John Duddy Preparing For Boxing Showdown With Anthony Bonsante

ByBoxing Press

Nearly two weeks into training camp in Vero Beach, Florida, “Ireland’s” John Duddy reports that everything is going great in preparation for his March 16 titles defense against The Contender I star Anthony “The Bullet” Bonsante in the 12-round main event, headlining the “Erin Go Brawl” pay-per-view event, live from The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

“Erin Go Brawl,” presented by Irish Ropes Promotions, will be broadcast live in North America on cable and satellite pay-per-view starting at 9 PM/ET, 6 PM/PT. The event is being produced and distributed for pay-per-view by Integrated Sports and will be available in more than 50-million homes in North America via iN Demand, TVN, DirecTV and Dish Network in the USA, as well as Viewer’s Choice in Canada, for a suggested retail price of only $24.95.

Duddy (18-0, 15 KOs), rated No. 7 by the WBO and No. 9 by the WBA, defends his IBA World and WBC Continental Americas title belts against Bonsante (29-8-2, 17 KOs), the reigning IBA Americas and Minnesota State middleweight title-holder.

Training for only the second time outside of his adopted hometown of Queens (New York), Duddy believes his first trip to Florida for camp is exactly what he needed to get ready for Bonsante. “It’s been great,” Duddy said. “We have everything we need, top sparring at the gym, I run on the beach or on quiet streets between the house we’re staying at to Dodgertown.

“I can’t wait to watch a game there. I didn’t have many distractions back home until after my last fight. I understand (the increased demand on his time outside of the ring) and that’s why we needed to get away to camp. And it’s a lot warmer here.

“We’ve watched a few of Bonstante’s fights on tape since we’ve been here. We’re putting together our game plan. He’s a gutsy guy who fights a little like myself. We’re going to stand and fight.

I’m working on the whole package; head movement, using my jab, putting punches together like I did in the middle rounds against ‘Yory Boy’ (Campas), only right from the beginning of the fight instead of waiting. It’s been a great experience so far.”

Unbeaten middleweight contender Giovanni Lorenzo faces veteran “Doctor” Robert Kamya in the 10-round co-feature. Lorenzo (22-0, 14 KOs), the 2000 Dominican Olympian, lives in Washington Heights (in New York City). He’s rated No. 7 by the WBC and No. 11 by the WBA. Ugandan-native Kamya (15-6, 4 KOs), now fighting out of Palm Beach (FL), is trained by former world champion Johnny Bumphus.

Also fighting “Erin Go Brawl” is 2004 Irish Olympian middleweight Andy Lee (7-0, 4 KOs), world-rated super featherweight Maureen “The Real Million Dollar Baby” Shea (9-0, 4 KOs), the unbeaten Clancy brothers – heavyweight James (9-0, 1 KO) and cruiserweight Mark (6-0-1, 1 KO) – from Clare, Ireland and now fighting out of Boston, 2004 Irish National Senior amateur champion Henry Coyle in his pro debut and welterweight Martin Wright (2-0-1, 2 KOs). All bouts and fighters are subject to change.

Tickets, priced at $400.00, $300.00, $200.00, $150.00, $100.00, $75.00 and $50.00, may be purchased at the Garden Box Office, thegarden.com, or by calling TicketMaster at 212.307.7171. All tickets include a $4.50 facility fee and TicketMaster orders are subject to TicketMaster service charge. For more information about “Erin Go Brawl” call Irish Ropes Promotions at 212.835.1582 or going on line to www.irishropes.com.