John Duddy / Andy Lee negotiations ongoing

The management teams of middleweights John Duddy (29-2, 18 KOs) and Andy Lee (23-1, 18 KOs) are in negotiations for a possible fight between the U.S.-based Irish fighters.

“It’s a good matchup for both of us,” said Lee, who confirmed that both sides had more talks on Monday about the issue.
The 26-year-old said it was a good time for both men to fight each other at this stage in their careers, and that preferably he would like to see the fight go ahead in New York.

For now, Lee has left the subject of a fight with Duddy as something for both sets of managers to discuss as he has more pressing matters at hand.

The Irish Voice caught up with Limerick man as he finishes preparations for his Saturday night fight with Troy Lowry (27-10) at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana.

Lee took a few days off after his win over Michael Walker on September 17, but he has been doing some work over the past few days ahead of his second fight in two weeks.

Though Lee talked about remaining professional and has gone about his preparations in a focused manner, he conceded that this is a contest that he should not lose at this point in his career.

“Not to be disrespectful, but it is a fight I should win,” Lee said.

According to boxrec.com, Lowry is a 40-year-old from St. Paul, Minnesota who is coming off five straight losses.  Lowry’s last fight was on July 17 against Dominic Wade when he was KO’ed in the first round by a body shot. 

Should Lee emerge victorious and unscathed, then the talks should intensify for a fight with Duddy.

The Irish Voice spoke to John Duddy’s manager, Craig Hamilton, on Tuesday to get his take on how the talks are going.

“Have I spoken to Emanuel Steward? Yes. Is there interest in the fight on both sides? Yes.  But right now there is no date, no venue and no promoter,” said Hamilton, adding that apart from confirming that the two had been in touch, there was nothing else of substance to add at the moment.

As Miguel Cotto pulled out of the December 4 fight at Madison Square Garden and is not expected to fight again until the first months of 2011, there was no fight card at Madison Square Garden on that date that the two could have been part of to begin with, as was reported recently.

When asked if the possible matchup could be a main event in its own right, Lee said that it could, pointing to the fact that Duddy has sold out the WaMu Theater at the Garden before and that the matchup of the two would capture the imagination of Irish fans and fight fans in New York. 

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Nster.com