Unbeaten Derryman John Duddy looks to be just 2 fights away from the clash of his dreams – a world title showdown with the new poster boy of the middleweight division, Kelly Pavlik. Duddy tackles former world title challenger Noe Tulio Gonzalez Alcoba at the Hunky Dorys Fight Night at the National Stadium on October 20th before another planned outing at the Kings Hall, Belfast on December 8.

Two wins before the end of the year would then set Duddy up for a crack at Pavlik’s newly won WBC and WBO world titles next March. That bout looks destined for Las Vegas with New York’s Madison Square Garden unavailable for the dates being discussed for a Duddy – Pavlik showdown.

However before Duddy can even think about Pavlik he will have to negotiate two very sizable obstacles on this side of the Atlantic first starting with his bout against Gonzalez Alcoba on Saturday week.

Duddy’s promoter Eddie McLoughlin said, “It’s tempting to get carried away with all the talk about Pavlik but it won’t count for anything unless we get past this fight in Dublin. Then all going well John will box at the legendary Kings Hall in Belfast on December 8th and then in the New Year we’ll turn our attention to Pavlik.”

McLoughlin confirmed that a St. Patrick’s weekend showdown with Pavlik is now more likely to take place in Las Vegas rather than New York with Madison Square Garden’s diary already full for that weekend.

McLoughlin continued, “John doesn’t have the luxury of looking beyond his next fight but obviously we need to have long terms plans in place for him and the December 8th date at the Kings Hall would set us up perfectly for a world title fight in the New Year.”

Promoter Brian Peters says he would be delighted to showcase the exciting Duddy in front of Belfast fight fans. “It would be great to put John on in the Kings Hall.

“Everybody knows about the famous McGuigan nights there in the 80’s and I think a Duddy fight there would recreate the same kind of atmosphere there again. There’s an excellent crop of Belfast based fighters coming up through the ranks as well and they would benefit hugely from fighting in front of a big Belfast fight crowd.”

Duddy though is refusing to be distracted by any elaborate plans for his future and is instead focused directly on the task at hand in Dublin next weekend.

“Gonzalez will be very tough and very durable,” predicted Duddy. “He just put up a great effort for a proper world title in just his 15th fight so you have to take a guy like him very seriously. He pushed Felix Sturm very hard for the whole 12 rounds over in Germany and Sturm is a great champion.

“He won’t be coming all the way from South America to Ireland for the sunshine, that’s for sure, he’s coming to beat me up and get himself another world title fight but that’s the position I’m in as well so it should make for a good night.”

Tickets for the “Celtic Tigers” Hunky Dorys Fight Night at the National Stadium, Dublin on October 20th are priced from €50 and are available from Ticketmaster.ie and all usual outlets.