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Duddy Gets Decision, Title Fight Looms
MON June 30, JAMES STILLERMAN, Ringside - The mostly Irish and Bostonian boxing fans who crowded into the Castle in downtown Boston were all smiling Saturday night as their fighters – John Duddy, Donny Orr, Edwin Rodriquez, and Mark Clancy -- all emerged victorious in dominating fashion. Fan favorite, Ireland’s Duddy, looked remarkable under the tutelage of new trainer, Pat Burns, as he dominated former WBC Middleweight challenger, Charlie Howe on his way to a ten round unanimous decision.
Duddy won every single round on the scorecards 100-90 and upped his record to 25-0 (17), while Howe fell to 17-5-2 (9). Duddy, who could be dropping down to 154 for a title fight as reported by George Kimball at ESPN, pressed the action throughout the fight and displayed a great jab, worked the body well, and his defense was much better than that of his last fights. Granted this didn`t come against the best fighter in the world as Howe had four losses coming into the fight; nonetheless it was a good win for Duddy.
Here is a round by round account of the Duddy v. Howe fight.
Duddy entered the ring to a thunderous applause from his faithful fans who stood up, chanted Irish songs, and waved Irish flags in the air. Duddy donned the customary green gloves and trunks with yellow trim while Howe displayed red gloves and black trucks. Both fighters looked in good shape were ready to fight.
Round one - The fight started cautiously for both boxers who tried to feel each other out before Duddy started the attack. Both fighters had good exchanges but Duddy got the better of them. He attacked Howe’s midsection and also established his jab early on helping him to double up Howe with one-two combinations. Howe landed several effective punches at the end of the round. 10-9 Duddy.
Round two - As the crowd loudly chanted his name, Duddy continued the attack and pushed Howe around the ring. Duddy pinned Howe against the ropes (a place he spent most of the night) and the Irishman landed significant haymakers but Howe escaped off the ropes. Duddy aggressively pursued Howe and landed more right hooks before the round ended. 10-9 Duddy.
Round three - Duddy landed his jab with easy before landing a variety of punches. Duddy backed up Howe and patiently waited for an opening before connecting with combinations. Howe fought well in the last twenty seconds of the round and landed many hard punches. 10-9 Duddy.
Round four - Howe started the round attacking Duddy but Duddy weathered the storm and once again went to Howe’s body with ease. Howe’s right hook was effective in this round and he landed numerous combinations on Duddy in what turned out to be Howe’s best round of the fight. 10-9 Howe.
Round five - Duddy resumed his offensive prowess and was the much more aggressive fighter in the round landing jabs and combinations. Duddy landed a powerful right hook that had Howe in trouble but he escaped the onslaught. Duddy once again pinned Howe to the ropes in the last fifteen seconds of the round where he landed at will. 10-9 Duddy.
Round six - Duddy immediate got Howe to the ropes and fired jabs and uppercuts with most of them successfully hurting Howe. Howe while on the ropes fired back but Duddy won most of the exchanges. 10-9 Duddy.
Round seven - The action slowed down as both fighters circle one another before attacking. Both men landed good shots although Duddy was the busier fighter landing the harder punches. 10-9 Duddy.
Round eight - Duddy started with jabs and then landed right and left hooks. Howe also was effective at landing hooks but Duddy backed Howe to the ropes yet again. Duddy pounded away at Howe who got in a defensive shell while being drilled by constant combinations. The Irishman stepped up the intensity and landed countless punches on Howe. 10-9 Duddy.
Round nine - Duddy continued the offensive onslaught as he desperately tried to appease the crowd’s desire for a knockout. Howe was no longer punching he was just trying to stay alive as Duddy chased him around the ring and landed whatever and whenever he wanted. 10-9 Duddy
Round ten - The crowd got on their feet, wildly cheering on their hero, Duddy, who finished the fight in strong fashion as he punished Howe who somehow stayed on his feet despite the punishment from Duddy. 10-9 Duddy.
Duddy tried for the knockout which didn`t happen but still fought extremely well. Duddy looks ready for a step up in competition in the middleweight division and if he fights the way he did Saturday night he could be a force to be reckon with at 160 pounds.
On the under card, 2000 Canadian Olympian, Donny “Boy” Orr , who lives in South Boston won a unanimous eight round decision over former Mexican Pacific Coast Champion, Roberto “El Viejo” Valenzuela. The unbeaten Orr swept the scorecards in lopsided fashion, 80-71 in the middleweight bout. Orr scored the first and only knockdown of the night with a clean uppercut right hook combination that floored Valenzuela late in the first round. Valenzuela was slow to get up and took a seven count before the fight resumed. The round immediately ended before Orr could continue his assault.
Orr was extremely aggressive and thoroughly dominated the rest of the fight as he threw and landed numerous punches. Valenzuela remained in a defensive shell for most of the fight and occasionally threw punches. The only real danger for Orr in the fight came in the second round when the referee stopped the fight and had the ring physician look at a cut above the eye. The doctor didn`t think the cut was a problem and the fight resumed. Orr controlled the entire fight and came close to knocking Valenzuela down but couldn’t finish the job. Orr improved to 13-0 (5) while Valenzuela fell to 44-38-2 (37).
Edwin Rodriquez a two-time U.S. National Amateur Champion was victorious in an extremely entertaining (best fight of the night) six round bout with Hector Hernandez at the supper middleweight division. Rodriquez, a red hot prospect won two of the scorecards 60-54 and 59-55 on the other although the fight was closer than the final tallies indicated. Rodriquez is 7-0 (5) winning against the best opponent of his young career while Hernandez is 10-3-2 (4).
Both fighters started punching at the opening bell and they didn`t stop for the rest of the fight. Rodriquez and Hernandez both landed effective jabs, haymakers, and combinations throughout the first three rounds as the momentum swung both ways but Rodriquez was winning more of the exchanges. In the fourth round, Rodriquez hit Hernandez below the belt which prompted the referee to give Hernandez time to recovery which he took advantage of. Rodriquez started landing powerful punches in the fifth round and had Hernandez in trouble a couple of times but Hernandez fought back and actually dominated the last thirty seconds of the round. Hernandez continued his attack in the sixth round in what became a good back and forth round with both men finishing strong.
Mark Clancy defeated Salah Zabian by unanimous decision in a six round cruiserweight fight. Clancy, a four-time Irish National Amateur Finalist upped his record to 8-0-1 (1) while Zabian dropped to 6-11 (4). Clancy won all the rounds, 60-54 on the three scorecards. Clancy dominated the fight throughout and pressed the action. He had Zabian in trouble but each time Zabian got out of it. Zabian laid on the ropes and egged Clancy to hit him harder and to come after him which Clancy did. Zabian had his moments in the fourth and fifth round where he was able to string together some good punches but for the most part he just played defense and tried to goad Clancy into attacking him. Zabian does deserve credit for staying on his feet especially with some of the powerful punches Clancy landed which had happened frequently throughout the fight.
Finally, the first fight of the night saw Anthony Accardi keep his undefeated record alive by way of a split decision over Broderick Antoine. The scores were 59-57 for Accardi twice and Antoine once. Accardi dominated the first round by being the more aggressive fighter and landing the cleaner and more powerful punches. However, for the next three rounds the tide changed and it was Antoine who was busier and got the better of the exchanges. It was a competitive fight and both boxers had good offensive outputs. When the verdict was announced some of the crowd booed the decision. Accardi is 2-0 (1) while Antoine is 2-6-1 (1).
The fighters who won were expected to win did win especially the fan favorite, Duddy who looked extremely good. Duddy is raked in the top ten for many of the boxing organizations; #2 by the WBC and WBO, #6 by the WBA, and #10 by the IBF. He’ll now look for bigger and better things in the middleweight division and potentially a title fight down the line which was helped by his dominating performance over Howe.
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