By Jason Kim: Undefeated light middleweight John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) stands a good chance of getting a title shot against WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik (34-1, 30 KOs) later on in 2009, just as long as both Duddy and Pavlik win their upcoming fights on February 21st. Duddy, 29, has reportedly been assured that he’ll get a shot at Pavlik in 2009. Before then, Duddy has a fight before then against the tough Matt Vanda in Madison Square Garden, New York.
With the brawling Duddy, there is no such thing as an easy fight and Vanda, 30, could upset Vanda’s plans at a shot of a good payday against Pavlik. Duddy previously was in position to fight Pavlik in June 2008, but unfortunately for Duddy, he struggled against Canadian based slugger Walid Smichet in February 23rd, beating him by a 10-round majority decision.
Duddy, who tends to brawl far too much for his own good, was hammered early by Smichet, stunned, cut badly and had to work hard in the later rounds to eke out a 10-round decision. That was enough to disqualify Duddy for Pavlik’s June fight, even though Duddy got the win and was able to preserve his unbeaten record. The cuts alone, two bad ones around Duddy’s eyes, were enough to keep him from taking on Pavlik in June.
After missing out on the Pavlik fight, Duddy continued to have a bad 2008, looking less than stellar in his next fight, a 10-round unanimous decision over Charles Howe. Duddy then hoped to face IBF light middleweight champion Verno Phillips in 2008, but that fell through for John.
He also experienced managerial problems that further added to Duddy’s problems in 2008. The bout with Vanda is hoped to be one in which Duddy can shine and get his career back on line. However, Duddy can’t afford to look bad against Vanda, because if he’s forced to struggle against him like he did against Smichet, the Pavlik fight will likely go out the window regardless of whether or not Duddy wins the fight.
Duddy has moved down to the light middleweight division at the advice of his new trainer Pat Burns, who feels that Duddy will stand a better chance against the smaller light middleweights. Hopefully, Burns is right because Duddy didn’t exactly look good against light middleweight Yory Boy Campas in September 2006, struggling to beat him by a close 12-round decision.
For his part, Pavlik is returning next month after a one-sided shellacking from Bernard Hopkins in October. Pavlik was dominated throughout, losing all 12 rounds and appearing badly over-matched by the 43 year-old Hopkins. Pavlik faces Marco Antonio Rubio on February 21st.
If Duddy does end up facing Pavlik, the fight should turn out to be an exciting one while it lasts. Duddy likes to slug, and so does Pavlik. With both of them standing and trading, this fight is almost guaranteed to end with a knockout. Duddy doesn’t have nearly the power of Pavlik, though, so unless Duddy’s chin can hold up for the full 12-rounds, it seems reasonable to assume that he’ll be knocked out by Pavlik.
Comments are closed.