Duddy’s New Style-Using an improved jab, Middle Village resident boxes more and impresses at MSG

Because of New York’s large Irish community, whenever John “Irish” Duddy fights there is a smorgasbord of heavy drinking, Irish flags and chants of DUD-DY, DUD-DY.
His popularity comes from the similar bloodlines and birthplace; Duddy was born in Derry, Ireland. His following has grown significantly since his professional debut in September of 2003 because of the entertainment value that accompanies his matches. Of his 17 fights - all wins - nine have ended in the opening round. Naturally, his fans have come to expect early knockouts and powerful roundhouse punches.
That can only take a fighter so far, however. Hence, in preparation for his sternest test to date, against veteran Freddie Cuevas at Madison Square Garden in the undercard of the Miguel Cotto-Paulie Malignaggi WBO Jr. Welterweight Championship bout, he worked feverishly on his left jab the past two months. “I think the crowd wants a win,” he said. “I wanted to show the boxing world I’m not just a roundhouse, bang-bang fighter. I’ve got a good jab. I’m more than one-dimensional.”
Cuevas (25-9-1), who took Jermain Taylor, the WBC middleweight champion, the distance a few years ago, would attest to that, as Duddy improved to 17-0 and defended his WBC Continental Americas Middleweight title in front of 14,365 at the Garden. Cuevas’ corner stopped the fight before the eighth round; they had seen enough of Duddy, although he never went into “second gear,” unleashing the haymakers that typified his other bouts. Still, two of the judges had awarded Duddy all seven rounds. The other gave Cuevas only the fifth.
After two mundane rounds, Duddy hurt Cuevas in the third and landed a vicious right uppercut in the sixth. He pounded away with his stiff left jab, mixing in an effective left hook and occasional right hands. As the seventh round came to a close, Cuevas’s nose was broken and his face was bloodied. Moments later his night was finished.
Duddy’s manager, Eddie McLaughlin, was pleased with the performance, saying it was “just perfect,” that it was another step in his prized prospect’s evolution as a boxer. Duddy, he added, has been offered a spot on the undercard of the August 12th Hasim Rahman-Oleg Maskaev WBC heavyweight title in Las Vegas. “Around the new year,” McLaughlin boldly predicted, “we think we’ll be knocking of the door of a world title.”
Surely, this was a step towards that goal.
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Kevin Kelley, aka the Flushing Flash, meanwhile, lost by TKO at 1:24 of the fourth round to Bobby Pacquaio. It was the 38-year-old Kelley’s fifth fight (he won the previous four) since a two-year layoff when he was knocked out by Marco Antonio Barrera. Kelley (58-7-2), a former WBC, WBO, WBU, and New York State featherweight champ, hit the canvas for the first time with eight seconds left in the third round. Pacquaio dropped him with a quick left hook to the jaw as Kelley slipped a right hand. Pacquaio (27-11-3) started the onslaught at the opening bell of the fourth round, and ended the fight with a vicious left hook to the body.