John Duddy: He’s young, powerful and undefeated, and he’s definitely making some noise!

John Duddy: He’s young, powerful and undefeated, and he’s definitely making some noise!

Interview by "Big Dog" Benny Henderson Jr. (August 1, 2005)

John Duddy

Skill, speed, power and youth, mix in a levelheaded highly talented Irishman into this equation and you have undefeated middleweight prospect John Duddy. Out of the ring he is a humble soft-spoken twenty-six year old pugilist but in the ring he becomes the most aggressive iron fisted middleweight prospect that boxing has to offer.

Since stepping in the pro ranks almost two years ago the knockout artist has banged out eleven straight victories, with ten of those wins coming by KO including seven in the opening round. Last March Duddy stunned the undefeated Leonard Pierre with a 1:23 first round knockout and broke out of the prospect realm and evolved into a heated prospect right in front of the ESPN 2 Friday Night Fights crowd. After battling out his first victory by decision John returned to the ESPN stage and stopped the fight veteran Patrick Coleman in the eighth round of their middleweight adventure. And he is ready to move on!

All though the young fighter is still developing, he gains more experience with each and every go around and gets better with each new experience. So the fight world can brace themselves for more action packed bouts from John Duddy; he’s young, he’s powerful and undefeated, he’s making some noise and yes, he is definitely being heard. The hard hitter stopped by the Doghouse to share his thoughts on his recent victory as well as his bright future, enjoy.

Benny Henderson Jr.: Congratulations on your recent victory over veteran Patrick Coleman, give the Doghouse readers your thoughts on the victory, your performance and the over all fight itself.

John Duddy: I thought it was a great fight; Patrick has a lot of experience. We knew what we were going to do before the fight and that was make him work and keep punching his body and after a while I thought he was going to get tired of getting beat up and he was very strong and very durable. I stuck with it up till the last round and I was really pleased in getting the rounds in and getting another victory under my belt.

BH: In round three you staggered Coleman with a left hand and to me it appeared that his glove touched the canvas and could have easily been ruled a knockdown but it wasn’t, and of course in the end it didn’t really matter what it was ruled but I wanted your thought on the knockdown or apparent knockdown, did you see the fight and if yes what do you think?

JD: It was a good thing that it didn’t matter, I didn’t think much of it when it did actually happen, and I was just trying to make him stay on the canvas. (Laughs)

BH: You were just punishing Coleman, attacking the body relentlessly and feeding him a massive helping of left hooks during the eight rounds you two fought, but Coleman showed so much heart and like a trooper stayed in there as long as he could. Anytime during the bout did you ever think to yourself what the hell does it take to get this guy out of here?

JD: (Laughs) Well, it crossed my mind a few times, but my coach told me before the last round to go out there and stop trying to knock him out and go out and relax this last round. So whenever I did relax we were able to take him out.

BH: Your next fight may be in September, has there been any opponent named just yet, or anybody in mind?

JD: We are shooting for mid September, but I am not to sure on the opponent I am sure I will get the information real soon.

BH: You have been a pro fighter now for almost two years, what have you learned about yourself as far as what you can take what you can dish out, some of your greatest strengths and some improvements you think you can work on to become the all around fighter?

JD: Well, I really enjoy the fact that I am a professional fighter and that I was able to choose my own career. I had a long amateur career and now that I am pro I’m living a dream and I am very fortunate and very lucky. My strength is my determination and my dedication, me coach and I have great communication. I am just enjoying the life as a professional fighter and if we keep winning I will keep doing what I am doing. I do need to bend down on my punches and not stand straight and I need to use my jab a lot more. Like Pernall Whitaker said if I would sit down and use my jab I would a much better complete fighter, that was a nice compliment coming from a former world champion of his caliber. I think with every fight we will have something to work on.

BH: You are known to be a very aggressive starter; you pretty much pounce your opponent at the beginning of the fight and stay on him until the end. Do you feel that you should slow the pace down a bit as you step up and the opposition gets better and more experienced and the rounds get longer, or do you feel that your style will remain effective?

JD: Well, I think it depends on the opponent is that I am fighting you know, in the first round I like going out and letting the guy know what type of fight he wants, see if he can take the punishment or not. I suppose in the future I will not be throwing all my punches in the first round, I think that is just inexperience as well. As I get more experienced I don’t think I will be slowing down to much but I will definitely control the aggression. I think people like the attack style and the knockouts. (Laughs)

BH: Did you see the Hopkins-Taylor bout, if so what are your thoughts on that bout and your opinion on the rematch?

JD: I thought it was a good fight, but I thought it was bad judgment by Hopkins he started his game plan way to late. He proved is a better boxer and puncher but he didn’t wake up and get his game plan until the ninth round, I took my hat off to Taylor because even though he wasn’t being successful with his pressure he was still trying and that is what you have to do, you have to go out and take a title from a champion. Taylor is the undefeated undisputed middleweight world champion and I think the rematch will be very interesting.

BH: In our first interview six months ago you told me you find it a little corny in saying that you have a fan base because you never took yourself seriously, I think you are just very humble myself. Anyway, since that point you have had four fights that all ended with victory, three wins by knock out, two first round stoppages, a couple of TV appearances and you are being recognized by all the boxing world, how does it feel now to be noticed and talked about as possibly the next big thing in the Middleweight division?

JD: Well, I think it’s nice but one day you on top and the next day you could be on the bottom and forgotten about. It’s a very unforgiving sport when you start losing. So I just want to keep fighting and keep winning and this is definitely a fantastic experience, I give out autographs and talk to my fans I think it is unbelievable and I am enjoying it.

BH: How many more fights would you like to have for the year of 2005?

JD: I don’t know maybe two or three I think, you know maybe four, I usually let me team worry about that you know. As long as they get me an opponent, I only look short term I don’t like looking to far ahead, and that’s what team Duddy does for me. They do the worrying about how many fights I am going to have and where I am going to have them, the only think I have to worry about is keeping me self in shape. So I am quiet happy and I am lucky to have good people around me.

BH: Is there anything you would like to add to this interview or say in closing?

JD: I would like to thank all my fans which seems to be growing, and I hope that I keep entertaining them and keep putting guys out in the ring, and the fan base just keeps getting bigger as we are moving along. Maybe in a couple of years we will be fighting for something substantial and thanks for calling me and thanks for this interview.

I would like to thank www.bobtrieger.com for his help in setting up this interview, as always it is greatly appreciated. A big shout out goes out to John Duddy for his time and his thoughts. Also a special shout out to our special friend of DoghouseBoxing, the Legendary and Classy, Jim Borzell.

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