A late change of opponent did little to throw Derry’s John Duddy off his guard at the National Stadium last night as he scored a second round stoppage of Prince Arron to continue on his path towards a world title fight with Kelly Pavlik.
Scheduled to fight again in Belfast on 8 December, Duddy is inching ever closer to a meeting early next year with the highly rated American, who was recently crowned WBC and WBO middleweight champion.
The 22nd straight win of Duddy’s professional career was decidedly comfortable as the 19-year-old Arron, although eager to impress and boasting an enviable reach at 6ft 3in, was quickly worn down by the Irishman’s strong left jab and stinging body shots.
Arron stepped in to provide opposition earlier in the week after Uruguayan Noe Tulio Gonzalez Alcoba had to pull out due to a detached retina.
Arron’s long limbs had Duddy struggling to break inside his defence early on but once a left hook floored the English youngster late in the first round, there was only ever going to be one result.
A flurry of punches sent the increasingly shaky Arron to the canvas twice in the second round, with referee Emile Tiedt wisely stepping in to end the bout after two minutes and 33 seconds of the round.
After his second pro fight in Dublin, Duddy said: ‘I had to be professional and do my job, no matter who the opponent is. I’ve been working hard with Don Turner (my trainer) and I eventually followed his instructions in the second round but I am still a work in progress.
‘But I’m happy with how this fight went, I caught him with some good punches. He’s a brave customer and I hope the crowd enjoyed a good show.
‘I’ll have one more fight before the end of the year and then hopefully get a crack at Pavlik. The negotiations are ongoing.’
26 January in Atlantic City or Madison Square Garden on 23 February are two dates that have been muted for what would be one of the most high profile fights for an Irish boxer in recent years.
On the under card at the National Stadium, Irish middleweight champion Matthew Macklin took his record to 20 (16 KOs) 2-0 with a satisfying TKO victory over durable Italian Alessio Furlan, who was in opposition to Duddy at the same venue in July.
Referee David Irving stepped in to stop the fight after a minute of 28 seconds of the eighth round. The Birmingham-based Macklin dominated the early rounds and looked to be wearing Furlan down but the 31-year-old underdog has a never-say-die attitude and his sterling defence was a highlight of this scheduled ten-rounder.
Although the fight’s finish, which saw Macklin land a body shot and then two crisp lefts and a right hander, was far from show-stopping, the former Tipperary underage hurler cemented his reputation as a boxer to watch over the coming years.
Two-time IBF and IBO world light welterweight champion Ricky Hatton, who worked Macklin’s corner again, dubbed his long-time friend ‘a star in the making.’
Happy with his night’s work, Macklin admitted: ‘I paced myself well tonight, picked it up when I needed to. Credit to Alessio, he’s a tough old boot – lesser fighters would have gone down earlier. I’m pleased with my performance.’
Also on the under card, Hatton’s younger brother Matthew got the better of Finnish light middleweight Samuli Leppiaho. The younger Hatton, who also had Ricky in his corner, put in a workmanlike performance with Leppiaho forced to retire in the sixth round of a scheduled eight.
One of the most impressive displays of the night came from Lurgan’s Stephen Haughian. Austrian welterweight Thomas Hengstberger was thoroughly dismantled and lasted just two minutes and 49 minutes of the first round, as the unbeaten Haughian made it eleven straight wins. He dedicated the victory to his grandmother who sadly passed away this morning.
Polish battler Dariusz Snarski gave in to Paul McCloskey, the undefeated Dungiven light welterweight, in the sixth round of their contest. The win for McCloskey, a stable-mate of Haughian, improved his record to 13 (6 KOs) 0-0.
