John Duddy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about John Duddy, the Irish boxer. For the Scottish murderer, see Massacre of Braybrook Street. For the man shot dead on Bloody Sunday in Derry, see Bloody Sunday (1972).
| John Duddy | |
 |
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| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Real name | John Francis Duddy |
| Nickname | Ireland's John Duddy |
| Weight | Middleweight |
| Nationality |  Irish |
| Birth date | June 19, 1979 |
| Birth place | Derry, Northern Ireland |
| Style | Orthodox |
| Boxing record | |
| Total fights | 19 |
| Wins | 19 |
| Wins by KO | 15 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Draws | 0 |
| No contests | 0 |
John Francis Duddy (born June 19, 1979, Derry, Northern Ireland) is a middleweight boxer. He fights with the nickname Ireland's John Duddy.
John Duddy has won all nineteen of his professional bouts, fifteen by knockout, and nine of them in the first round. He has been featured in undercard and headlining bouts on ESPN and Top Rank Pay-Per-View, among other television channels.
As an amateur Duddy fought 130 times, winning 100 of his bouts. Duddy won his first Irish national title at the age of 15 as a light middleweight in the Junior Division, later obtaining the Irish title at both Intermediate and Senior Levels. He also represented Ireland at European level and during Olympic qualifiers.
Duddy moved to Dublin before leaving Ireland to settle in New York City, after failing to get signed as a professional boxer in either Ireland or Britain, due to the fact that some boxing trainers and promoters thought that Duddy was not good enough to make it as a professional boxer.
Duddy is the current holder of the IBA World Middleweight Title and the WBC Continental Americas Middleweight Title.
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[edit] Fights
Duddy's first professional fight was on September 19, 2003, against Tarek Rashed in The Bronx. He won via first round knockout. On November 22, he stopped Jesse Gomez at the Crowne Plaza hotel. His next bout was also at the Crowne Plaza, where he beat Leo Laudat on December 21 but suffered his first knockdown.
Duddy began 2004 by stepping up his opponent quality a notch, when he met Ken Hock on January 9 at Uncasville, Connecticut. Hock had ten victories against four losses and one draw (tie) coming into his bout with Duddy. Hock became the first boxer to go more than one round against Duddy, but still lost by knockout to the Irish prospect in the fourth round.
Duddy then experienced his career's longest lay-off, waiting over nine months before his next bout. When he returned, he once again won by first round knockout, defeating Victor Paz on October 30 at Middletown, New York. Duddy quickly returned to action after that fight, beating William Johnson on November 18 in Manhattan.
Duddy's final fight of 2004 came on December 12 at Brighton Beach, Brooklyn against the then undefeated Glen Dunnings. Dunnings became only the second boxer to go more than one round against Duddy, when he was knocked out in the fifth round.
Duddy's first fight of 2005 came on February 4, when he beat Chuck Orso in White Plains. On March 18, Duddy fought the undefeated prospect Leonard Pierre as part of an Irish themed "day after Saint Patrick's Day card". This undercard was televised in the United States on ESPN, with Duddy and Pierre fighting the semi-main event of the card, which was headlined by heavyweight Kevin McBride, who later defeated Mike Tyson.
Both the live crowd and the television announcers expected an early knockout in this fight, given that Pierre also had six first round knockout wins. Duddy proceeded to drop Pierre twice before experienced referee Frank Cappuccino stopped the fight, giving Duddy his seventh first round knockout, and his ninth consecutive knockout victory. The famous former boxer Micky Ward, who is Irish-American and who provided commentary from the ESPN studio for that fight, expressed pleasure with Duddy's performance that night.
On June 11, 2005 Duddy boxed against Patrick Thompson in Madison Square Garden. Thompson became the third boxer to last the first round, and both fighters boxed to a judge's decision. The score on all three cards was 80-72 in favor of Duddy, who extended his win streak to ten, while his knockout streak ended at nine.
Since then Duddy has fought eight times, knocking out six of the opponents, including first round knock outs of both Joseph Brady (September 17, 2005) and Shelby Pudwill (March 16, 2006). On the undercard of the June 10, 2006 Miguel Cotto-Paul Malignaggi Top Rank Pay-Per-View fight, Duddy took on the experienced fighter Alfredo Cuevas, who in 2004 went the 12 round distance with current middleweight champion Jermain Taylor. It was Duddy's eighth fight in less than a year and his third at Madison Square Garden, but he showed no signs of fatigue, fighting Cuevas for 7 rounds before Cuevas retired on his stool with a broken nose and several deep cuts.
Former world heavyweight champion, well known personality, and respected boxing analyst George Foreman provided commentary for the fight, remarking after the fight that Duddy's sharp left jab, "could take him to the top, with a jab like that a world middleweight championship might be on the horizon". Duddy's next fight came against Yori Boy Campas, again at Madison Square Garden. Against an opponent with ten times more professional experience, Duddy went the distance, winning in a unanimous decision after 12 rounds.
On 16 March 2007, he beat Anthony Bonsante at Madison Square Garden. Duddy won with a unanimous 90-81, 89-82 and 88-83 decision when the fight was stopped after the ninth round, due to heavy bleeding from Bonsante's forehead caused by an earlier accidental headbutt.
[edit] Ratings
| Organization | Rank |
|---|---|
| WBO | 7 |
| WBA | 9 |
| WBC | 21 |
| IBO | 9/36* |
| IBF | 14 |
| IBA | Champ |
| NABO | 3 |
| Ring | Not Rated |
| Boxrec | 13* |
*Indicates computerized ranking
[edit] Trivia
Duddy is a popular fight and in his short career so far has proven to be able to sell out large venues. Duddy's management, Irish Ropes, turned down a $75,000 contract to fight Cuevas for $10,000 and a 50% share of tickets Duddy sold himself. Duddy's large fan base, made up of both the large Irish immigrant community in New York and fans of his aggressive style, turned out in large numbers for the Cuevas fight. In all, Duddy's reported purse for the fight was more than $135,000.[citation needed]
Duddy has displayed interest in fighting Dubliner and current Irish middleweight champ "The Pink Panther" Jim Rock. Duddy's management attended Rock's June 3, 2006 fight against Kevin Phelan in Dublin, a seventh round TKO victory for Rock. The fight was initially scheduled for September 29 at Madison Square Garden, but has since been postponed, possibly for a 2007 bout in Dublin.
Also of note is Duddy's commitment to the Irish community in New York City as he has become involved with the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform. Duddy has attended many of the group's meetings and met with Arizona Senator John McCain at a group rally. Senator McCain, a former Navy boxer himself, took great interest in Duddy and wished him well in his future bouts. Duddy entered the ring in his March 16, 2006 fight wearing an ILIR t-shirt, to the crowd's great pleasure.
[edit] References
- Shane Murray. Ireland take Gold. RTÉ News. Retrieved on April 20, 2007.
- Jerry Glick. Talks to John Duddy. Seconds Out. Retrieved on Error: invalid time.
- Benny Henderson Jr.. Prospect Watch: The Fighting Irishman John Duddy. Doghouse Boxing. Retrieved on January 10, 2007.
- Marilyn Cole Lownes. The Boxer. Irish Abroad. Retrieved on March 1, 2007.
- Steve Farhood. Phenomenon. Boxing Monthly. Retrieved on Error: invalid time.
- Matthew Hurley. Ireland’s Warrior - John Duddy. Boxing Scene. Retrieved on February 1, 2007.
- Brian Doogan. Who is John Duddy?. The Times on Line. Retrieved on March 12, 2007.
- Gilberto Mendoza. Official Ratings as of July 2006. WBA Ratings. Retrieved on September 22, 2007. July 2006 WBA Rankings
[edit] External links
- Duddy's boxrec page
- FightBeat.com Interview with Duddy
- Irish Ropes John's Irish Ropes Profile
- Irish Amateur Boxing Associaton Duddy Profile
