Los Angeles, CA (October 22, 2008) – Promoter Dan Goossen has been in a quandary for some time. Blessed with extremely talented boxers and whom many believe to be champions that will elevate the sport to much greater heights, WBO Welterweight Champion Paul “The Punisher” Williams and history-making heavyweight contender and WBC Continental Americas Champion Cristobal “The Nightmare” Arreola have their world-class challengers. At Last!
John Duddy
Duddy vs. Hill On November 21st
By Sean McDaniel: Undefeated middleweight John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) will be returning to the ring on November 21st against journeyman Sam Hill (17-9-1, 10 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Roseland Ballroom, in New York City, New York. Duddy, 29, ranked #2 in the WBO and #7 in the IBF, is within range of a title shot against WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik, which might explain the reason why Duddy appears to be taking no chances of getting beaten by taking on another easy opponent in the way of Hill. Who can blame Duddy?
He was almost stopped two fights ago by Canadian Walid Smichet, who rocked Duddy early in the 2nd round and cut his face up badly in the process. Duddy fought well in the second half of the fight and eventually won by a close 10-round majority decision. However, the fight underscored Duddy’s lack of defense including his tendency to get drawn in for brawls. With neither the explosive power or the tough skin for this kind of fighting, Duddy has turned fights that would have probably been an easy win for him, like against the aforementioned Smichet and Luis Ramon Campas, and making them extremely difficult bouts for Duddy.
Duddy Returns To The Ring On November 21st
By Tim Williams: Undefeated Irish middleweight John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) gets back to work in November against a still unnamed opponent on the 1st at the Roseland Ballroom, in New York City, New York. Duddy, 29, is expected to face a solid, but beatable, fighter on November 21st, someone good but not enough so to possibly hurt him or cut him and mess up his potential fight with Ronald Hearns in January. The fight against Hearns is the one that Duddy is looking forward to. Hearns, the son of the famous welterweight Tommy Hearns, is ranked #11 in the WBC and #13th in the WBA and win over him will go a long way towards establishing Duddy as a potential threat in the light middleweight division.
Duddy is currently ranked #2 in the WBO, #5 in the WBC and #9 in the WBC middleweight division. However, after narrowly defeating middleweights Howard Eastman and Walid Smichet, Duddy was advised by his team to move down to the light middleweight division where he might have a better chance at winning a title. It’s a surprising move, however, because at #2 in the WBO, Duddy is poised for a big money title shot in the near future against champion Kelly Pavlik.
Duddy To Fight Ronald Hearns
By Nate Anderson: Unbeaten Irish middleweight contender John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) is in the process of setting up a possible fight with undefeated light middleweight prospect Ronald Hearns (20-0, 16 KOs) for a bout that would take place in January at the Madison Square Garden in New York. However, the fight is contingent on Duddy winning his next fight in November against a still unknown opponent, and Hearns winning his next two fights. Prior to this, Duddy was working on fighting IBF light welterweight champion Verno Phillips. That fight, however, reportedly fell through for lack of interest from the cable networks.
Duddy, 29, is currently ranked high in the middleweight division, coming in at number #2 in the WBO, #5 in the WBC and #9 in the IBF. Even though Duddy is almost assured of getting a title shot against one of the middleweight champions in the near future, probably Kelly Pavlik, he has moved down to the light welterweight division where his new trainer feels that Duddy would stand a better chance at competing with the smaller fighters. At 5’11”, Duddy is a medium sized middleweight, with good but not great power for his size. The problem with him, however, is that he doesn’t have really explosive power that would be needed to compete with the likes of Pavlik or Arthur Abraham.
Will Duddy Succeed As a Light Middleweight?
By Sean McDaniel: If there was ever a chance for unbeaten top middleweight contender John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) to succeed, at least temporarily, it’s his potential fight with current IBF light middleweight champion Verno Phillips (42-10-1, 21 KOs), who Duddy may be facing either on September 27th or October 11th. Duddy is moving down from the middleweight division where he has worked his way up to the lofty #2 spot in the WBC/WBC despite facing mostly soft opposition. It wasn’t until his fight with Walid Smichet, a good B level fighter with a powerful punch, that Duddy began to reconsider his options, thinking perhaps he might be better off if he moved down in weight to the middleweight division.
Of course, Smichet helped him make his decision a little easier by almost knocking him out early in the fight and tearing his face up badly, causing Duddy to later on need a tremendous amount of stitches to close up several cuts on his face. Though Duddy won the fight by a 10-round majority decision, he didn’t impress many boxing fans who witnessed the fight. As it turned out, pretty much counted as a loss for Duddy, as it wiped out a potential big money fight with champion Kelly Pavlik, who Duddy was being considered to fight in June.
Jamie Moore Wants Bout With John Duddy
By Nate Anderson: British light middleweight Jamie Moore (30-3, 21 KOs) wants a shot at Irish middleweight star John Duddy, and is hoping that the two of them can meet up later on this year. Moore, 29, stopped Ireland’s Ciaran Healy in the 3rd round this past Saturday night in Dublin. However, there are a lot of things that have to happen for this fight to occur, starting with Moore being able to beat undefeated Russian Zaurbek Baysangurov (18-0, 13 KOs), whom he fights for his EBU (European) light middleweight title coming up.
Frankly, I have serious doubts that Moore, as good as he is, can beat a fighter as skilled and as hard-hitting as the 23 year-old Baysangurov, who has a excellent chin, good power, and even better stamina, not breaking a sweat no matter how late in the fight it is. Baysangurov is simply too young and powerful for Moore, and will likely beat him up and stop him in short order.
John Duddy To Move Down To Light Middleweight For Bout Against Verno Phillips?
By Eric Thomas: In the latest boxing news, undefeated top middleweight contender John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) is reportedly considering a move down to the light middleweight division to challenge International Boxing Federation champion Verno Phillips. If it seems rather odd and out of place for a fighter like Duddy whose currently ranked #2 in both the WBC & WBO middleweight division to suddenly make a move down to the junior middleweight division, you’ve got a good point. However, Duddy’s trainer apparently feels that Duddy would be better off at the lower light middleweight division, where he would be able to match up better with the smaller fighters compared to the middleweights.
To be sure, as a middleweight, Duddy is considered to be of average size, not nearly as big as some of the larger middleweights like Kelly Pavlik. More importantly, perhaps, is Duddy’s tendency to cut up in fights, which is likely to be an even bigger problem in the middleweight division where the punchers have more power and weight behind their punches than in the junior middleweight division. However, if Duddy does make this move, he could be losing out on a huge payday against middleweight champion Pavlik, who has been considering a bout with Duddy for the past year or so. That would be a fight that Duddy wouldn’t likely be able to find in the junior middleweight division, which is lacking in big stars at this moment other than Oscar De La Hoya and the aging Ricardo Mayorga.
John Duddy Decisions Charles Howe
By Sean Mcdaniel: In somewhat of a comeback fight, undefeated middleweight contender John Duddy (25-0, 17 KOs) defeated Charles Howe (17-5-2, 9 KOs) by a one-sided 10-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the The Castle, in Boston, Massachusetts. The final judges’ scores were 100-90, 100-90 and 100-90. However, despite winning the fight by lopsided scores, the 29 year-old Duddy showed little in the way of improvement over his previous form in his last fight, a 10-round majority decision over Walid Smichet in February.
Duddy vs. Howe: John Needs Badly To Impress
By Tony Krebs: Undefeated middleweight contender John Duddy (24-0, 17 KOs) will be hoping for a change of luck this Saturday night when he goes up against Charles Howe (17-4-2, 9 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at the The Castle, in Boston, Massachusetts. Duddy, now 29, is coming off a poor performance against Walid Smichet in February, a bloody and grueling bout which Duddy won by a 10-round majority decision. In the process of winning, however, Duddy was hurt on several occasions in the first three rounds by Smichet, and cut badly over his left eye. The cut would later need 33 stitches to close the huge gaping wound.
Though Duddy, ranked #3 in the WBO and #5 in the WBA middleweight division, eventually got the decision, he paid a severe price by losing out on a big money fight with WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in June. The cut, combined with how badly Duddy looked, getting battered around the ring by the C-level Smichet in the early rounds of the fight, made Duddy a non-appealing opponent for Pavlik, who wanted to fight Duddy because of his brawling style, his unbeaten record, his Hollywood looks, and most importantly because of his huge appeal with boxing fans on the East coast. It seemed that Duddy was hell bent on trying to look good against Smichet, and forgetting all about defense altogether, Duddy went right after Smichet in the early rounds.
Duddy vs. Howe On June 28th
By Nate Anderson: Undefeated middleweight contender John Duddy (24-0, 17 KOs) makes his return to the ring on June 28th against American Charles Howe (17-4-2, 9 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at The Castle, in Boston, Massachusetts. Duddy, 28, ranked #2 WBC and #WBO, is making his first appearance since his life and death battle against the hard-hitting journeyman fighter Walid Smichet in February.
In what was at first thought to be a fight that was supposed to have been an easy showcase fight for Duddy, one that would set him up for a big money title challenge against WBC/WBO middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik on June 7th. However, the plans went awry when Duddy was rocked by Smichet on several occasions in the bout, and cut badly over both eyes. The cuts, both very deep and particularly the nasty variety, required that Duddy take off more time that he had planned on. The worst part of it, though, was the combination of his poor performance against Smichet and the deep cuts, made it necessary for Pavlik to seek out another opponent for his June 7th bout, in this case the unheralded Gary Lockett.