Duddy Delivers… But Campas Turns Back The Clock
By Danny Serratelli at ringside (Oct 1, 2006) Photo © Brendon Pierpaoli
In a fight of the year candidate at the theater at Madison Square Garden ‘Irish’ John Duddy, 18-0 (15), captured a close unanimous decision over Luis Ramos ‘Yory Boy’ Campas, 88-9 (72). Duddy started the fight a ball of nervous energy while Campas looked like he was just out for another day at the office. Early on, Duddy looked to be expending too much energy to last the 12 round distance with the wily veteran; however he entered the 12th round with the same energy he came out in the first with.

It is hard to believe that Campas, who seems like he has been around forever, is only 35-years old, only 8 years older than Duddy who is 27. However back in 1987 when Campas made his professional debut in Mexico, Duddy was only 8 years old. Campas turned back the clock with this performance and will surely be back in action, while Duddy is still a work in progress who picked up excellent big fight experience against a tough veteran.

The two fighters fought toe to toe for the entire 12 round affair with both having their moments. Campas looked as good as he had looked in years and it was clear that he was a veteran of almost 100 fights as a professional. Duddy was pushed to his limit, but displayed the chin, conditioning and heart – although not always the defense – he will need to take his career to the next level.

Duddy started quickly and was the busier fighter early on, while Campas picked his shots. Duddy showed he had a chin in round number two when Campas timed a picture perfect right hand and Duddy buckled and came as close as you can to going down, but remained on his feet. Campas, while passed his prime, showed he was far from a shot fighter and he definitely can still punch with the best of them. Duddy also suffered a cut that looked bad in the 2nd round and it appeared that it may become a factor in the fight.

After taking some of the early rounds with a good jab and throwing the flashier punches, Campas continued to press the action and turn the tide. Campas stepped up the pressure with effective, yet more subtle work on the inside. Duddy’s defensive deficiencies were exposed by Campas, but his heart and desire to win were also put on display in this fight. Duddy’s corner did a great job on cuts over both eyes that were closed several times in the fight.

As the fight progressed Campas would make a habit of winning the first half of many of the rounds, but Duddy was good at coming on late and surely stole some close rounds. Duddy was also assisted in the same manner that home teams at NFL games are with a packed house of Irishmen who surely influenced the judges and motivated Duddy to keep pressing the action.

After starting strong and suffering cuts over both eyes Duddy looked like he was fading in the middle rounds. It started to
appear as if Campas was looking to take Duddy into deep waters so that he could drown him. However, Duddy showed a champion’s heart and resolve, if not always a champion’s defense fighting with two bad cuts against his toughest opponent as a professional.

Campas did not appear to respect Duddy’s power for many of the early rounds, but Duddy finally ended that when he landed a big right hand that hurt Campas much like Campas had landed a similar perfectly timed right hand in round number two. Both fighters showed solid chins and were able to absorb and recover from powerful blows that would have stopped lesser men throughout the bout.

Campas threw some impressive left hooks and doubled and tripled it to the head and body impressively throughout the fight. However, the much younger Duddy landed the flashier blows that often snapped the rugged veterans head back. In the 12th and final round Duddy came out strong to make a statement and close the show, but before long Campas had Duddy in serious trouble. It looked like Campas waited too long when he opened up on Duddy and laid a good beating on him to close out the fight. Duddy took some heavy blows and again while showing major holes in his defense, showed the heart and chin to make it to the final bell.

In the end, it appeared Duddy won the fight. However my scorecard read 114-114 at the end of 12 rounds. Both of these guys showed no quit and clearly did everything they could do to win the fight. The judges had the fight scored 115-113, 116-112 and 117-111 all in favor of the new IBA middleweight champion, ‘Irish’ John Duddy.


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