February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
He’d returned to Ireland for what was supposed to be a short visit after knocking out his fourth straight opponent, a tested 10-4-1 Philadelphia junior middleweight named Ken Hock at the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut when his professional dreams were seemingly shattered.
Told that he’d overstayed on his previous visit to the U.S., Duddy was denied a sports visa to reenter the country by the American Consulate in Belfast.
While Eddie McLoughlin, the head of his management team, hired a Queens immigration lawyer to get the hard-punching Irish prospect back to the States, the fighter himself saw his career flash before his eyes. His dream had always been to emulate the U.S.-inspired world title successes of Steve Collins and Wayne McCullough.
“At one time, I thought that I was never coming back. I thought it was the end of the road,” the Maspeth-based Duddy recalled last week.
It certainly looked so after he failed first one and then a second consular interview, when the immigration authorities in the U.S. had approved his petition for a sports visa.
By early August, even the perpetually upbeat McLoughlin — a man whose eternal optimism was nurtured by overcoming personal adversity after a motorcycle accident cost him a leg and his own bright amateur career — was beginning to pick up bad vibes.
“At one time I was thinking that we’d missed our chance,” he said. “But we had a good attorney and she never gave up.”
Neither did Duddy, despite his worst fears. On his third visit to the U.S. Consulate for an interview, the fighter was given permission to box in America for a livelihood.
He returned like a whirlwind, showing no signs of ring rust in starching Victor Paz, a light heavyweight undefeated in his seven pro fights, with one punch in the opening round last October.
William Johnson, his second victim, lasted just 39 seconds before he was blown away in prime-Mike Tyson style.
And when Team Duddy ratcheted up the opposition in the form of Glen Dunnings, the Derry Destroyer relied on his boxing skills to break down the cute, elusive and solid-punching southpaw before dispatching him in the penultimate stanza of their six-rounder in Brooklyn earlier this month.
“All’s well that ends well,” said McLoughlin, hardly surprised at Duddy’s tremendous form since his return from Ireland. “I knew that when he’d come back he’d be gung-ho. I kind of figured that he’d pick up the pace from where he left off and he proved me correct.”
Indeed, Duddy credits the visa saga and his seven-month “exile” in his hometown for giving him a new lease on life.
“Things happen for a reason,” he said. “When I was back home, I realized how much I had to lose. I came back hungrier and stronger and I’m just glad that I got a second chance to do it.”
Nightmarish that the experience was for him from a boxing standpoint, the 25-year-old now sees it in a positive light. “That’s why I came back with a bang. It gave me the incentive to train even harder.”
Charismatic, crowd pleasing and with an ever growing fan base on the New York boxing circuit, Duddy is spending the holiday season in McLoughlin’s Irish Ropes gym in Far Rockaway. He’s training for his next fight, a scheduled eight-rounder that will also be the main event of a Northeast Promotions card at the Westchester County Center in White Plains on Feb. 4.
He’ll make his national television debut after that on an ESPN show from the Mohegan Sun Casino on March 18 — the day after St. Patrick’s Day.
“I don’t know what after that,” McLoughlin said. “But I’d like to think that by year’s end, a British title and, or, Commonwealth title shot would be available.
“I’d like to think that by the end of next year, without getting my hopes too high, he’ll hold some title. Even a New York State title is in the realm of possibility.”
While his handlers, who include McLoughlin’s brothers Tony and Martin, and trainers Harry Keitts, Karl LeShore and Orlando Carrasquillo, plot his course to stardom, Duddy himself is content to take it one fight at a time.
His goal for 2005 is simply to keep on doing what he’s doing and finish the year better than he starts it.
“And if I keep the team that I have, good things will happen,” he said, acknowledging the support of Team Duddy.