By Mitch Abramson

Duddy Upset With Irish Ropes

The unlikely success story of the two working-class brothers with the construction business and the throwback boxer with the matinee idol looks who were going to achieve something special on a handshake agreement despite lacking big-name connections appears to be permanently damaged.

As was previously reported, popular middleweight John Duddy is in the process of divorce proceedings with his longtime promoter, Irish Ropes, which is headed by Eddie McLoughlin, and his manager, Tony McLoughlin, who is Eddie’s brother.

Upset over the direction of his career, Duddy pulled out of a Nov. 21 show, causing the cancellation of the Cedric Kushner-promoted card, and now his Jan. 17 bout with Ronald Hearns on HBO appears to be in serious jeopardy, according to several sources.

Duddy (25-0) is currently heeding the advice of boxing manager Craig Hamilton and attorney Gary Freedman and has broken off all contact with the McLoughlins, who turned Duddy from a local sensation into a highly ranked contender.

“I think he was reading his own press clippings,” said Eddie, reached at home. “But he’s human. All fighters listen to what others start to say about them, and I know that John has people speaking in his ear, telling him that he should be bigger and fighting for more money and that kind of thing. What kills me is all the big things that we had in store for him next year. If he had looked good against Hearns on HBO, it would have probably led to a title shot.”

After working with each other on a handshake agreement, the sides finally signed a formal contract in 2006, and Eddie says that his promotional deal has two and a half years left on it while the managerial deal is up in around eight months.

Despite Duddy’s enormous popularity and the crowds he attracted, Eddie said that he and his brother have lost considerable money on Duddy, with all the provisions the two have invested in him to promote his fights and also to finance a car and a home and a weekly stipend for him. Next year, he says, with the big fights in store for Duddy, they would have recouped their money.

“But it’s not about the money,” Eddie said. “I’m disappointed that John hasn’t even called me to talk about what’s bothering him because I can tell you that if he had called we would have met and worked this out. I’m disappointed that he didn’t face me like a man and tell me he was unhappy.”

One of Duddy’s concerns appears to be the convenience of both his promotional and managerial contract being held by a pair of brothers, though Eddie contends that both contracts have the approval of the New York State Athletic Commission. Duddy was also upset over the failure to land a title fight with Verno Phillips, which fell apart when no cable outlet stood up to air the bout, Eddie said.

“Personally, I hope that he comes to his senses,” Eddie said. “It’s disheartening when you think that you’re like a family and this kind of thing happens.”

Jim Borzell, former matchmaker for Irish Ropes, who is no longer employed with the company since his primary function was to develop Duddy, spoke out about the work he did.

“Considering that he never fought anyone in the top-20 and how high he was rated, I think I did a pretty good job of matchmaking,” Borzell said in a phone interview on Friday. “Right now John wants a clean break from Irish Ropes, and we’re all scratching our heads wondering why he’s doing this. This is the worse possible time to pull this nonsense. It’s counter-productive to his career. Now’s going to be caught up in litigation, and HBO and Showtime aren’t going to want to touch him.”

Jaidon Codrington To Make Changes

After a ferocious fight with William Gill on Nov. 13 in which Jaidon Codrington (19-2) absorbed and doled out punishment, Codrington plans to reshuffle his training team. In addition to corner man Ricky Frazier, the 24-year-old plans to revisit and employ his previous corner of Andre Rozier, Vic Roundtree and Nirmal Loric in an effort to get back to the type of finesse boxing that made him a top prospect. Codrington stopped the tough Gill in the eighth round in a free-swinging bout that was reminiscent of his pier six brawl with Sakio Bika last year in which Codrington was stopped in eight.

“I have to get back to what was working for me early in my career,” Codrington said. “At the end of day, I can’t be taking these kinds of shots, and I need to go back home and get back with those guys. They were always in my corner when I was at my best, so now it’s time to get them back. That fight with Gill should never have been like that.”

Codrington, who trained in Atlanta with Frazier for the bout with Gill, plans to go back to New York, where he resided for most of his amateur and professional career. Codrington, a super middleweight, said the choice of Gill, a naturally bigger man who usually fights at light heavyweight, was hastened by the departure of several other opponents. Moreover, Codrington, who hadn’t fought in a year, said that Gill had trouble making the light heavyweight limit, and Codrington, in danger of being too light, was eating pizza the night before in an effort to pack on weight. Gill had a six-inch reach advantage and fought at 177 pounds while Codrington was at 175 ½. Codrington was only the second fighter to ever stop Gill, whose record of 8-21 is littered with split and majority decision losses.

“I was very uneasy going into the fight,” he said. “I was nervous. At the end of the day I got him out of there, but I never felt comfortable during the fight. My balance was off. My punches weren’t flowing. I felt rusty. I know I need a change. I’m going to take some time off and then get back to the drawing board.”

El Gato Eyes Randall Bailey Showdown

Sal LoNano, the manager of junior welterweight Frankie “El Gato” Figueroa, wanted to step up Figueroa in his last bout, and he got his wish in the form of Emanual Augustus, the mercurial journeyman.

Figueroa (20-2) won a split decision over Augustus, who has been the beneficiary of so many bad decisions in his career that it’s as if he has a built-in excuse every time he loses. But it seemed that his match with Figueroa could have gone either way on Nov. 8, and LoNano is happy to move on, pleased to escape with a win and another learning experience for his fighter.

LoNano would like to face WBC No. 6 junior welterweight Randall Bailey next as he grooms Figueroa for a big-money fight with a big-name opponent in the division. He hasn’t contacted Bailey’s promoter, Lou DiBella, to begin negotiations, but he feels a bout with Bailey would be another nice test for his fighter. LoNano would like to see “El Gato” back in the ring in February or March.

“Augustus is crafty and he hits like a bull, and he landed a few punches, a good uppercut and some jabs that I thought Frankie took well,” LoNano said. “I was kind of curious to see how he took a hard shot, but he showed that it wasn’t a problem. I thought Frankie was the busier fighter and he out-boxed him, and he won the final two rounds to get the decision. It was a good win to get. You don’t want to get into a war with that kid and I thought we fought the right fight.”

Mitch Abramson covers boxing for the New York Daily News, and BoxingScene.com. Comments can be directed to mitchaaaa@aol.com