By Sean McDaniel: According to the latest boxing news, Irish middleweight contenders Andy Lee and John Duddy could be fighting on November 28th in Ireland. Promoter Brian Peters is trying to make it happen and will be looking to make it a 50-50 deal between the two middleweights.
Lee, 25, is reportedly interested in making the fight, so it’s up to Duddy to see whether he might want to take on the bout. It would be a dangerous one for the 30-year-old Duddy, there’s no question about that. Duddy was recently defeated by Billy Lyell in a 10-round split decision in April.
Although the fight was ruled a split decision by the judges, it looked as if Duddy lost every round of the fight on my score cards. Duddy never seemed to get into the bout and was hit with big right hands in every round by Lyell. Despite the loss, Duddy is still ranked at number #9 in the World Boxing Organization.
Lee defeated journeyman Anthony Shuler by an 8th round knockout last Friday night. The win was less impressive than it might have considering that Shuler has been knocked out early in his recent fights against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., Andy Kolle and Michael Walker.
Lee hasn’t looked good since being stopped in the 7th round by Brian Vera in March 2008. Lee has won four fights since then but he’s taken a lot of punishment in each of his fights, and especially had problems in his 10-round decision over Alexander Sipos in March this year.
Lee’s competition seems to have been getting worse and worse in his past two fights, which perhaps may be a signal that Lee’s development as a middleweight isn’t progressing forward like it should. A fight against Duddy would be the equivalent of two flawed diamonds going at each other.
One would hope that the winner of the fight would learn something from the fight and come out improved, but that’s unclear. Both Duddy and Lee appear to need a lot of work before they’re ready for top level opposition at this point.
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Wilder has Surgery on Injured Right Hand
2008 U.S. heavyweight Bronze Medalist Deontay Wilder (7-0, 7 KO’s) has had surgery on his right hand this past week, according to Tuscaloosa News. Wilder, one of the hardest punchers in the heavyweight division, injured his hand in his last fight against Travis Allen on August 14th. Wilder stopped Allen in the 1st round of the bout.
Wilder’s hand was operated on last Friday and it should be at least two weeks before Wilder will be able to return to action. Wilder has knocked out all seven of his opponents since turning pro and has a streak of five consecutive 1st round knockouts.
Wilder’s competition is still poor at this stage of his career, but his right hand power is very real. However, Wilder needs to develop his left hand more and learn to use his jab. Wilder’s defense is another area of concern. He needs to learn how to block punches better and get out of the way of incoming fire.
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