DiBella hails Duddy's 'great honesty'

BOXING NEWS:AMERICAN PROMOTER Lou DiBella observed one thing following the retirement of Irish middleweight John Duddy (29-2, 18 KOs) on Tuesday.

DiBella, a distinguished, hard-nosed operator in an industry where smoke and mirrors are required kit, noted that the 31-year-old uniquely stepped away from boxing and his fight with Limerick’s Andy Lee before he picked up a pay cheque for over $100,000 (€74,000) and not afterwards. Although the decision has surprised many people in the sport and let others down, DiBella’s reaction seemed almost affectionate.

“A lot of lesser men would have perpetrated a fraud on HBO and the public by showing up without any passion or fire, taking the pay check and then quitting,” DiBello said. “I think on one hand it’s upsetting that it went down this way, but on the other hand, I believe him that he’s genuinely retired and there’s a great honesty in what he did that I can’t criticise.”

Duddy’s retirement statement also carried the freight of finality. He described a burned-out champion, no longer able to take his body to the gym, unable to find the spark to push him through the ropes and inevitably put his body on the line.

It was common knowledge the Derryman cut up badly although neither fear nor anxiety for his own well-being seemed part of his decision.

“After a great deal of soul-searching, I have decided to retire from boxing,” he said.

“In many ways, continuing to fight would be the easy course of action. I have been offered the opportunity to fight Andy Lee on HBO for a purse in excess of $100,000. A win would put me in position to fight for a world championship. This is not an opportunity that I cast aside lightly.

“I started watching my father train in the gym when I was five years old. I began fighting competitively at age 10. For more than 20 years, I loved being a boxer. I still feel that it’s an enormous honour to be a boxer. But I don’t love it anymore.

“I no longer have the enthusiasm and willingness to make the sacrifices that are necessary to honour the craft of prize fighting. I used to love going to the gym. Now it’s a chore. I wish I still had the hunger, but I don’t. The fire has burned out. And I know myself well enough to know that it won’t return.”

The popular New Jersey fighter, who was seldom seen in Ireland, personified a brave, reckless, brawling style that endeared itself to the Irish Americans of New York and Boston. To add mystery Duddy walked away as interest had begun to gather following his recent return to training after agreeing to face Lee on March 12th on an HBO undercard on St Patrick’s Day weekend.

In a back-handed compliment to one of the fighters who had inspired him, Duddy turned one of Barry McGuigan’s aphorisms on its head. The Clones man once remarked that “fighters are the first to know that they should retire and the last to admit it”.

Not Duddy.

And if there was any doubt about his determination to take the difficult road, Duddy closed his statement with a promise and perhaps a hint to what pressures may have arrived from outside the ring.

“To my fans, to the people in the boxing business who have been part of my team over the years, and most of all, to my wife Gráinne and the rest of my family, thank you for your love and support,” said the fighter. I give you my word – I will not come back.”