Is John Duddy a real contender?

He's as much of a contender as Chavez Jr...

 

I think Burns will help Duddy out a lot. How much remains to be seen though.

 

You mean Howe not Howell.

He's a Light-Middleweight fighting at Middleweight.
Is he a contender ?, yes a legitimate top 10.
Can he beat Pavlik or Abraham ?, nope he'd lose badly to either.

Could he possibly grab a belt at Light-Middleweight where he'll be a much bigger man and his punching power might become significant ?, well if Sergio Mora did it...........

 

he is more of a draw than a contender

 

He is a tough cookie and fun to watch,but not a match for either AA or Pavlik.
I am not even sure that he would go the distance with fighters like Pirog or Gevor,but I for sure enjoy watching him.The same cant be said about some of his rivals out there.

 

He's got a chance against anybody.

"anyone whos got two hands and a good heartbeat has a chance"

and when you have knockout power it helps as well.

 

Duddy can always get a belt back home and maybe here as well; besides, he'll put butts in seats no matter where he is.

He's always going to have tons of juice, too - the MSG channel shows his bouts constantly and is an important ally of John McCain on the Illegal Irish issue. Being good-looking, humble, charming, an all-or-nothing action fighter :bbb, and knowing how to play to the crowd & press is going to take him a long way, regardless of natural talent and ability to learn new skills. Oh, and yes, he's got a fair amount of both, plus humbly asks any trainer he meets to teach him "their" version of the jab and/or hook. Very hard to hate Duddy as a person.

Besides, I love the dumb commentators gassing on about how proud they are of that glorious Derriere. :rofl You'd think an Irish sports writer would know enough to say "Derryman" or the like.

 

:goodRight on both points.

Duddy hiring Pat Burns is probably the best thing that has happened to him. He's had so many setbacks recently but Burns has given him a new lease of life and has probably added a couple of years onto his ringlife as well.

If Duddy had continued to fight with his all action crowd pleasing style then Pavlik would have destroyed him, Duddy is slowly adding more and more to his game and thats all postitives to take into a Pavlik fight.

How far he can go with Burns does remain to be seen but Duddy has a huge heart and is very very focused on Kelly Pavlik. I think if he keeps with the "Anger Management" that Burns has installed then Duddy can challenge Pavlik in say 3 or 4 fights time and in the meantime keep busy and keep learning from Pat Burns who has bonded well with Duddy.

 

I don't buy into the whole 'he's just hype' thing as he has decent skills, a good amateur background, can hit and has a great chin.

Agree with BigEars - Duddy may well be a legitimate contender at light-middle which he could make easily. Can't see him getting past the likes of Abraham or Pavlik, but they won't be spending too much more time as middles I reckon so who knows?

Baring Williams, there's no one else that Duddy should be overly concerned about long term.



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That line was nothing short of classic. I've mentioned it a few times but no one ever seems to pick up on it.

 

Duddy has what it takes to be competitive with anyone at 160 other than Pavlik and AA mainly due to the division being so weak.The fact that it is makes him a contender.
He has tonnes of heart and a dam good chin and his jab is one of the better ones in the division.He would be competitive at 154 too but that is actually a much deeper division and it remains to be seen how he would compete at light middle

 

Have to admit i love angry John, but if it helps his chances of becoming a World Champion I'm on board.:good

 

"to hell and back"