By Dan Fitz-Simons: On June 5th John Duddy will again fight on the undercard of a major event, this time at New York’s Yankee Stadium. Duddy’s appearance on the Cotto-Foreman undercard, only three months after his lackluster performance on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard, has angered many fight fans. Indeed, the Derry man was lucky to walk away with a split decision over Michael Medina. Whatever the reason, Duddy was neither impressive nor exciting.

Duddy’s poor showing before 51,000 fans at the Cowboy’s Stadium, as well as on PPV, has damaged his already questionable image. There was a time when his jabs and hooks seriously injured opponents. But what fans saw in Dallas were punches without any snap. Duddy’s shots had nothing on them, and he seemed reluctant to fire an overhand right, the only punch in his arsenal with any authority. Duddy himself later admitted that he had failed to pull the trigger when Medina was in trouble.

After seven years and thirty bouts, Duddy could be past his prime. The fact that he may have peaked might explain his weak, overly cautious performance. Early in the fight, Manny Steward commented that Duddy looked as though he couldn’t make up his mind to box, or to charge in for the KO. Duddy’s indecisiveness could be the result of having three different trainers: Harry Keitt, Don Turner, and Pat Byrnes, each advocating a different style.

In his early career under Keitt, Duddy was branded an unsophisticated slugger. Then Turner, and later Byrnes, attempted to change Duddy’s style by perfecting his boxing skills. However, an old fight adage says you can’t change a slugger into a boxer. Duddy now admits he’ll never be Sugar Ray Leonard. When he was a slugger they wanted him to box. Now that he’s boxing, they want him to slug.

Kelly Pavlik’s trainer, Jack Loew, said that Duddy just can’t get out of the way of an overhand right. As if to validate Loew’s statement, Duddy was wobbled by Medina in the 7th round. Keitt, to his credit urged more head movement, but bad habits die hard. Duddy still takes too many head shots. However, his defense has improved in one area. The fact that he sailed through his last three fights with nary a scratch can’t be overlooked.

Poor timing has also plagued Duddy’s career. It would be interesting to see the fight community’s reaction if he had KO’d Medina in the first round on TV, instead of Astorga three months before. Unfortunately, he ended up fighting a televised “snoozer” that went the distance. Duddy’s next bout won’t be televised, so he’ll probably KO his opponent without most fans seeing it.

But whatever happens, wins are wins. Duddy has defeated three opponents in a row; Munoz, Astorga, and Medina within six months. Although these opponents are all second tier fighters, Duddy still deserves credit for staying busy. To say he has been training hard is an understatement. Keitt was actually disappointed with Duddy’s early KO of Astorga, because it deprived John of a ten round tune up for Medina.

No doubt, Duddy’s opponent at Yankee Stadium will be hand-picked to ensure a win and set up the big money match against Julio Jr. Hopefully, the bout won’t be a replay of the Medina fiasco, which looked like an agreement between two opponents not to take unnecessary risks. The best scenario would be for Duddy to come out swinging for an early knock out. But if the Derry Destroyer is an “old 30” with diminished speed and power, that’s not going to happen.