Unbeaten Irish middleweight John Duddy has promised fireworks at his Irish professional debut in Dublin’s National Stadium on 14 July. Metro Eireann’s new boxing columnist Bernard O’Neill catches up with the Derry-born bruiser
New York-based John Duddy, who remains undefeated after 20 professional fights, will make his Irish pro debut against a yet-to-be-named opponent at the National Stadium on Dublin’s South Circular Road on 14 July alongside Paul McCloskey, Kevin O’Hara and Kevin Timlin.
Bizarrely, Brian Peters Promotions announced the preliminary fight card details at a press conference on board the 19th-century famine ship, the Jeanie Johnson, which is currently docked at Custom House Quay on the Liffey. It was an unusual place for a boxer to unveil details of his homecoming, but in many ways the ship – famous for ferrying starving poverty-ridden immigrants across the Atlantic to America over 150 years ago – was a strangely suitable setting for the return of an all-conquering hero.
Like those fleeing the famine, Derry-born Duddy also left these shores to try to find a better life in the USA, and he has certainly achieved quite a lot, topping the bill and packing out fight shows at the Madison Square Garden Theater, the Hammerstein Ballroom and the Beacon Theater in New York. His all-action, no-nonsense style has captured the imagination of Irish-American fight fans, and the pay-per-view sports networks – the ultimate power brokers of professional boxing in the USA – are very aware of his growing popularity in the States.
The current holder of the IBA World Middleweight title and the Inter-Continental Americas belt, Duddy learned his trade with the Irish Amateur Boxing Association, winning 100 of his 130 amateur bouts while boxing out of the Ring club in Derry.
In 2003 he decided to hang up his amateur gloves and move to the USA to turn pro, and so far his career in the pay-per-punch game remains unblemished, with 15 of his 20 wins coming via knockouts, nine of which came in the first round.
Duddy’s reputation for dropping opponents has marked him out as a man who likes to go home early, as they say in the boxing trade, but the 27-year-old has worked hard to get where he is.
“Boxing is a tough sport, both as an amateur and a professional and you have to be very dedicated to get to the top,” he says. “Luckily I have good people behind me and I learned a lot with the IABA, and so far so good.
“But the higher you go in this sport the harder it becomes and the margin for error become greatly reduced, so you have to work harder and train harder and make sure you are in shape. I like to give it my all in a boxing match from the opening bell, as it is a way of testing my opponents to see if they are up for it. If they are, then we have a fight on our hands, but if not, then I will go for a knockout.”
The wheel will turn almost full circle for Duddy when he makes his long awaited appearance in Dublin next month. He last appeared at the National Stadium over four years ago as an amateur, but this time out the Derryman reckons that Irish fans won’t recognise him.
“I am very excited about this fight as I have waited a long time to box in Ireland,” he says. “Now I have the opportunity and I don’t intend to disappoint the fans.
“I have boxed at the Stadium before as an amateur, but Irish boxing fans won’t recognise me this time out because this is the new John Duddy, and there will be fireworks.
“I hope to box again in Ireland after next month but I have to take care of business at the Stadium first, then we will talk about that. I won’t predict the outcome of next month’s fight, but I will predict that the fans will on their feet at the Stadium as I intend to put on a show that they will never forget.”
Duddy recently revealed that he has parted company in an amicable fashion with coach Harry Keitt, and that he will train under Don Turner in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania ahead of his appearance in Dublin.
“Myself and Harry have gone our separate ways, but we are still very good friends and there will always be a great relationships between the two of us,” he says. “Don Turner will be taking charge of my training in the Poconos; he has been involved with the likes of Larry Holmes and Evander Holyfield, and I am looking forward to working with him.”
Duddy, who has moved up to number seven in the WBO rankings, has been earmarked to meet Finland’s Amin Asikainen in September in a European title eliminator – a fight that could also take place in Dublin.
“That is something that has been mentioned, yes,” says Duddy. “But we will have to wait and see if that will be confirmed. Although I would love to box in Ireland again as I am confident that my first fight at the National Stadium as a professional will be very exciting.
“I am also looking forward to meeting up with Paul McCloskey again as he is a good friend of mine from our amateur days and I am sure we will have lots of stories to swap.”
The Derryman is noted for his modesty in a sport more used to the brash predictions and lack of respect for opponents, as seen in various press conferences over the last few years. Pro fighters in Britain are also jumping on the bandwagon, with many doing little more than talking a good fight. But Duddy – who insists to American reporters that he is an Irishman living in New York rather than Irish-American – is different, with a wry sense of humour:
“When Harry was my coach he used to have me banging truck tyres with a five-pound hammer after each training session,” he says. “Harry was influenced by boxers such as Jack Dempsey and Muhammad Ali, who used to cut down trees in training. But, hey, you can’t do that in New York or you’d be arrested!
“I was taught to have respect for people for all creeds and colours and in truth, boxing is a tough enough sport without some of the unnecessary comments that go with it, and I don’t like to have any part in that.”
Duddy is carrying on a family tradition in the sport, but one that is marked with grief. On 30 January 1972 – what became known as Blood Sunday – British troops opened fire on unarmed civil rights marchers in Derry, killing 14 people. One of those shot dead in that shameful outrage was John Francis Duddy.
“John Francis Duddy was my uncle,” says the young fighter, “and my name is John Francis Duddy. He was also a boxer as I am now. His death was a tragedy and it is part of my family’s history.”
Leaving the amateur ranks behind, Duddy arrived in New York in March 2003 and had his first training session in ‘The Big Apple’ at Gleason’s Gym on St Patrick’s Day, under the watchful eye of Eddie McLoughlin, who is now his manager and promoter.
McLoughlin has since organised two ‘Paddy’s Eve’ bills at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on 16 March, and with Duddy topping the bill and winning on both occasions, the event – which McLoughlin intends to keep running in the future – is seen as the ideal way to kick off the St Patrick’s Day celebrations in New York.
“John is a great boxer to work with as he has a fantastic attitude to the sport and he puts so much into it,” says McLoughlin of his charge. “In boxing, like in all other walks of life, you only get out what you put in. John will be locked and loaded and in top shape for his appearance at the National Stadium next month and it will be a night to remember in Dublin, I can assure you of that.”
There has also been talk of a possible showdown in the near future with the undisputed world middleweight champion Jermain ‘Bad Intentions’ Taylor. The champion is at present allegedly demanding $10m to go head-to-head with Britain’s unbeaten Joe Cal-zaghe, who is accusing Taylor of running scared.
But Duddy feels that any meeting with Taylor – who has been in training with Duddy’s fellow Irish middleweight Andy Lee twice in the last year – is somewhere down the road.
“It could happen, not right now, but we will see,” he says. “I know it is a cliché but I am just concentrating on my next fight, and my entire focus is on that.
“Taylor is obviously a top-class fighter as he is not world champion for nothing and he has a very impressive record. Like I say, we will see.
“But where Taylor is now is where I want to be in the future and that is what I am working towards.”
