ENGLISHMAN Robert McCracken made his last appearance in the ring on April 10, 2001. In a challenge for the vacant European middleweight title McCracken was TKOed in round 10 by Guyanese Howard `The Battersea Bomber’ Eastman. The fight was held at the Conference Centre in Wembley in London, England. Referee Dave Parris was confident that he had seen enough punishment dished out and called a halt when the round was one minute and 54 seconds old. It was the 32nd consecutive victory for Eastman who kept a clean record.

McCracken never fought again. However, Eastman, who turned pro in 1994, had the first defeat of a stellar career in his next fight. On November 17, 2001 Eastman battled American William Joppy for the WBA version of the middleweight crown.
The orthodox Eastman dropped Joppy in the latter stage of the 12th round in a close encounter but lost by a majority decision. The Guyanese had another shot at a world title in February 2005.
This time he lost by unanimous decision to undisputed world champion Bernard `The Executioner’ Hopkins.
Eastman is still active and turned 44 last December 8. From a total of 62 fights, he secured 49 victories (38 KOs) and lost 13. In recent time Eastman has embraced the Rastafarian faith.