Boxing:Less than two months before one of the biggest fights of his career, Irish middleweight John Duddy has announced his retirement from boxing. The Derry fighter said he has fallen out of love in the sport.
Duddy, who is based in New York, was due to take on Limerick’s Andy Lee in America on March 12th. The eagerly anticipated contest, which would have earned him at least $100,000 (€75,000), was to be broadcast live on the American network HBO.
Instead, the popular 31-year-old has called time on a long and occasionally chequered career without ever fully realising his true potential.
"After a great deal of soul-searching, I have decided to retire from boxing," Duddy said in a statement last night. "In many ways, continuing to fight would be the easy course of action. I have been offered the opportunity to fight Andy Lee on HBO for a purse in excess of $100,000. A win would put me in position to fight for a world championship. This is not an opportunity that I cast aside lightly.
"After a great deal of soul-searching, I have decided to retire from boxing," Duddy said in a statement. "In many ways, continuing to fight would be the easy course of action. I have been offered the opportunity to fight Andy Lee on HBO for a purse in excess of $100,000. A win would put me in position to fight for a world championship. This is not an opportunity that I cast aside lightly.
"I started watching my father train in the gym when I was five years old. I began fighting competitively at age 10. For more than 20 years, I loved being a boxer. I still feel that it's an enormous honor to be a boxer.
“But I don't love it anymore. I no longer have the enthusiasm and willingness to make the sacrifices that are necessary to honor the craft of prizefighting. I used to love going to the gym. Now it's a chore. I wish I still had the hunger, but I don't. The fire has burned out. And I know myself well enough to know that it won't return."
Known for his all-action style, Duddy was a huge draw in New York where he regularly attracted thousands of fans to Madison Square Gardens. He had yet to sign a contract for the Lee bout but had been offered $100,000 plus a percentage of the gate.
Duddy’s manager, Craig Hamilton, has accepted his decision but said he hopes there will be no regrets further down the road.
"We had talked about this at the end of last year," Hamilton said. "We had a conversation about this and I said, 'Look, if you want to retire be aware that if you do it, you will be leaving some good fights and money on the table and I don't want you to do it and then say, 'I made a mistake.'
“I didn't want him to come back three years down the road and say, 'what if?' He made his decision. I would hope he never comes back because to leave with opportunities in front of you, they won't be there when you come back."