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John Duddy returns to action against Juan Astorga at MSG this Saturday night

By
DECLAN O'KELLY
,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 3:40 PM
Updated Wednesday, January 20, 2010, 4:00 PM
Read more: John Duddy, Boxing, Professional Boxing, Sports, Craig Hamilton, Juan Astorga



Middleweight John Duddy (27-1, 17 KOs) takes on Juan Astorga (14-3-1, 9 KOs) in an eight round contest this Saturday night at the Theater in Madison Square Garden on the undercard of the WBA featherweight title fight between Yourkis Gamboa and Rogers Mtagwa, and the WBO featherweight title fight between Juan Manuel Lopez and Steven Luevano.

“John had a great camp and is still having a great camp, and he is going very well. He is in good spirits and he is in great shape. He feels good, he feels happy and he is anxious to fight. He is looking forward to having a big year,” managerial advisor Craig Hamilton told the Irish Voice on Tuesday.

Should Duddy, 30, prevail against Astorga, then he may be a man much in demand in March around the St. Patrick’s Day season. The “Derry Destroyer” will be appearing on his second consecutive Top Rank-promoted card on Saturday, and if he can build on his solid win over Michi Munoz at the same venue on October 10 then he will do his chances of appearing on bigger cards no harm.

“First things first -- he has to win on Saturday and he has to come out of it on Saturday without cuts. I’ve been fielding a lot of different offers for John and March is a possibility, but we cannot make a plan until we see how we come out of the fight. We have to wait for Saturday night to get it done,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton went on to say that he has spoken with promoters in Ireland, England and the U.S., and where Duddy would fight next would depend on the offer, the money on the table, the seriousness of the fight and where the matchup could take his fighter.   He again reiterated that it was their goal that Duddy gets a shot at a world title in this calendar year.

The grand plan was to have Duddy and Top Rank-promoted Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. face each other early in 2010, but those plans are on hold as Chavez tested positive for a diuretic after his recent November 15 fight against Troy Rowland in Las Vegas. His case is being heard before the Nevada Athletic Commission, and the unbeaten fighter could face a fine and a ban.

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John Duddy returns to action against Juan Astorga at MSG this Saturday night | Irish Sport | IrishCentral


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