February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
On his return to the ring at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut, on Jan. 9, the Queens-based light middleweight will face Philly banger Ken Hock, who boasts a 10-4-1 (win, loss, draw) record.
Seven of Hock’s victories have come via the short route, which makes the 3-0 Duddy’s task seemingly more daunting in the four-rounder that will be part of an ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” show from Uncasville.
“We’re really biting the bullet here,” Eddie McLoughlin, a Duddy handler, confessed at the weekend.
“There’s a risk involved, just like there is in every fight. But it’s also a giant step forward,” McLoughlin added.
There’s also some tough love psychology at play in the risky bout.
Team Duddy want to present their potential gold mine with the risk of getting knocked out if he doesn’t show his defensive skills in the ring.
“We want John to go in, hit and move out,” McLoughlin explained. “He can’t keep on getting hit. He has a tendency to just stand there.”
In his last fight, against Lenny Laudat in Manhattan last month, Duddy was decked for the first time in his career before winning the 63-second slugfest on a TKO.
Pleased as they’ve been with his three emphatic wins since his pro debut last September, Duddy’s corner has been unhappy with the fighter’s penchant to discard his ample boxing skills in preference for power.
“He shows boxing skills in the gym — beautiful textbook jabs, left hooks, and more. But in the ring he slugs it out,” McLoughlin said.
Yet despite the big gamble on Jan. 9, McLoughlin expects Duddy to prevail once again.
“I honestly think he’ll knock the guy out,” he emphasized.
Breaking down Hock’s style, McLoughlin said: “He has a [good] left hook to the body and brings it straight up to the head. He comes in bobbing and weaving and doesn’t take a backward step.”
McLoughlin predicted that Hock wouldn’t be hard to find in the ring, which suggests that the Philadelphia native could be tailor made for the quick-fisted Duddy, who has knockout power in both hands.