Irish Sports
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John Duddy, the popular New York-based Irish middleweight has abruptly announced his retirement.
Duddy, 31, had recently returned to training after agreeing to face fellow Irish fighter Andy Lee on March 12 on an HBO undercard at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Uncasville, had not yet signed a contract for the $100,000 purse fight.
“After a great deal of soul-searching, I have decided to retire from boxing,” Duddy said in a statement. “In many ways, continuing to fight would be the easy course of action. I have been offered the opportunity to fight Andy Lee on HBO for a purse in excess of $100,000. A win would put me in position to fight for a world championship. This is not an opportunity that I cast aside lightly.
“I started watching my father train in the gym when I was five years old. I began fighting competitively at age 10. For more than 20 years, I loved being a boxer. I still feel that it’s an enormous honor to be a boxer. But I don’t love it anymore. I no longer have the enthusiasm and willingness to make the sacrifices that are necessary to honor the craft of prizefighting. I used to love going to the gym. Now it’s a chore. I wish I still had the hunger, but I don’t. The fire has burned out. And I know myself well enough to know that it won’t return.”
Duddy’s veteran manager Craig Hamilton said Duddy first broached the idea of retirement to him a couple of months ago.
“We had talked about this at the end of last year,” Hamilton said. “We had a conversation about this and I said, ‘Look, if you want to retire be aware that if you do it, you will be leaving some good fights and money on the table and I don’t want you to do it and then say, ‘I made a mistake.’ I said that to him again [Tuesday]. I said, ‘Before you do anything, I just want you to be certain in your heart and head. Andy Lee is a winnable fight and a victory over Andy Lee would lead you into a title shot and you’d get paid a lot of money.’ I didn’t want him to come back three years down the road and say, ‘what if?’ He made his decision.
“I would hope he never comes back because to leave with opportunities in front of you, they won’t be there when you come back.”
Why not wait till after the Lee fight
Duddy, 31, had recently returned to training after agreeing to face fellow Irish fighter Andy Lee on March 12 on an HBO undercard at the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Uncasville, had not yet signed a contract for the $100,000 purse fight.
“After a great deal of soul-searching, I have decided to retire from boxing,” Duddy said in a statement. “In many ways, continuing to fight would be the easy course of action. I have been offered the opportunity to fight Andy Lee on HBO for a purse in excess of $100,000. A win would put me in position to fight for a world championship. This is not an opportunity that I cast aside lightly.
“I started watching my father train in the gym when I was five years old. I began fighting competitively at age 10. For more than 20 years, I loved being a boxer. I still feel that it’s an enormous honor to be a boxer. But I don’t love it anymore. I no longer have the enthusiasm and willingness to make the sacrifices that are necessary to honor the craft of prizefighting. I used to love going to the gym. Now it’s a chore. I wish I still had the hunger, but I don’t. The fire has burned out. And I know myself well enough to know that it won’t return.”
Duddy’s veteran manager Craig Hamilton said Duddy first broached the idea of retirement to him a couple of months ago.
“We had talked about this at the end of last year,” Hamilton said. “We had a conversation about this and I said, ‘Look, if you want to retire be aware that if you do it, you will be leaving some good fights and money on the table and I don’t want you to do it and then say, ‘I made a mistake.’ I said that to him again [Tuesday]. I said, ‘Before you do anything, I just want you to be certain in your heart and head. Andy Lee is a winnable fight and a victory over Andy Lee would lead you into a title shot and you’d get paid a lot of money.’ I didn’t want him to come back three years down the road and say, ‘what if?’ He made his decision.
“I would hope he never comes back because to leave with opportunities in front of you, they won’t be there when you come back.”
Why not wait till after the Lee fight
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Replies: 7
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STRANGE BJG , THOUGHT SAME MYSELF BUT VERY DANGEROUS GAME AN MORE SO WHEN YOUR MIND ISNT IN LOVE WITH GAME SO GOOD LUCK TOO HIM AS MUST BEEN TOUGH DECISION
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I never saw Duddy fight ,but for them to say that Andy Lee was a winnable fight was the understatement of the century.Lee wouldn't beat snow off a rope,a chancer he is.There would be ten lads in every nightclub in Ireland that would kick the shiit out of Duddy
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3 lads together couldnt match Duddy in a club a few years back but think you may be refering to Lee Robo-who by the way Im sure could handle himself in a nightclub scrap.
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Great shame we don't get to see this fight which Lee would've walked
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Lee is technically excellent but doesn't have the power to be great. He'll still get a world title shot though.
Duddy is a good looking brawler, played the Irish card well but cuts easier then a haemophiliac and has only fought journeymen. |
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test?
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No sooner had John Duddy retired, (much to the disappointment of ‘his intended next opponent’ – Andy Lee) than news comes from the United States that Limerick fighter, Lee , will in fact take to the ring against unbeaten Scottish boxer Craig McEwan (19-0, 10KOs) in an HBO televised bout on March 12. The main bout that evening will see one of promoter Lou DiBella’s stars, Sergio Martinez, face Sergei Dzinzurik.
Lee vs McEwan will also feature a battle of ‘superstar’ trainers, since Lee is trained by Emanuel Steward, while McEwan is with Freddie Roach. The 28 years old , McEwan was born in in Edinburgh – he had a long and distinguished amateur career totalling an impressive three hundred and seventy-six fights, winning ten gold medals in international tournaments and regularly captaining the Scottish team in Internationals ‘ at home and abroad’ . He has been Scottish champion at junior and senior level, as well as being European Junior Champion and Senior British & Irish ‘Four Nations Champion’. On two occasions he has represented Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, winning a bronze medal in 2002.He turned pro soon thereafter. His 19 wins todate shows he will be a tough opponent for Lee, indeed if anything McEwan has come through some tougher fights. Rumours in America also suggest that Lee (24-1, 18 Ko’s) is about to sign a promotional agreement with promoter Lou DiBella . The American promoter would ,at the time of writing , neither confirm nor deny the BoxingScene.com report. “It’s premature to say anything, but you can say that I’ve always been an Andy Lee fan. He’s still young and a good prospect and I think too many people focus on his one loss,” DiBella said. |