By Mark Vester
Last week at the Prudential Center in New Jersey, unknown middleweight contender Billy Lyell (19-7, 3 KOs) won a split decision over previously undefeated "Irish" John Duddy (26-1, 17 KOs). The scores were 96-94, 98-92 for Lyell and 97-93 for Duddy.
Prior to the fight, Duddy was in line for several big paydays. One of them was against WBO/WBC middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik. There is a sense of humor in the loss to Lyell. He is trained by Jack Loew, who is also the trainer of Pavlik. Loew said the loss to Lyell proves that Duddy is an "overrated fighter." He said if the fight with Pavlik would have been made, Duddy would have gotten killed.
"He's too easy to hit. He lost to a B-level fighter, though Billy fights hard. If Duddy had been in there with Kelly he would have gotten killed," Loew told the Londonderry Sentinel. "He got his ass handed to him by a B-level fighter."
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