JOHN DUDDY still goes back there sometimes. To Madison Square Garden. To the hurt locker.
Duddy, who retired in 2011 aged 31, said: “I look back now sometimes and I find it hard even to see some of the fights that I’ve had, some of the damage that I was able to take and just march through it.
‘King’ Callum Walsh will headline tomorrow night’s card at the Mecca of boxing[/caption]
“I’m not a fighter no more. You’re kind of a different person, because you don’t think about that when you’re in that business, that sport.
“All you’re thinking about is winning and moving forward.
“And now sitting back and looking back at it, I think I’ve been very lucky to get away unscathed from it all.”
Duddy certainly put it all on the line — and the people responded.
It’s St Patrick’s weekend and that means Irish boxing is set to take over The Garden once more.
Callum Walsh, dubbed the fastest rising star in boxing by his team, is now carrying the torch.
The Cork light-middleweight, 24, will take on Scotland’s Dean Sutherland as he bids to up his record to 13-0.
A super-middleweight rematch between Dublin’s Emmet Brennan, a controversial winner last time, and Kerry’s Kevin Cronin is certain to be fiercely contested.
Tyrone’s world title challenger Feargal McCrory returns to tackle Keenan Carbajal. Heavyweight Thomas Carty, from Dublin, makes his US debut against Dajuan Callaway.
There are also debuts for Sean O Bradaigh and Donagh Keary.
Organisers are calling it New York’s biggest ever Irish card in terms of numbers and they can’t be denied.
Someone who knows all about filling arenas in the Big Apple is Duddy, who fought and won nine times at The Garden between 2005 and 2010.
He was there on Valentine’s Night as well to watch fellow Derry man Connor Coyle take a battling draw against Vito Mielnicki Jr.
Duddy told The Rocky Road podcast: “Connor went to the same school as I went to. And he actually trained out of my uncle’s boxing gym.
“So many people came over from Galliagh, where I’m from. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy’. Now they’re all 15 years younger than me.
“They know my brothers and sisters, and my cousins and stuff. So it was a really nice blast from the past.
“And Connor did really well. To get a draw at The Garden against a Top Rank fighter on a Top Rank show . . .
“This kid’s from New Jersey, but he trains out of Gleason’s. So this was his backyard.
“And they gave it a draw. Hopefully there’s a rematch for him in the near future.”
After moving to the USA in 2003, turning pro and stopping his first nine foes, Duddy got the chance to fight at MSG in ’05 against Patrick Thompson.
He was taken the distance for the first time but made an impression.
His first Paddy’s Day show followed in ’06 when he was matched with Shelby Pudwill.
On a night dunked in shamrocks, some of the Tyrone players were in town — with Sam Maguire paraded in the ring before business began.
Between the big room upstairs and Theater below, his nine bouts included the epic clash with Yori Boy Campas in the summer of 2006, Antony Bonsante — with Jake LaMotta at ringside — and Walid Smichet, the bout he won that was treated like a loss by everyone around him.
He will be back tomorrow night to watch Walsh get his third outing there as something of a successor.
So far, Michael Conlan has come the closest — with five nights of action at The Garden, and three during the March festivities.
Duddy said: “Don’t get me wrong. I don’t go to that many fights.
“I don’t really know much of Callum Walsh, but I’ve seen his last few fights here.
“Emmet Brennan is fighting on it as well. Feargal’s a great guy. Every time he steps into The Garden, you’d think Feargal was born here.”
‘IT’S THERE FOR HIM’
Last year, McCrory challenged for the world title against Lamont Roach but was beaten.
Roach has since gone on to draw with superstar fighter Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis and should have won after Davis was not penalised for taking a knee to fix his hair.
Duddy said: “He is at the pinnacle. And if he just keeps his head down, keeps doing what he’s doing. I’m telling you, it’s there for him . . . ”
The Derry Destroyer, as he became known, recalls his MSG debut well.
He added: “I used to read a book before getting into the ring. I’d be nice and quiet and lying down and just focusing my thoughts.
“Kevin Kelley was in the same changing room as me and brought not only his whole entourage, but his wife and his kids. They were playing music.
“And one of the staff come over and says, ‘Hey, Duddy, would you like a changing room of your own?’ I’m like, ‘What for? If they’re going to distract me, what’s that 20,000 out there going to do?’
“I remember when the ref called us to the middle of the ring. It was only then it hit me, ‘Oh my God. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fought here. Holy s***. I’m in Madison Square Garden’.
“Whenever they called out my name, the whole place started singing, ‘Duddy, Duddy’.
“And I used to just block it out. Just go on and get the job done.”
GARDEN GLORY
That theme continued when Paddy’s weekend at the Garden, featuring Ireland’s John Duddy, became must-see boxing — and everyone partied.
He said: “I was there to fight and put on a show. It’s only now when you look back, I still find it fascinating that The Garden reaches out for me.
If there’s an Irishman of any persuasion fighting in The Garden, ‘Oh, “you’re coming to the fight’. I used to have a man that walked me out with a bagpipes as well.
“Everybody asked me, ‘What song did he play?’ I said, ‘Whatever one he wants. It’s not for me, it’s for you’.
“I just keep living my life and doing what I can. And it’s nice to meet people still.
“It’s funny when you meet people and they say they met their wife at your fight.
“He says, ‘She was sitting in front of me and I couldn’t see’. And all of a sudden . . . it’s a part of history.
“There was an Irishman at The Garden a few weeks ago. And now there’s going to be four or five Irishmen at The Garden this weekend again.
“It’s an honour for me to be a stone on the journey for people to show that they can do it. You can go and chase down your dreams.”
