duddy to face pavlik jan 26th

jayroyal

The fight in Atlantic City is the Youngstown middleweight's first title defense.

By JOE SCALZO

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

YOUNGSTOWN — Talk about your fighting Irish.

Youngstown's Kelly Pavlik, who has Irish, Italian and Slovak roots, will defend his WBC middleweight title against one of boxing's biggest draws in Ireland native John Duddy.

The fight, which is scheduled to take place Jan. 26 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and will be televised on HBO, is almost sure to be a sellout given Duddy's fanatic following in nearby New York City (where he now lives) and the Youngstown contingent that cheered on Pavlik for September's bout with Jermain Taylor in Atlantic City.

"It's going to be crazier than last time," said Pavlik's co-manager Cameron Dunkin. "It'll be nuts and it's going to be so much fun."

Promoters originally wanted the fight to take place at Madison Square Garden on St. Patrick's Day, but the arena was already booked for the NCAA Tournament. Because Felix Trinidad is likely to fight Roy Jones Jr. Jan. 19 at the Garden, they opted to move the fight to Atlantic City, a convenient location for fans of both fighters.

"I'd much rather fight in the Garden, but Atlantic City is great for us," said Pavlik's trainer, Jack Loew. "The fans showed a lot of support."

At least 5,000 Youngstown-area fans traveled to Atlantic City for the Taylor fight and promoters are expecting at least that many in January. Duddy, meanwhile, will be able to draw from his fan base in New York, along with the large Irish contingent in nearby Philadelphia and even Boston, said Duddy's matchmaker, Jim Borzell.


"John's a very charismatic guy," Borzell said. "John makes a lot of money, unlike Kelly, for just a regular fight. Nothing against Kelly, but he hasn't drawn the kind of numbers that John brought in last year.

"For our last Garden show, they did $600,000 in business just on the show. That's nothing to laugh at."

Taylor, who suffered the first loss of his career when he was knocked out by Pavlik in the seventh round, had an automatic, non-title rematch clause at 166 pounds. Although he told reporters several times he planned to trigger the clause, that seems unlikely.

"If they want to do a rematch, we'll do it," said Dunkin. "Kelly wants that fight."

Added Loew, "I told everybody that wasn't going to be the first fight back. They [Taylor's promoters] could have pushed the issue if they wanted."

Pavlik (32-0, 29 KOs) will be more experienced than Duddy (21-0, 16 KOs), even though the Irishman is 28 — three years older than Pavlik. At 6-foot-2, Pavlik also has a height advantage against the 5-11 Duddy.

Although several fighters were mentioned as possible opponents for Pavlik, including Sergio Mora, IBF champion Arthur Abraham and WBA champion Felix Sturm, Duddy's fan base and potential proved irresistible.

"I don't think he [Duddy] is up to Kelly's level right now," said Loew. "But we're going to train as hard as we can. We want to hang on to this championship for awhile.

"I don't know if it's going to be a long or a quick evening for Duddy, but either way it's not in his favor."

Duddy will fight a tune-up bout with 6-foot-3 Englishman Prince Arron (10-2) Saturday in Dublin, Ireland. He had been scheduled to fight Uruguay's Noe Tulio Gonzalez Alcob but he was forced to withdraw with a detached retina. Another Duddy bout, which would have taken place Dec. 8, has been canceled.

"Fighting someone 6-3 kind of helps out a little bit because he'll be working against a guy near Kelly's size," said Borzell. "We're delighted about the bout.

"To me, it's [the Pavlik bout] gonna be a major shootout. I don't know how long it's gonna last. Kelly's a big banger and John can [punch] fairly hard himself."

The Jan. 26 date, which comes almost four months after the Taylor fight, will give Pavlik a chance to potentially fight four times in 2008.

"The kid will make a helluva buck," said Loew.

In the meantime, Pavlik, who could not be reached for comment, has a busy schedule lined up. He flipped the coin before Sunday's Dolphins-Browns game and he's scheduled to throw out the first pitch before tonight's American League Championship Series game between the Indians and Red Sox at Jacobs Field.

Pavlik, who also won the WBO title against Taylor, will attend the WBO convention in Puerto Rico at the end of the month to accept the "Fighter of the Year" award. Dunkin has received several calls from promoters wanting Pavlik to attend upcoming bouts across the country — all expenses paid.

Pavlik is also scheduled to attend the Nov. 10 fight between Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley at Madison Square Garden, then fly back to attend the next day's Browns-Steelers game at Heinz Field.

Ohio State coach Jim Tressel has also invited Pavlik to travel with the team Nov. 17 for the Buckeyes' game at Michigan.

"Everyone just loves this guy," said Dunkin.

megadodge

Delighted that Duddy has got his big chance, but I'm afraid he's in for a bad beating.