By James Boyle: Two fighters struggling to keep hope alive as they make their way through their up and down careers need to find an answer to right their slowly sinking ships. Last weekend Edison Miranda after taking at least the first 2 rounds against a slow starting (albeit an intentional strategy) Arthur Abraham was brutally knocked out in the 4th stanza. Once Abraham stepped on the gas it looked as though Miranda shouldn’t have been in the same ring with the “King”..
Miranda will always be a threat because of his punching power and will always be an attraction because of his boisterous nature. But even though he had a highlight KO over “Contender” participant David Banks Edison hasn’t had a significant victory since nearly knocking out Willie Gibbs in one a year and a half ago. Yes he nearly knocked out Allan Green, but unbeknownst to all Green was a very sick man at the time. And let’s not forget his destruction at the hands of “The Ghost.”
John Duddy, loved by many because of his crowd pleasing style and charming personality, appears to have been very over-rated after his last few performances. Against the unknown and relatively inexperienced Walid Smichet he looked extremely pedestrian and was very fortunate to escape with a Majority decision. I personally had the fight scored a draw. Ever since his fight with Yory Boy Campas (another Duddy fight that I had scored a draw) he hasn’t looked the same. Guys like Dupre Strickland and Alessio Furlan had no business whatsoever going 10 rounds with the Irishman. Although Duddy has maintained an undefeated record he has been playing with fire. Now Duddy is taking on yet another no-name fighter with very limited ability. His opponent, 33 year old Charles Howe hasn’t fought in nearly a year since being stopped in one round by another former “Contender” Joey Gilbert. Doesn’t say a whole lot about Chuck now does it? But after being cut up by Smichet I can understand Duddy going back to the drawing board for one more preliminary type fight. But then it’s time for John to fish or cut bait. At 29 years of age John has pretty much finished with the learning curve.
So how can both Edison Miranda and John Duddy start to get back into the limelight? Answer: Have them fight each other. If Duddy can relatively easily beat Howe, and heaven knows that he should, he needs to finally have a marquee fight. He’s only fought 2nd and 3rd rate fighters or guys that are long past their primes, like Eastman and Campas. Miranda also needs an opponent that could vault him back into title contention right away and show the boxing public that he’s still a player. Yes, Duddy’s a Middleweight and Miranda has moved up to Super, but Miranda seemed to have more power at Middleweight and might be better suited at 160 lbs. If not, how about a catchweight fight?
Personally I think it would be a super attractive match up. Miranda has extremely good power and can take most opponents (sans Pavlik and Abraham) out with a single shot if he lands it. However, at the same time he’s vulnerable. He has tasted the canvas 7 times in his last 5 fights. So he certainly is a bit “chinny”. And he doesn’t seem to be the same fighter he was before hooking up with Pavlik. A few years ago this wouldn’t be a contest. But now with Miranda obviously demoralized and wondering what has gone wrong he just might be ripe for the picking against a motivated and properly trained and educated Duddy. While Duddy doesn’t seem to possess that kind of power he is technically a better fighter at least from an orthodox point of view. Maybe if he’s learned his lessons from his past few fights or better yet improved in training camp he might be able to take advantage of Miranda’s seemingly softening chin and score what would easily be the biggest victory of his career and vault him right back into the hunt for a title shot. The key for Duddy would be to survive Pantera’s early all out assault and try to take Edison out into deep water because it seems at least to a certain extent that Miranda may have a bit of a stamina problem. Can’t really tell yet. Duddy surely hasn’t fought anyone with the power of Edison, but he has taken some terrific shots and has remained upright and he certainly has the “Irish” heart beating strong. I don’t think it’s too far-fetched that Duddy could score a victory here in a fight in which he would certainly be an underdog. If Duddy were to win I would have to say it would be a distance fight since he doesn’t have the same kind of power possessed by Pavlik and Abraham.
For Miranda, if he can compose himself in the ring somewhat and not waste a lot of energy on meaningless punches he could certainly a few of his big bombs on Duddy’s chin. Against Smichet Duddy couldn’t avoid a punch if it was sent via Western Union. And Duddy’s face has been falling to pieces lately in fights and that could certainly play a big role. Granted, Miranda fights in an unorthodox style and that’s the only way he knows how to fight, and usually it’s successful. But against smarter and more talented fighters it doesn’t seem to do him much good. He needs to pace himself better and if he does could very easily score a win. Also, John Duddy would be facing someone the likes of which he has never encountered. Pantera could immediately swarm John and score an early and sensational knockout. Or take his time, lull John into a false sense of security and then land “OH S—” (as Chris Arreola would say) power shot that would end the night.
Either way, it’s a very risky proposition for both men. If Miranda were to lose he would certainly be on his way to “opponent” status. If Duddy were to get cracked, cut to ribbons and stopped he would lose any remaining credibility that he has. So much to gain and yet so much to lose. But that’s what makes this sport so exciting and dramatic. Two guys laying it on the line fighting for their professional careers. I would love to see a fight like this on HBO After Dark sometime in the near future. For the winner, new hope and possibly a bright future. For the loser it might be time to start thinking about a new career.
As for a prediction as to who would win? Well I don’t know if we would be able to glean much from a Duddy victory over Howe even if he puts him out in a single round. So based on the information that we do have I would have to go with Miranda because of his experience and the far better opposition that he has faced. If Duddy were to win he’d certainly have to be at his best. Either way it would be one helluva event and a lot of fun for the fans. What do you think??? N’uff Said.