February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“I [won’t] even give it a second thought,” trainer Pat Burns said in Miami last Sunday before adding:
“What does Peter Manfredo do for John Duddy? John Duddy is the top draw in this country and Europe. John puts a lot of [people] in seats. We’re going to worry about this [Lyell] fight first.”
Manfredo, a 28 year-old stopped in three rounds by now retired Welsh great Joe Calzaghe in Cardiff two years ago, called out Duddy after starching Walid Smichet in seven heats in Montreal, Canada, last Saturday.
Smichet is the Tunisian middleweight who gave the undefeated Duddy fits 14 months ago. He busted up the Derry Destroyer and dashed what was a guaranteed seven-figure payday for Duddy against world champ Kelly Pavlik, despite dropping a ten-round decision.
“I’m a top-level performer who only had three weeks to get ready for this fight,” said the 36-6 [16 KOs] Manfredo after destroying Smichet.
“I’m coming down to middleweight and I want Duddy. Today, I did what he couldn’t do and plan on being ringside Friday night for his fight [against Lyell].”
In Miami, Duddy shrugged off Manfredo’s proposed presence at the Prudential Center.
“I couldn’t care less,” said Duddy [26-0, 17 KOs].
He said he was fit and ready to explode against Lyell, who at age 24 and 5-foot-nine is five years younger and two inches shorter than him. But Duddy insisted that he wouldn’t be under any pressure to blow out an opponent with a well-earned reputation for durability.
“I’ll just concentrate on what I’ve been working on,” Duddy remarked.
Burns, a former Marine, gave Duddy the thumbs up. “We had a great [training] camp and I’m very happy with John’s conditioning.”
Given Lyell’s ability to take a punch, conditioning should be of the essence for Duddy as he re-establishes his credentials to challenge Pavlik.
Lyell [18-7, 3 KOs] is a modest, albeit busy, puncher who’s likely to play catcher all night. And unless Duddy goes flat out in search of a KO, the fight could add up to a good ten round workout for the Derryman.
On the undercard, former world junior middleweight Kassim Ouma tackles light middleweight Gabriel Rosado, the Philadelphia boxer who handed Aklow’s James Moore his first pro defeat in New York last June.
Tickets for the show are available from Barney Moore at (917) 559-8467 and Greg McIntyre at (917) 528-7379.