Duddy Jabs His Way to Win

By Declan O'Kelly, Contributor
August / September 2006

On the undercard to the Cotto/Malinaggi world title bout, John Duddy faced his sternest test June 10 against Freddy Cuevas and once again answered with a resounding victory in the seventh round.

The atmosphere in Madison Square Garden was like a football match with “Olé, Olé” and “The Fields of Athenry” the soundtracks to Duddy’s most notable win to date. Entering the ring to a lone piper playing “A Nation Once Again,” Duddy looked in incredible shape, thanks to a grueling pre-fight training camp in the Poconos.

He was extremely patient and used his jab throughout to devastating effect. In the first round Cuevas traded well with Duddy and it looked like the Derryman might have a real battle on his hands. However, as the fight progressed two things became apparent. Cuevas seemed much lighter and smaller than Duddy, and none of his shots were hurting the man with the green gloves. “I was happy for him to set the pace because I knew I could up the gear at any time,” Duddy told ringside media after the fight.

After taking a few rounds to scope out the opposition, Duddy soon completely took over and despite the excellent movement of the wily veteran American Cuevas, the Irishman began to inflict a lot of punishment on his target with precise jabs and fluent combinations, eventually breaking his opponent’s nose. When Cuevas did not emerge for the eighth round the fight was over, capping off a good night’s work for Team Duddy. ♦

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