February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
An 8-5 underdog going into the scheduled six-rounder on ESPN2, Duddy blitzed the now 16-1 (11 KOs) “Haitian Sensation” with a fusillade of hooks that produced two knockdowns before referee Frank Cappuccino halted the one-sided contest after 83 seconds.
The 25-year-old’s mesmerizing display of power and precision before 1,800 fans left a buzz in the Foxwoods Resort Casino’s jam-packed Fox Theatre that lasted way into the night at the “Night of the Irish” show.
It also introduced the Derry native (9-0, 9 KOs), with his winning combination of skills, power and good looks to a national television audience.
Duddy had studied old tapes of Mike Tyson to dissect Pierre, who’s trained by the former heavyweight terror’s ex-mentor Kevin Rooney in upstate Catskill, N.Y. Less than two minutes into the contest, the finest Tyson-like display Rooney has probably seen since the late ’80s would leave his fighter dazed and nursing his first pro defeat.
“I said before that it was going to be an explosive fight. I just didn’t expect my guy to stumble and lose,” said Rooney, the scion of Kerry immigrants. “Apparently, this kid [Duddy] is a pretty hard hitter. Stuff happens.”
Duddy said watching the Tyson fights, and one tape of Pierre that Team Duddy dug up, taught him how to beat his man.
“I noticed that he had the tendency to lean left, and when he did, I let my left and right hooks go,” Duddy said.
Indeed, Duddy, who’d been escorted to the ring by the wail of a lone bag piper, threw nary a jab as he set about dismantling the onrushing Pierre with a succession of jarring double and triple hooks.
The first hook, a left, staggered Pierre, and although he quickly found his footing, Duddy smelled blood. Pierre, at 5-foot-8 3 inches shorter than the supposed underdog, then made the tactical error of exchanging with Duddy.
In the brief firefight that ensued, Pierre was backed into Duddy’s corner, taking vicious left and right hooks. Before 15 seconds had elapsed he’d sank on all fours for the first knockdown.
But he was up at four and took an eight-count from Cappuccino before being sent back into a futile battle.
Duddy was waiting with more rapier-like hooks. A double left turned Pierre’s legs to spaghetti, and although he’d bravely soldier on — even connecting with a couple of solid rights — Duddy would close the show with a barrage of clinical connects, the last of which sent him to the canvas for the second time.
“I couldn’t get over how easy it was to hit him,” said Duddy, who registered his seventh first-round stoppage. “I was really looking forward to this fight and I’m glad it was a grand occasion. I just hope it would have lasted longer.”
Duddy said he never felt Pierre’s power and once he’d hurt him he could see his punches coming from afar.
Putting what could now be his signature fight in perspective, the victor shared trainer Harry Keitt’s take on the fight when it was announced.
“Harry told me that people were thinking it was a hard fight for me.,” Duddy said. “But he said it was really a hard fight for him [Pierre].”
For Team Duddy, whose members came out looking like Nostrodamus, the “risky” match panned out as expected.
“It was even easier than I thought.,” Eddie McLoughlin, Duddy’s promoter, said. “This guy was tailor-made for John. No boxer has the explosive skills and punching power for his weight that John has.”
Said Keitt, who’d predicted that Duddy would have no problems solving Pierre’s Tyson-like style: “Like I said before, one style doesn’t fit all. We’re trying to be the best, but we’re not the best yet. John traveled thousands of miles to come to America to become world champion. He’s got a very promising future.”
Co-trainer Karl LeShore called Duddy “a special talent.”
“John was already a good fighter when he came to America, now he’s become a superior fighter and he’s training to become a complete boxer-puncher,” he said.
Mickey Duddy, John’s father and first trainer, was elated after watching his son for the first time as a pro.
“He was unrecognizable to me when he stepped into the ring from the kid who left Ireland,” said the ex-pro and Barry McGuigan sparring partner, who used to take the 5-year-old John and another son, Michael, to the local gym in Derry City.
Mickey Duddy admitted to being a bag of nerves before the Pierre fight on account of the Catskill pug’s 16-0 ledger. But after his son’s wrecking ball job on Pierre, the proud dad was effusive with his praise for Team Duddy, especially Keitt, his linear successor as Duddy’s trainer.
“Harry is absolutely fantastic,” he said. “He’s brought the best out of John. I’m absolutely delighted with the way they’re looking after John.”