Homecoming Win for Duddy

Irish Voice Sport

Homecoming Win for Duddy

July 19, 2007

By Declan O’Kelly

UNDEFEATED middleweight John Duddy stopped Alessio Furlan in the 10th and final round of his 21st professional fight at the National Stadium in Dublin on Saturday. Roared on by 3,000 ecstatic supporters, Duddy showed Irish fans what they had been missing for the past few years.

The Derryman flew out of the traps and tore into Furlan in the first, and about halfway through the round connected with three lefts, two to the body and one to the head that had Furlan down.

Dublin referee Emile Tiedt counted in Italian, and it looked like it would be a quick night. Furlan held on though and got a good right to the head of Duddy in the same round. An accidental clash of heads opened a cut in Duddy’s right eye, and blood trickled down before the end of the first.

In the second round Duddy received a cut to his left eye, again from a butt. He lagged in the middle rounds of the fight and Furlan got back into the contest. Duddy’s left hand was too low too often, and Furlan continually took free pops at his head with his right hand.

In the later rounds Duddy started to fight at range and got off a few decent combinations and hard rights, loosening up and let his hands go a little more. In the final stanza he penetrated with uppercuts that first saw Furlan take a count, followed by another barrage that resulted in the ref stopping the contest. It might have been a tad harsh, but Tiedt may have decided to save the game Furlan from unnecessary punishment.

Though he won easily, the cuts and frequency with which Furlan connected with over-the-top rights will concern trainer Don Turner and his new charge. “If he learns to think in transition, it’s a wrap,” said Turner after the fight.

The Irish Voice caught up with Duddy’s promoter Eddie McLoughlin of Irish Ropes on his return from Dublin for the latest news. “The cuts are superficial and not nearly as bad as the last ones (Campas fight). The fight we had penciled in for September 1 is off, and he won’t be fighting again until the first week in October,” said McLoughlin.

The fight will take place in Belfast, venue to be confirmed. Of the cuts, the left eye was the worse, and 22 stitches in total were needed after the fight.

Duddy will holiday in Derry for a week, return to New York briefly and then home again for fellow boxer James Moore’s wedding. After that it will be back to training camp in the States.

Of the new trainer-fighter relationship McLoughlin said, “A lot of good things are beginning to bud, the early stages of good things to come. He had yer man in trouble in the first and then the old John – a bit lackadaisical – returned. Turner gave him a verbal kick up the ass, and John picked it up again.”

McLoughlin did mention the heat in the ring. “As John said himself afterwards, he came out of there a welterweight.”

Originally it was planned for Duddy to fight for the EU title next against Mahir Oral, but he picked up an injury sparring recently, so this looks unlikely. McLoughlin hopes to find an opponent that can give Duddy and Turner more rounds together in October, and hasn’t ruled out the chances of a European title fight early next year, possibly around St. Patrick’s Day.

The crucial factor in the whole equation is the blossoming of the new relationship between Turner and Duddy. Turner has talked about Duddy needing to throw more combinations to put his opponents away. Presumably this is after ensuring Duddy improves his defense enough from being put away.

Now that they have some time to work together, how much Duddy can learn and implement in the heat of battle will determine how far he can go.

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