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.

“The last time I fought was the end of September and I just can’t wait to get back in that ring and doing the job I love,” Duddy said. “It’s the longest break between fights I’ve had as a professional, at least the longest unforced break — it was as long when I had to go home and sort my visa out.

“I could have fought in January but it’s given me plenty of time to heal the cuts and I was able to enjoy my Christmas. The eyes are 100%, 110 even. I’ve been getting hit by all the big shots on them and they’re holding up so it won’t even be in the back of my mind when the fight comes.”

Even so, the scrap with Campas exposed many flaws in the defensive side of Duddy’s game and he has been working at his Florida training camp with trainer Harry Keitt for the past six weeks to make sure that see-saw battle with the Mexican is not repeated.

Duddy, ranked No. 7 by the WBO and No. 9 in the world by the IBF, will be defending his IBA World & WBC Continental Americas middleweight belts against the experienced Bonsante, from Minnesota, best known for his starring role in the first series of the boxing reality show The Contender.

Bonsante (29-8-3, 17 KO), knows all about Duddy as well, however, and on Wednesday, the American predicted a full-on collision between the two fighters.

“Duddy’s quick, strong and he loves to fight,” Bonsante said. “He’s going to bring it and so am I. We could put this fight in a phone booth. I’m expecting his best and that’s what he’s going to get from me. I can’t wait.

With a sold-out arena of 4,955 seats tonight, Duddy has proved he has box-office pull and another electrifying performance in front of a pay-per-view television audience across North America, as well as in the UK, Ireland and Australia is sure to have big-time fight broadcasters such as HBO and Showtime knocking on the door of his promoters Irish Ropes.

Along with Duddy, tonight’s card is dominated by middleweights. The co-feature sees New York-based Dominican Giovanni Lorenzo face Florida-based Ugandan Robert Kamya over 10 rounds. Former Irish Olympian Andy Lee, unbeaten as a pro at 6-0 with three knockouts, meets American veteran and former title challenger Carl Daniels (40-10-1, 13 KO) from St Louis, Missouri, over six rounds.

Also scheduled to feature on the live pay-per-view show to be broadcast in Ireland on Setanta Sports 2 is women’s super featherweight No.1 contender Maureen Shea, an Irish-Mexican American from the Bronx, against Mexico’s Eva Lidia Silva.

Irish interest continues further down the under card with three more US-based expatriates. Unbeaten heavyweight James Clancy (9-0, 1 KO) from Co Clare via Boston meets Brooklyn’s Rodney Ray (3-4-1, 3 KO), while brother Mark Clancy (6-0-1, 1 KO), a cruiserweight, fights another New Yorker in Andrew Hutchinson (2-8-2, 0 KO).

Opening the show will be Mayo welterweight Henry Coyle, who trains out of Chicago and is making his professional debut against another first-timer, New Jersey’s Jason Collazo.