By Mark Vester

Since the announcement that Oleg Maskaev's defense of the WBC heavyweight title against Sam Peter was moving to Cancun, Mexico on March 8, unbeaten John Duddy (23-0, 17KOs) is planning a move as well. Maskaev-Peter was originally slated to take place at New York's Madison Square Garden on Feb. 2, and Duddy, a big ticket seller on the East Coast, was scheduled to appear on the undercard against Matt Vanda (37-5, 21KOs).

After the event was unable to secure a February date in the Garden, promoter Don King was in talks with several venues - but announced last week the fight was heading to Mexico, which is not exactly a market where Duddy would pack the house. Boxing scribe George Kimball reports that Duddy will now headline a card at the Theatre in Madison Square Garden on March 15, his usual ring appearance on St. Patrick’s Day weekend.

Emanuel Steward, manager and trainer of undefeated middleweight Andy Lee (14-0, 11KOs), told Kimball that Lee would return to the ring with a tuneup on Feb. 2 in Limerick, Ireland, and then appear on the Feb. 23 undercard to the heavyweight unification between Wladimir Klitschko and Sultan Ibragimov at MSG, with Howard Eastman (42-6, 35KOs) as the possible dance partner. Eastman is coming off a Dec. 8 decision loss to Lee's Irish counterpart, Duddy.

Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com