By Mark Vester
Is undefeated John Duddy (18-0, 15 KOs) another hyped up prospect or the real deal? Boxing scribes were split on the answer after watching Duddy's decision winning effort over veteran Ramon "Yory Boy" Campas (88-9, 72 KOs)
It was the toughest fight of Duddy's career by far, and he had his hands full with Campas, who is a former junior middleweight champion that fought the best fighters in at every weight he occupied. The Theater in New York's Madison Square Garden was in a frenzy for Duddy, but were quickly gasping for air as Campas fought one his better fights in the last couple of years.
In the early rounds, Campas showed that he still had plenty left in his tank as he rocked the younger fighter in the second round and managed to cause nasty cuts above both of Duddy's eyes.
Midway through the fight, Duddy began to take over the action with his boxing skills that found openings and he was able to land plenty of smart counters. Due to his boxing skills, Duddy was able to pile up the rounds. But, Campas was always in the fight, never too far behind and came out in the final round looking for a knockout because he was not going to take any chances with the judges.
As the final round played out, Duddy was once again hurt by Campas. The veteran wanted to score a major knockout upset, but he was unable to seal the deal.
The final scores were 115-113, 117-111 and 116-112, all for Duddy. Duddy picked up the IBA middleweight title with the win.