing to address him by his profession, rather than using his given name, the locals show their respect for Howard Eastman’s past achievements while also granting him the one thing he has been craving for at least 15 years: anonymity.
“One of the reasons why I ran away from London is because of all the memories of my life,” Eastman said from his home. “Sometimes I just want to turn a new page. But I can’t run away from Howard Eastman because I then get guys like you chasing me.
“I don’t talk to anybody. Nobody can reach me. They can’t find me out here. You’re the only one who did. Once I knew who was chasing me, I said to myself, ‘I’ve got to talk to him.’”
The first time I interviewed Howard Eastman it was July 2003 and he was sitting inside one of the changing rooms of the Norwich Sports Village having just stopped Frenchman Hacine Cherifi in defence of his European middleweight title. Still in character, most of the answers he offered me that night were brief and ambiguous, owing either to post-fight fatigue or, more likely, a need to live up to the eccentric, truculent weirdo reputation he had throughout the years created for himself as a means of protection. But, at 16, I knew no better and didn’t really mind.
Eighteen years on, Eastman, now 50, is even more reluctant to be interviewed. He has fled from journalists and from himself, or at least that version of himself, and today views London, our only common ground, through a different lens than he did when he called
