By Nate Anderson: Undefeated middleweight contender John Duddy (24-0, 17 KOs) makes his return to the ring on June 28th against American Charles Howe (17-4-2, 9 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at The Castle, in Boston, Massachusetts. Duddy, 28, ranked #2 WBC and #WBO, is making his first appearance since his life and death battle against the hard-hitting journeyman fighter Walid Smichet in February.
In what was at first thought to be a fight that was supposed to have been an easy showcase fight for Duddy, one that would set him up for a big money title challenge against WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik on June 7th. However, the plans went awry when Duddy was rocked by Smichet on several occasions in the bout, and cut badly over both eyes. The cuts, both very deep and particularly the nasty variety, required that Duddy take off more time that he had planned on. The worst part of it, though, was the combination of his poor performance against Smichet and the deep cuts, made it necessary for Pavlik to seek out another opponent for his June 7th bout, in this case the unheralded Gary Lockett.
Meanwhile, Duddy had to cool his heals, learn from his mistakes made against Smichet and let his cuts heal slowly. Duddy was expected to be out at least six months while his wounds healed, but they’ve done much better than expected allowing him to come back after only a little over four months time. That’s a good thing, no doubt, but it might also mean that the cuts won’t be healed quite as well as they could be, and might possibly open up at the slightest contact. Fortunately for Duddy, he’s chosen a sufficiently weak opponent in Howe, who’s coming off a 1st round TKO loss to Joey Gilbert in September 2007, meaning that Duddy likely won’t have to work hard in trying to get Howe out of there as fast as possible.
Then again, one would hope that Duddy doesn’t rush out and try to KO Howe immediately, and end up getting clocked like Duddy did in his fight with Smichet. As much as Duddy seems to enjoy brawling with his opponents, he’s not that much better than many of his mediocre opponents in that respect. His power is average, which makes it necessary for him to depend on his good chin and to outwork his opponents in order to beat them. Up to now, Duddy hasn’t run into a fighter with better brawling skills than him, but in the case of Smichet and Luis Ramon “Yory Boy” Campas, it was a very close call for Duddy.
Clearly, it would seem to most people that Duddy simply doesn’t have the power – or the skin, for that matter – to brawl the way that he’s become accustomed. Certainly, he may be able to get by with it for a few more fights, just as long as he stays away from top level opposition. But, as soon as Duddy takes on a quality fighter, like Pavlik or Joe Greene, then Duddy will be badly exposed. For this reason, it’s important that Duddy learn how to use his boxing skills because this is what will likely prolong his career, and hopefully save him from receiving anymore beatings like the one that he sustained in the Smichet bout.
Believe me, Duddy can ill-afford to take punishment like that again, so hopefully his new trainer, Pat Burns, is teaching him a thing or two about boxing. Burns is an excellent trainer, and has previously trained Jermain Taylor, as well as many other fighters like Hector “Macho Camacho and Glen Johnson to name just a few. It’s up to Duddy, though, how much he can change and grow as a fighter, because he’s good a lot of bad habits in the ring that he needs to unlearn, starting with his tendency to try and slug it out with all of his opponents.
Depending on how good Duddy looks against Howe on the 28th, there may be another potential future shot against Pavlik for Duddy. It may requite another fight beyond that, but Duddy will definitely be getting a title shot against Pavlik in 2009, at the latest, based on Duddy’s high ranking in the WBC and WBO. Hopefully, he’s ready when that time comes and does blow his chance.