John Duddy.

[Broc]

Does anybody know what John Duddy is up to now that he has retired from boxing. I still wonder what happened that he pulled out of the lucrative Lee fight. Ive heard loads of people say that he was scared of losing, maybe he thought that he would lose and in my opinion he probably would have, but I don't think Duddy chickened out.

Duddy would have been the underdog but he has the tools to rattle Andy. Duddy is tough, could have weathered Lee's early onslaught, he was a respectable, if not concussive hitter, liked a war and had the engine to take it to the trenches later in the fight.

Andy would have cut up Duddy and the fight would have been stopped midway, but if Duddy had fire in his heart when he entered the ring he could have pulled off the upset.

I wonder if Duddy had medical reasons for pulling the plug? It was a big payday to walk away from.

[maxwelljr927]

Yeh i thought that may b a possibility. Either way he did his country and GB proud. A VERY GOOD entertainer and gotta wish him well in his retirement..

(lee would have won on points)

[Superheavy]

Duddy got severely done over by his management in the early to mid stages of his career. The whole debacle really held him back. Absolutely shocking.

[Dirk Kelly]

Duddy got severely done over by his management in the early to mid stages of his career. The whole debacle really held him back. Absolutely shocking.

Think that's putting it midly. Great article about this on SecondsOut by Thomas Hauser who represented Duddy to get him out of his contract.

[johnswan1]

Duddy was average at best. He had a good style for fans but his success at the box office definitely eclipsed his success in the ring.

[WestEndRiot]

As you say, duddy liked a war and could have taken it to the trenches in the later rounds, but he said the reason he retired was that he had fallen out of love with the game, therefore losing what was probably his biggest asset, his desire to have a real tear up and win at all costs.

[JC]

Reminded me a lot of Katsedis when they were both coming up. Relentless, tough and an accident waiting to happen when they found their respective levels. For both men the tendency to bleed made it all the more dramatic. I would definitely have taken any opportunity to watch him regardless of opponent, wish him well in the future

[stevek3lly]

I watched Duddy a few times and thought he had a lot of ptoential, but then would go and get beat against a nobody. An exciting fighter, but never managed to make it to world level which is a shame with the following he had.

[Feargal....]

http://irishstagenyc.blogspot.com/2011/ ... n-kid.html
He was doing a bit of work in acting early on in the year.

[JC]

I did wonder if he'd go into acting when he retired.

[Jabby]

First of all, let me tell you, what I know has been told to me by second hand people.
That being said, what I've heard is that John has taken a job as a doorman in NYC. If that's the truth you won't find John on the queue for the soup kitchen any time soon. A doorman in NYC can be a lucrative situation. I last saw him in NYC a couple of weeks ago. We said hello to each other and moved on. I also heard that the play that he was in lasted 3 days on "Off Off Broadway." BTW, I'm not mocking anybody with that remark. Off Off Broadway is a legit show business term.

Secondly, let me tell you, John Duddy is as close to the term "fearless" as any man that I know. He did NOT fear losing to Andy Lee or anyone else. He did not fear losing, in general. My guess is that the reality of his new financial situation forced its way into becoming his prime issue and NOT his next opponent. That takes the fun out of it. This can result into an unhealthy formula. Faced with that kind of burden he was almost forced to take the action.

Now my personal thoughts as to why John decided to retire. Nobody is aware (or they chose to forget that John's management contract entitled him to $400 per week (cash), a two bedroom apartment and a car. They also weren't aware of the $67k that he was given beyond his purse immediately after the accounting of one of the shows at MSG. These things were conveniently passed over by John's advisor, Tom Hauser. Yes. The same Hauser who declares himself a journalist, then manipulates the situation to his own benefits. (Re:"Ireland's" John Duddy on fighting Matt Vanda 02/21/09 MSG at 2:10 on YOUTUBE). With the weight of this manipulation and the fact that his new management didn't keep him in a similar financial condition, the burden on John was just too much. He couldn't concentrate on his training. He felt financially unstable. All that and the realization that he athletically was unsure of his capability to fight for the championship having been guided to a 4-2 record by his new "boxing" people. Only John knows the true answer to your questions, but this was my opinion for what it's worth.