JOHN DUDDY VS. LUIS RAMON CAMPAS
WHEN: September 29, 2006
WHERE: The Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
AT STAKE: Duddy (17-0); Campas (88-8)
RESULT: Duddy by unanimous decision (117-111, 116-112, 115-113)
WHAT HAPPENED: You can call Ireland's John Duddy what you want.
But as one of the great guilty pleasures in the sport, he sure does make entertaining fights.
The New York-based Duddy has no problem selling tickets with his Rocky Balboa defense and go-for-broke style. And a frenzied crowd filled the Theater at Madison Square Garden to see Duddy put his unbeaten record on the line against the faded former champion Campas.
A veteran of nearly 100 pro fights, Yory Boy was more than game for the 12 rounds of his middleweight bout.
Both men exchanged heavy blows throughout with Campas opening up a cut under Duddy's left eye in Round 2. Campas did most of his work to the body, although he staggered Duddy in Round 2 with a big right hand to the chin.
Campas also used his granite chin to walk through many of Duddy's flurries early on.
Although Duddy may have disappointed by not plowing through the faded ex-champ with ease, he proved to his adoring fans that his heart was even bigger than his punch. Duddy rallied throughout late and caught fire over the final three rounds.
But just as it seemed he was closing strong, Duddy was nearly knocked down in Round 12 as Campas showed a ton of heart himself to flurry late.
Duddy would hang on for a unanimous decision that appeared much closer than the scorecards indicated. Only adding to the guilty pleasure of the MSG telecast for boxing fans was Gus Johnson's frantic blow-by-blow call of the fight.