By Jim Dower: Number #9 ranked World Boxing Organization Middleweight contender John Duddy (28-1, 18 KO’s) was too much for his opponent Juan Astorga (14-4, 9 KO’s) on Saturday night, knocking him down twice and stopping him at 1:55 of the 1st round on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Steven Luevano fight at Madison Square Garden, in New York, New York. Duddy, 30, came out firing with lead right hands to the head and left hooks to the body. Duddy showed no respect for Astorga’s power as he went after him with big power shots trying to take him out as quick as possible.

Astorga, 31, came into the fight having been stopped in three out of his last seven fights against the likes of Joey Gilbert, Ronald Hearns and James Cook. This must have given Duddy the confidence needed to go looking for a knockout early in the fight, because he looked entirely focused on trying to rip Astorga’s head off from the word go. Duddy fired off a big right hand that backed Astorga up. Seconds later, Duddy landed a nice left-right combination that caused Astorga to take a knee.

The combination was thrown perfectly and although it didn’t seem like hard punches, the shots landed cleanly and seemed to hurt Astorga. As soon as the action resumed, Astorga found himself under heavy fire as Duddy charged like a small bull and raked Astorga with hooks and short right hands to the head.

Duddy looked overeager to score a knockout and smothered many of his power shots by standing too close. Astorga, looking more than a little shell shocked, was firing nothing back at Duddy and couldn’t keep him off. Duddy loaded up with single shots trying to finish him off.

Finally, Duddy landed a nice left hook to the body that sent Astorga down on his back on the canvas where he then grabbed his midsection and winced in pain. Referee Wayne Kelly stood over Astorga for several moments waiting to see if he would get up. When it became clear that Astorga was in too much pain to get up from the knockdown, Kelly then stopped the fight at 1:55 of the 1st.

All in all, it was a good performance by Duddy, who is still trying to find his footing after losing to middleweight contender Billy Lyell last year in April. There is talk that Duddy will be fighting on the undercard of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Joshua Clottey bout on March 13th against a still to be determined opponent. It will likely be another 2nd tier opponent similar to Astorga because Duddy still appears to need work before he’s put in with another contender.

Thus far, Duddy has mostly fought 2nd tier opposition during his career with the exception of Lyell and Howard Eastman. The problem that Duddy has is that he is wide open on defense, tends to cut badly when hit a lot, and doesn’t have huge power. His hand speed isn’t all that great either, which makes Duddy vulnerable against good top tier opposition.

Despite his noticeable flaws, Duddy remains extremely popular on the East Coast of the United States and is a draw for boxing fans in that region. This is why Duddy would be a good addition to the Pacquiao-Clottey card, even though he’s somewhat of a fringe contender at this point. He’s got a tremendous upside potential if his management can fix his many problems with his defense and offense.