Bernard Hopkins clinched a dominant unanimous-decision victory over previously unbeaten Kelly Pavlik last night.

JOHN DUDDY flies into Miami this morning to begin a training camp for a fight he hopes will tee up a long-awaited world title shot.

UNDEFEATED Irish middleweight prospect John Duddy will hope to claw his way back into world title contention when he returns to action against Charles Howe in Boston on June 28.

ANDY LEE is determined to ignore talk of a major promotional deal with Top Rank and concentrate on making an impression in the ring as he makes his US national television debut tonight.

THE damage John Duddy sustained to his left eye looks certain to rule out the June 7 world title fight with Kelly Pavlik and, while Bob Arum is already looking around for a replacement, Andy Lee insisted yesterday that he won’t be rushing his world title ambitions.

AS John Duddy still nurses the stitches above his eyes and applies a cold compress to what must undoubtedly be a severely bruised ego, he should offer thanks to the boxing gods that he still has a world middleweight title fight to aim for this year.

IRISH middleweight John Duddy’s hopes of a world title shot this summer have been dashed after he sustained bad cuts around his eyes against Walid Smichet.

Irish middleweight John Duddy’s hopes of a world title shot this summer have been dashed after he sustained bad cuts around his eyes against Walid Smichet.

JOHN DUDDY’S world title shot against undisputed middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik this summer is set to be rubber-stamped tonight at Madison Square Garden.

KELLY PAVLIK defeated Jermain Taylor for the second time in less than five months on Saturday night, coming on late to earn a unanimous decision in a 12-round bout at the MGM Grand.

KELLY PAVLIK has coped uneasily with the fame which has been foisted upon him since the Youngstown, Ohio hero dethroned Jermain Taylor to claim the world middleweight title last February.

ANDY LEE’S fight with Argentinean Alejandro Gustavo Falliga at the University of Limerick Arena tonight will be a rehearsal for a world title fight with Kelly Pavlik, according to trainer, Emanuel Steward.

Kelly Pavlik's first defence of his united WBC and WBO world middleweight titles is to come against Ireland's John Duddy on June 7.

BRIAN PETERS would love to stage a world title fight involving Andy Lee and John Duddy in Ireland.

AT FIRST glance, 2007 was the year that sport was beset by scandal, controversy and pain. Again.

THE legendary Emanuel Steward predicts Andy Lee will be world champion before the end of 2008.

AN historic world title fight involving two Irish boxers, John Duddy and Andy Lee, is now more “probability than possibility” according to the latter’s trainer, Emanuel Steward.

Legendary trainer Emanuel Steward boldly claimed that his top prospect Andy Lee will fight any middleweight in the world after he saw off John McKay to claim the Irish super middleweight title last night.

JOHN DUDDY may thank Jermain Taylor for exercising his rematch clause with Kelly Pavlik in the new year, with a world title shot for the Irish man four months later than expected proving well worth the wait.

Former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor is eyeing up a super-middleweight showdown with Joe Calzaghe, according to the American’s promoter.

JOHN DUDDY insisted that a world title fight next year was out of his hands, but it’s looming after his thrilling victory over the former European, British and Commonwealth middleweight champion, Howard Eastman, before a frenzied full house at The Kings Hall in Belfast on Saturday night.

UNBEATEN Derryman John Duddy appears to be just two fights away from the fight of his dreams — a world title showdown with the new poster boy of the middleweight division, Kelly Pavlik, Brian Peters said yesterday.

John Duddy has been hit with a late change of opponent for his headline bout on the next Hunky Dorys Fight Night at the National Stadium on October 20.

JOHN DUDDY will have a new opponent when he headlines the Celtic Tigers bill at the National Stadium on October 20 and matchmaker Tomás Rohan says it may be a man who has fought for a world title.

Kelly Pavlik knocked out Jermain Taylor in the seventh round in Atlantic City last night to claim the WBC and WBO middleweight belts and become undisputed middleweight world champion after a thrilling fight.