By Aaron Klein: Undefeated middleweight contender John Duddy (24-0, 17 KOs) is apparently still in the running for a potential bout with WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik for later this year, according to the website The Irish Independent. Duddy’s promoter, Bob Arum, had this to say, “There’s still a chance of Duddy meeting Pavlik for the belts later in this year or early in 2009.” Additionally, Duddy, 28, has switched trainers, the articles states, dismissing his American trainer Don Turner and moving to trainer Pat Burns, who also trains Jermain Taylor.
It’s unclear why Duddy has decided to make the move, but one would guess that it could have been due to Duddy’s recent disappointing performance against Walid Smichet, in which Duddy won by a 10-round majority decision but took a major pounding by Smichet. At the end of the fight, Duddy’s face was a red masque of blood, with his left eye cut badly, later requiring 23 stitches to close the deep cuts. But the worse part of all, however, was that Duddy despite winning the fight lost out on a chance to fight Pavlik on June 7th. Instead, Pavlik with be fighting Gary Lockett on June 7th rather than Duddy.
It was a bout that would have netted Duddy a million dollar payday, and that the same time it would have given him a lot of exposure with the fight being shown to a large American audience by HBO. Duddy, however, instead of fighting smart against Smichet, a fighter known for having a lot of power but rather crude boxing skills, Duddy stood in front of him for most of the fight, trying to slug it out with him. As it turns out, it wasn’t a wise thing for Duddy to do, for he was rocked on several occasions in the early rounds, and looked little better than a club fighter at this time.
In the later rounds, Duddy finally wised up and began to box more, using his jab and combinations to control Smichet, who for his part, appeared to tire badly. Nevertheless, it was a disappointing performance by Duddy, in that he was supposed to have been able to beat Smichet with ease due to the vast differences in talent that separated them. Duddy, though, is still a fighter that seems to be caught between styles. Part of him still wants to slug it out like he used to do earlier in his career, while the other part – the more professional side – is more of a boxer-type, somewhat like the crafty middleweight champion Felix Sturm.
In Duddy’s bout with Howard Eastman, in December 2007, he showed how good he can be when he decides to box, as he used his jab, a smothering attack, and right cross to easily defeat Eastman. Yet in the fight Smichet, Duddy seemed to think he could just walk right through him, forgetting all about defense, and just annihilate him. The problem with that, though, is that Duddy has never been all that big of a puncher.
Sure, Duddy hits hard but he’s the type that needs to beat his opponents by wearing them down with an accumulation of shots rather than one or two. Unfortunately for Duddy, by the time he made corrections to his fight plan with Smichet and began to box, it was already too late, as Duddy’s face was a bloody mess. However, Duddy still remains unbeaten and with this bitter lesson learned from his bout with Smichet, Duddy may still yet get his shot against Pavlik if his promoter can somehow swing the deal. Duddy remains hugely popular in the New York area, and with his still unbeaten record, it makes him more appealing than most of what Pavlik has to choose from for opponents.