February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
The stakes are just as high as they were on February 23, 2008, when Duddy – his face badly cut up – struggled to a pyrrhic points victory over Walid Smichet that cost him a world title shot.
Now under new management, Duddy [25-0, 17 KOs] could still get a crack at WBC-WBO middleweight king Kelly Pavlik in June if he gets past Matt Vanda in their scheduled ten-rounder on a Top Rank promoted pay-per-view card.
“I’m ready to go off like a rocket,” the upbeat Duddy said from his Miami training camp on Sunday. “I’m very excited at fighting at the Madison Square Garden and New York City again. This is the kind of arena and stage I should be performing on regularly.”
Although Vanda [39-8, 22 KOs] has won just four of his last ten bouts in the past 24 months, Duddy is mindful of the danger the heavily tattooed 29 year-old poses.
“He’s got good knockout power and I can’t take anyone lightly,” the Derry Destroyer said. “I’m just looking forward to showing everyone what I’ve learned. My training camp has been very good and I’ve had some tough, competitive sparring.”
Trainer Pat Burns gave Duddy two thumbs up: “He’s worked harder in this camp than he’s ever worked before. Our motto for this cam p was ‘Double the work in Half the Time.'”
Among the things they worked on were lateral movement, punching off the jab and Duddy’s footwork. “He’s very graceful on his feet now,” Burns noted.
The trainer added that if Duddy executes all that he’s learned, he’ll be fine against Vanda, tough as the Minnesota native is.
That, and the fact that Duddy will be fired up and eager to atone for the Smichet debacle, suggests that the Irishman should eke out a deserved victory over the gutsy Vanda.
Duddy, who’s also 29, is coming off an eight-month layoff, the longest of his six-year career, following his break up with Irish Ropes promotions and manager Tony McLoughlin.
His last fight was a ten round points win over Charlie Howe in Boston last June.
Tickets for the Duddy-Vanda match on the undercard of Miguel Cotto’s welterweight title tilt with Britain’s Michael Jennings, are pegged at $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50.
Sources include Barney Moore at (917) 559-8467, Greg McIntyre at (917) 528-7379, the Heritage Bar in the Bronx and Connolly’s Corner, O’Neills, Fiddlers, Byre and Bar 43 in Queens.