February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
A Duddy-Pavlik bout for the Ohioan’s WBC and WBO 160-pound titles could take place as early as June if both Duddy and Pavlik win their respective fights on February 21, Top Rank promoter Bob Arum confirmed in New York last week.
Duddy [25-0, 17 KOs] faces the heavily tattooed Matt Vanda at Madison Square Garden, while the once-beaten Pavlik [34-1, 30 KOs], who’s promoted by Arum, defends his two belts against Marco Antonio Rubio in Youngstown, Oh, that same night. Spectators at the Garden will be able to watch that fight on large screens at the arena.
“It’s a possible,” Arum told the Echo before adding: “A more intriguing possibility is if John wins and Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr. wins, we’ll match them in early summer, probably in Las Vegas.”
Chavez, also an Arum client, is the 22 year-old son of his legendary Mexican namesake dad. A pro since age 17, the 38-0-1 [29 KOs] light middleweight holds points victories over Dubliner Oisin Fagan and Vanda [twice] and is scheduled to meet Luciano Leonel Cuello in Tijuana on March 28.
Said Arum of Duddy’s third option: “Another possibility is to have him fight in [Madison Square] Garden against Yuri Foreman.”
Foreman is coming off a ten round points win over Duddy buddy James Moore in Atlantic City last December. A Duddy-Foreman match would be on the undercard of Miguel Cotto’s annual Puerto Rican Day eve appearance at the Garden.
DETERMINED DUDDY
Before any of this transpires, however, Duddy must first take care of business against Vanda, who has a reputation as a tough customer.
“Vanda is a tough son of a gun and he can take a great punch,” Duddy said at the MSG press conference announcing the fight last week. “And he also can give a good punch as well. The two of us are going to put on an exciting night of fireworks for the fans.”
Vanda returned the props.
“Duddy is a great fighter and it would be great to give him his first loss. We each know what kind of fighters we are. We trade punches, which is probably not the greatest thing to do. The last few weeks I’ve been training very hard and on the 21st I’ll be rocking with John Duddy.”
TICKET ALERT
Tickets for the Duddy-Vanda match on the undercard of Miguel Cotto’s welterweight title tilt with Britain’s Michael Jennings, are pegged at $500, $300, $200, $100, and $50.
Sources include Barney Moore at (917) 559-8467, Greg McIntyre at (917) 528-7379, the Heritage Bar in the Bronx and the following establishments in Queens: Connolloy’s Corner, O’Neills, Fiddlers, Byre and Bar 43.
LYNCH BROS
Two nights before Duddy and Vanda tangle at the Garden, brothers John and Pat Lynch will present a pre-dominantly Irish card featuring Danny “Little Mac” McDermott and Bayonne light heavyweight Bobby Rooney, among other prospects.
Rooney [8-2-1, 4 KOs] tackles James Morrow [11-11-3, 5 KOs] for the vacant WBF belt in the main event at the Schuetzen Park in North Bergen, New Jersey, next Thursday.
Also on the Pound for Pound card are two of McDermott’s stablemates who will be making their pro debuts. They are cruiserweight, Patrick “Paddy Boy” Farrell, a three times New Jersey Golden Gloves heavyweight titlist, and junior middleweight Chris Murphy from Sparta.
BOBBY GUNN
Bobby “The Celtic Warrior” Gunn [20-3-1, 17 KOs] makes the first defense of his WBC USNBC cruiserweight title against Brad Gregory 11-2 [9 KOs] at the Medieval Times in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, on February 25.
“I feel great and am working hard in camp” said Gunn, who iced Shelby Gross in three rounds last November to snatch the vacant crown. “I will be fully prepared to go to war.”
The Gunn-Gregory bout will headline the “Fight Knight” card which is co-promoted by Dignity and FelKO Promotions. For ticket call (201) 741-4994 or (610) 291-0806 or visit www.dignityboxing.com.