BOXING/Middleweight fight:John Duddy forged his early reputation as an electrifying one-punch knockout artist, and it took a crafty old veteran like Howard Eastman to turn him back into a boxer.

For six rounds the Derry middleweight had his hands full with the two-time world title challenger, but once he heeded the advice of trainer Don Turner and began to trust his jab, he was able to post a well-earned decision to win for the 23rd time in as many professional outings.

The raucous crowd on hand for Brian Peters's card at the King's Hall on Saturday night produced a thrilling atmosphere that made St Patrick's Day in New York seem like a polite little tea party, and Duddy rewarded their allegiance with his hard-fought victory over Eastman, who celebrated his 37th birthday by trotting out a nefarious repertoire of boxing tricks he had assimilated over a 49-fight career.

After two strong opening rounds by Duddy, the Battersea Bomber had begun to assert himself, and over the next several rounds he frustrated Duddy, tying him up as he pounded away with fists, elbows, shoulders, and, at least once, his head.

A third-round clash of heads brought blood streaming from a gash along Duddy's right eyelid. The Derryman's regular cut-man, George Mitchell, was under a doctor's care back in New York, but his replacement, Lenny DeJesus, hastily summoned to Belfast with a battlefield promotion last week, adequately repaired the wound and it never became a factor, even in rounds three through six, when Eastman was bombarding Duddy with punches from awkward angles, often delivered when the two were locked at close quarters.

"Eastman is a frustrating and experienced guy," said Duddy. "He kept doing the same things over and over, and I'd to try to punch while he was holding my arms."

In the sixth, Eastman appeared to rock Duddy with a right hand, and there was foreboding the fight might be slipping away.

When Duddy returned to his corner, Turner gruffly reminded him "Kid, use your jab and stop loading up!"

"As the fight went on I'd been letting him get his range, and I wasn't getting close enough," recalled Duddy, who, once he began to rely on his jab, was able to use it to set up the combinations that carried him through the balance of the evening.

Referee Seán Russell awarded the decision to Duddy by a 96-94 margin, one that concurred with our own scorecard.

"Eastman was cute, real cute," said Turner, who took over from Harry Keitt in the Duddy corner earlier this year.

"But remember, John used to be a boxer, before they tried to turn him into a slugger. I've been working on turning him back into a boxer."

"Don has been doing a lot of work with me, and we've been watching old-school fights," said Duddy. "The likes of Robinson, LaMotta, and even Rocky Graziano."

Even when he settled into his rhythm Duddy would not have been confused with Sugar Ray Robinson, but he was more than equal to the task at hand - and against as formidable an opponent as he has faced.

"Eastman took John to school," said Irish Ropes matchmaker Jim Borzell, "and that's exactly what he was there for."

"I felt comfortable all the way through, even when he caught me with that right hand," said Duddy.

"I hurt him in the early rounds, but even when he came on I was never out of my element. And from the seventh on, once I started jabbing and throwing those combinations, they were landing nice."

Daddy described it as "a great experience" and "not as tough as Campas", a reference to his 2006 New York fight against the Mexican veteran.

"I think I've improved that much. Campas hit me with some clean shots, but at least I wasn't getting wobbled in this one."

"I've been trying to work on John moving his head," said Turner.

"Once he moves his head and boxes, he's going to be okay, because he's a pretty good puncher."

"When you think about it," agreed Duddy with a grin, "Don and I have only been together for three weeks here, two weeks there, maybe two months all told in the past three months, but I think you can see the difference already."

The cut was stitched in the dressingroom immediately after the fight, and while it will keep him on the shelf until after the holidays, Duddy hopes to resume sparring in the new year and could be back in the ring as early as February 2nd, when he has been offered a spot (probably against 37-5 Minnesotan Matt Vanda) in the co-feature underneath the Oleg Maskaev-Samuel Peter WBC heavyweight title fight. That bout would likely take place either in Boston or at one of the Connecticut Indian casinos.

So just how close is Duddy to challenging for a world title?

A boxer who can fill the King's Hall and Madison Square Garden would be a force to be reckoned with even if he couldn't fight a lick.

Duddy has now demonstrated his ability to pack arenas on both sides of the Atlantic, and as Saturday demonstrated he is still improving.

There will undoubtedly be some impatience that he is fighting Vanda, a decent middleweight but by no means a contender, rather than a world champion.

Only in the grab-the-money-and-run atmosphere of contemporary boxing would a 23-0 record be considered evidence of unfulfilled promise.

It might be well to remember that Marvellous Marvin Hagler didn't challenge for a world title until his 50th professional fight, Graziano got his first world title shot in his 56th fight, Robinson in his 76th, and LaMotta in his 89th.