Duddy back in ring with headline fight

JOHN DUDDY makes a long-awaited return to the ring at the Madison Square Garden Theatre tonight as he seeks to further his claims to a world middleweight title shot with a pay-per-view headline fight against Anthony Bonsante.

The unbeaten New York-based Derry man, with 15 knockouts from 18 victories, has not fought since the end of last September when he went toe-to-toe with Mexican warhorse Luis ‘Yory Boy’ Campas in a thrilling 12-round brawl that won many American critics’ votes as the fight of 2006.

The after-effects of that fight, though, were two heavily cut areas around Duddy’s eyes that forced the 27-year-old to miss a proposed fight in January but he is not concerned that this will be a weak point for his rival.