‘Big Duddy’ to go twelve rounds in front of home fans

HE HAS taken the US by storm.

He has sold out Madison Square and tonight John Duddy will parade his boxing talents before the home fans for the very first time as a professional.

His opponent for tonight’s showpiece at the National Stadium will be a 30-year-old weather-beaten Italian, Alessio Forlan, whose last public appearance was over 12 rounds against the current European champion.

There is no title at stake tonight but to Duddy there is something much more important to be fought for — the hard earned reputation he has developed around an unblemished 20 fight record that he has hammered out on the other side of the Atlantic.

“The victory is more important than any title here,” he insisted at last evening’s weigh in at the Tara Towers Hotel. “We are on a journey and it’s not just to try and win every fight — it is try and be the best in the world at some stage and every step into the ring is a stepping stone closer to that goal.”

But he admits that this is extra special — another dream among the many that he has turned into spectacular realities.

“The fact that I am back here fighting in Ireland again and seeing the attention that it is generating is exciting,” he said. ‘‘I think I owe an awful lot to Bernard Dunne because it is all thanks to him that I am here right now. He has put boxing back on the map again in Ireland. He has been so professional and he has heightened the profile and the level of boxing by becoming European champion.

‘‘Because of him not only are the fans coming to watch a fight any more — they are coming to watch exciting fights and I am looking forward to performing and the opportunity to box again at the National Stadium.”

He has great memories of the National Stadium — even the nights when he struggled unsuccessfully to come to grips with Cork’s elusive Olympic southpaw, Michael Roche.

Since then things have changed dramatically. While others went to the US with plenty of profile he took the scenic route battling it out in the gyms of New York where he grabbed the attention of the McLoughlin brothers who now protect his interests.

“When I went to The States I went alone,” he recalled. “People have often asked me why I did not turn pro in Ireland but was a dime-a-dozen fighter on the amateur scene. There have been a lot of great fighters in Irish boxing but they just never got the opportunity.

“I had the opportunity of going to America and I jumped at it. I went out there on a wing and a prayer and fortunately things have worked out for me.’’

His career took another jump in the past month when the legendary Don Turner turned his back on a more peaceful retirement after spotting something special. The man who trained 19 world champions including the undisputed world heavyweight champ, Evander Holyfield, admitted yesterday that he now wants to take John Duddy to a world championship and Duddy is chuffed.

‘‘We work very well together,” he said. “We have generated a good working relationship in the gym and all the information that comes out of his mouth is just fantastic. What I like about him is he is a straight shooter. Whatever I am doing wrong he is on top of me. Every now and then if I do something right he lets me know that too.

“I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be working with a legend like him but then I never dreamt I would be selling out Madison Square Garden. Dreams come true but it all comes down to the hard work I have been doing in gym. To be working with world class Hall of Fame coaches is unbelievable. Hopefully it will improve me as a fighter and that I can make the dream of being a world champion become a reality as well.”

He described Furlan as a good opponent who is not just happy to make up the number.

“He went 12 rounds with the current European champion a few months so he has a good track record,” he said. “He has five draws on his record as well so he knows how to spoil fights.

“I am looking forward to going in and putting down my game play and looking to see how the cookie crumbles. But I know I won’t have to go looking for him and he sure won’t have to come looking for me. It is going to be exciting.

“The fans are going to settle for just one result and that’s the only result I am going to settle for and that’s a victory.”

The Programme: Middleweight 10. x 3 min Rounds: John Duddy (Derry City0 v Alessio Furlan (Rivarolo Canavesse, Italy)

Light Welter 10 x 3 min Rounds: Paul McCloskey (Dungiven, Co. Derry) v Ivan Orlando Bustos (Buenos Aires).

Light Welter 8 x 3 mins Rounds: Stephen Haughian (Lurgan) v Gary O’Connor (Manchester).

Super Bantamweight 8 x 3 min Rounds: Eugene Heagney (Huddersfield) v Colin Moffett (Belfast).

Super Featherweight 4 x 3 min Rounds: Patrick Hyland (Tallaght) v Roman Rafael (Komarno, Slovakia).

Heavyweight 4 x 3 min Rounds: Declan Timlin (Rossport, Co. Mayo) v Peter Szabo (Nove Zamky, Slovakia).