Back In The Game

John Duddy has watched tape of his bloody victory last fall over Luis Ramon “Yory Boy” Campas five times. He still can’t believe that was him in the ring last September, taking such abuse, fighting through three cuts over his right eye and one over the left for much of the bout, gashes that needed 24 stitches afterwards to close up.
“I’m surprised my head is that hard,” he said. “Looking at it, you don’t want to have too many of those fights, but you got to have some of them. That’s the first time where I was really asked ‘Do you want to be a boxer, do you want to fight.’ And I found out, ‘Yes, I do.’ ”
“That fight answered a lot of questions about John,” said his trainer, Harry Keitt.
Now, several months later, Duddy (18-0, 15 KOs), rated No. 7 by the WBO and No. 9 by the WBA, is ready to use that fight to his advantage.
He will headline the “Erin Go Brawl” pay-per-view card March 16 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden against Anthony Bonsante (29-8-3), when he will put his IBA World Middleweight and WBC Continental Americas Middleweight titles on the line.
Since the Derry, Ireland-born middleweight came to America in 2003, this six month interval will be his longest layoff between fights. He was originally scheduled to return this January, but was advised by doctors to push the fight back to give his cuts more time to heal.
Duddy, 27, used the time off to sightsee throughout the northeast with his wife, and being inactive for the first time around the holidays since turning pro, he got a chance to eat turkey and ham. Nevertheless, enough is enough; Duddy is ready to come back.
“I’m 100 percent ready to go for March 16,” he said. “I’m dying to start punching somebody. I’ve been away too long.”
When he does climb through the ropes again, Duddy said you can expect to see a different fighter - a somewhat reformed and technically sound one who will not rely on a street fighter’s mentality of knocking out his opponent. He credits the Campas brutality for that.
“I knew that I had to change,” he said. “It was a lesson for me. As much as you don’t always get what you want, you get what you need. What I needed was a boxing lesson. … In some cases, the brain is far stronger than the brawn, and I’ve learned that.
“From the experiences I’ve learned from last year,” Duddy continued, “I’m looking forward to showing it.”