Boxing: John Duddy's hopes of a world title shot this summer have been dashed after he sustained bad cuts around his eyes against Walid Smichet.
Duddy, 28, survived a scare on his return to the Madison Square Garden ring in New York overnight following a three-fight campaign on home soil during the last six months of 2007.
In what was supposed to be a warm-up bout for the unbeaten Derryman ahead of an expected world title challenge against Kelly Pavlik, a lacklustre performance and woeful defence meant he could only edge a split-decision over Tunisian Smichet.
Duddy had been expected to be confirmed as the opponent for Pavlik's first defence of his undisputed middleweight championship in the same arena on June 7th.
Pavlik and his promoter Bob Arum were at ringside ahead of the scheduled announcement, which was set to follow Wladimir Klitschko's heavyweight unification victory over Sultan Ibragimov.
But their plans had to be shelved after Montreal-based Smichet opened up a deep cut above Duddy's left eye.
Smichet also cut the Irishman above his right eye as judge Frank Lombardi scored the 10-round fight a 95-95 draw, although judges John McKaie and Don Trella each scored it a rather generous 98-92 to stretch Duddy's professional record to 24-0 .
The decision delighted Duddy's large contingent of fans in the arena but drew many boos from non-partisans in the 14,011 crowd and the cuts prompted Arum to look elsewhere for Pavlik's next opponent.
"I don't think Duddy is going to be ready because of the cuts," Arum said. "We're going to have to go to the drawing board and check out all the other middleweights.
Arum emphasised a Pavlik-Duddy fight was still on the cards for 2008, saying: "Maybe we'll have to fight Duddy down the road because Kelly is looking to fight three more times this year. So there'll be plenty of opportunity to fight Duddy if he doesn't fight him immediately."
Duddy said after the fight: "I made it difficult on myself. I didn't let my fast hands work and didn't let my punches fly the way I usually do.
"I was happy that I won but I was disappointed with my performance. I trained much better than I looked in the ring. I think I was trying too hard."
Smichet felt aggrieved the decision had gone against him, saying: "Look at my face, look at his and you tell me who won the fight."