By William Mackay: Middleweight contender John Duddy (26-1, 17 KO’s) will be looking to rebound from defeat this Saturday night against 28-year-old Michi Munoz (21-3, 14 KO’s) in a 10 round bout at the Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. Duddy, ranked number #9 in the WBO, must win this fight to keep alive hope for a fight against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the future.

Duddy was beaten in his last fight against Billy Lyell in April, was defeated by a 10 round split decision. The scoring for the fight was a little odd. The scores for the fight were 97-93 and 98-92 for Lyell, while the third judge scored it 96-94 for Duddy.

I had it 98-92 for Lyell. The third judge seemed to have been watching another fight because Duddy appeared to have been totally dominated by Lyell all night long. This was a fighter that Duddy should have been able to beat. The fact that he didn’t is really telling about Duddy’s talent.

At this point in his career, it’s questionable how much more Duddy can improve on what he has already. He’s not particularly fast or powerful for a middleweight. Even as a light middleweight, Duddy still wouldn’t be powerful compared to some of the fighters in the division like Alfredo Angulo, and Duddy would still be slow. He’s not big for a middleweight at 5’10”, and doesn’t have a big physical frame to work with.

Duddy’s record, and his large fan base on the East coast, is one of the reasons why his fights show up on major fight undercards. On Saturday, Duddy will be on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Rogers Mtagwa bout. In addition to that fight, Yuriorkis Gamboa will be going against Whyber Garcia. This isn’t likely to be a huge pay-per-view event in the proportion of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Juan Manuel Marquez, but it will probably do well because the card is stacked with talent. Heavyweights Odlanier Solis will be facing Monte Barrett on the undercard.

If Duddy can get by Munoz this Saturday, then he needs to hope that Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. beats Troy Rowland on November 14th, a bout that will take place on the undercard of the Miguel Cotto vs. Manny Pacquiao bout. Chavez Jr. is expected to beat Rowland, and so the Duddy-Chavez fight could be a real possibility in 2010.

Duddy, if he doesn’t get beaten up by Munoz on Saturday, then could fight one more time in December against a still to be determined opponent and then possibly put in with Chavez in 2010. That would be a great fight because both Chavez and Duddy have a lot of weaknesses, and probably should be ranked much lower than they currently are in their perspective divisions. Chavez would have the better power in a match up with Duddy, but John would have the much better experience and slightly better boxing skills than Chavez.