by Geoffrey Ciani: Julio Cesar Chavez Junior (41-0-1) and John Duddy (29-2) received a fair share of criticism in the lead up to their fight. This was not without good reason. After all, both have looked less than spectacular in recent outings. Now that the dust has settled, questions about each fighter’s skills might still remain but few can now question the heart of either man. Chavez was awarded a twelve round unanimous decision (120-108, 116-112, 117-11) over a courageous Duddy in a fight where each combatant exhibited the type of warrior mentality that both die hard and casual fans can appreciate.
The fight was an exciting one. The first six rounds saw some explosive back and forth action where both fighters frequently landed flush with power shots. Early on Chavez appeared to be the heavier handed of the two whereas Duddy seemed better at absorbing punches. Defense was certainly not on display and this helped make for a very entertaining action-packed scrap..
Duddy stunned Chavez with a good right hand in the sixth. He realized this immediately and followed up with a nice combination of solid blows that appeared to shake Chavez. Duddy was unable to finish him, however, and Chavez came back with some leather of his own towards the end of the round. The following round was a close one and Chavez seemed to shift the momentum based on the way Duddy’s head was being snapped around more visibly and violently.
From round eight on, Chavez gained control and never looked back. He hurt Duddy in the ninth and followed up nicely, severely roughing him up with vicious combinations. To his credit, there was no quit in the Irish warrior. Every time he was clipped with a series of thudding shots, most of which found their mark, he would dig down deep, remain on his feet, and offer some return fire of his own. Although his punches now lacked the zip they had earlier, he was still punching and never stopped trying.
This was a crossroads fight for both fighters. With the victory, Chavez may have helped silence some of his critics and should be afforded a big fight opportunity to prove himself in the near future. He may not even be too far removed from a title shot on the horizon. For Duddy, the loss is a major setback. At 31 years old, it is unclear where Duddy goes from here and whether or not he can get back on the fast track to a title shot.
One thing is for certain—wherever these two go from here, their hearts are no longer in question.
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In other action on the card:
Marco Antonio Barrera UD 10 Adailton Dejesus
Jose Juan Fuentes TKO 5 Rogelio Barron
Jose Benavidez TKO 1 Josh Beeman
Omar Henry UD 4 Hilario Lopez
Emmanuel Ledezma UD 4 Nelson Ramos
James Cantu UD 4 Antonio Gamez
Tomas Villa UD 8 Salvador Sanchez
Raul Martinez KO 7 Gabriel Elizondo