John Duddy had the style that was very fan-friendly. He was as game as they come and as tough as nail. I saw many of his fights where his relentlessness wore down many of his foes to KO/TKO and points decision losses. His most prominent victims included veterans Yori Boy Campas and Howard Eastman and campaigners Tony Bonsante, Charles Howe and Matt Vanda. He lost just two fights by narrow decision to Billy Lylell and by UD to Julio Cesar Chavez in an actually closely fought, entertaining scrap for the WBC silver middleweight championship which proved to be his last fight.
Duddy is admirable for his courage as for his sincerity. When Lyell broke his winning streak at 26, he forged on and won three more fights but he almost hit another wall and he struggled to barely win over Michael Medina. And then came the Chavez fight in June 2010 where he gave his all and still came up short.
Duddy announced his retirement from boxing in a statement on 19 January 2011, after "a great deal of soul-searching." In the statement, Duddy cited a lack of desire, saying, "I no longer have the enthusiasm and willingness to make the sacrifices that are necessary to honor the craft of prizefighting," and stated that his decision is final. This scuppered plans for an all-Irish showdown at Foxwoods Resort against Andy Lee
Because he lost his only big fight against Chavez Jr. He had previously fought on the Pac-Clottey undercard in Texas and was scheduled to face fellow Irishman Andy Lee on HBO after his loss to Chavez, but he pulled out of that fight and retired.
he was a limited fighter, only marketed to white fans
he lacked crossover appeal to Black and Latino fans
Because he was a big dud
He has had some great fights. But he never got a HBO or SHOWTIMEA deal
