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Give Us More John Duddy
TUE October 3, BUSTER PARIS - Yes -- this week’s column is starting off as a plea to the folks over at HBO, Showtime, Fox, ESPN … and everyone else who bring us fights. Please, please, please give us more John Duddy.
I haven’t been able to see him fight since July 22nd 2005 where he fought and won an 8 rounder - via an 8th round TKO - against a very game and tough Patrick Coleman - and it was on that night that I officially jumped on the “Ireland’s John Duddy” bandwagon.
I wasn’t even aware of Duddy until I read an article by TalkingBoxing’s own Brian Skjold (6/3/2005) that notified all of us:
“…if you haven’t had a chance to watch Duddy fight, I recommend you start watching now...”
And in describing John Duddy’s growth in the sport:
“…is looking more and more impressive with each outing…”
He was – and still is absolutely right.
One of the incredible things about Duddy is that he hits bloody hard, there’s simply no question about it. He has immense power and is gifted with an amazing left hook.
John has over 100 amateur bouts under his belt, which is worthy of note and definitely has helped to make him as good as he is now. He’s currently undefeated with 18 wins – 15 of those coming by way of knockout.
His most recent victory - and his hardest fight to date - was a few days ago - September 29th 2006 against a very talented and seasoned Luis Ramos "Yory Boy" Campas (W 88 - 72 ko's & L 9).
I was bummed that I wouldn’t be able to see this bout and as the fight was approaching I got nervous for John – Campas is a very good fighter with almost 100 professional fights under his belt and as I said – I’m a Duddy fan.
Luckily I was able to read the details of the match on DogHouseBoxing.com - writer Danny Serratelli was ringside – here’s a quick snippet of what he had to say:
“The two fighters fought toe to toe for the entire 12 round affair with both having their moments. Campas looked as good as he had looked in years and it was clear that he was a veteran of almost 100 fights as a professional. Duddy was pushed to his limit, but displayed the chin, conditioning and heart – although not always the defense – he will need to take his career to the next level.”
He also goes on to say:
"Both of these guys showed no quit and clearly did everything they could do to win the fight. The judges had the fight scored 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 all in favor of the new IBA middleweight champion, ‘Irish’ John Duddy."
You should read the whole article: http://www.doghouseboxing.com/DannyS/DannyS_100106.htm
The one criticism I had regarding John back in 2005 was that he stood up straight too much. I thought that he needed to fight out of a crouch a little more.
The other thing of note from 2005 was from ESPN's guest commentator Pernell “Sweet Pea” Whitaker - he mentioned the jab – that Duddy needed to add the jab to his repertoire.
Regardless of criticisms - congratulations go out to John Duddy in his most recent win against this caliber of opponent – “Yory Boy” was a very big test for Duddy – and a step up in class and quality/talent of opponent – and John passed that test.
Again - a special thanks to TalkingBoxing’s Brian Skjold who turned me on to Duddy – Brian was right in what he said in 2005 – and it holds true even today:
“[John Duddy]…is looking more and more impressive with each outing…”
I’d also like to pass along the other point that Skjold made in 2005 – and hope that it impacts you as much as it did me:
“…if you haven’t had a chance to watch Duddy fight, I recommend you start watching now...”
To anyone who can – please, please, please – give us more John Duddy.
Buster Paris can be reached at: bparis@talkingboxing.com - and always enjoys receiving your thoughts, comments and questions
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