Joe in NYC, The Finale | Madison Square Garden magic, reading lines with Robert De Niro – John Duddy’s one-off journey
episodePreviously titled “Joe in NYC, The Finale — Madison Square Garden magic, Robert De Niro at the movies, John Duddy’s one-off journey” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 13, 2026
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Who is John Duddy and what is his legendary boxing background?
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This is an Irish Independent Podcast.
How are you? Great to meet you. Yeah, thanks so much for doing this. Hello, welcome. One last blast of the sounds of New York City in the summer of 2026. What a week we had in July, some great guests and episodes. And now one last offering from those few days comes in the guise of John Doddy. So John Dooddy has been and is many things. I guess you start with John Doddy, the boxer. Doddy Uh back in the late 90s, early 2000s was promising amateur from Derry and yet he knew he did not want the Olympics, he wanted to be a pro and he knew he wanted New York City and he headed over there at 21 and got busy. In total, John had 31 professional fights between 03 and 2010. He was beloved by the Irish in New York, he was the headliner at Madison Square Garden four times.
104 times, and he was good. Of his 31 fights, just two losses. His last fight was in 2010. That was a loss against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. And that was right as he was about to become world champion. These were the people Duddy was mixing it with. And then Duddy surprised everyone by retiring. He was just 31 years old and he had lots of options. For instance, there was a lot of money on the table for a fight against Andy Lee, which did not need any selling. But Duddy said no. And according to the man himself, the fire inside was gone and he was done. The business had ground him down. In his retirement statement, he promised people there would be no comeback and he was as good as a man. Yeah. I met John in downtown Manhattan, right beside the World Trade Center Memorial.
Now age 47 and still looking very fit, John Doody spends lots of his time in Trinity Boxing Club. It's a beautiful space. He works with fighters aspiring to make their way at the elite end of the game. He works with regular people just trying to stay fit. He works with Parkinson's patients who are feeling the benefits of the exercise. And he loves it. As you'll hear, he did not expect to go back to a gym. But eventually, the smell, the atmosphere, the sport, it sucked him back in, and he loves what he does now. But there's more to him than that. Also, post boxing, Duddy famously turned his hand to acting. He has several film titles on his CV, including one alongside Robert De Niro in the 2016 Roberto Duran Biopic, Hands of Stone, he played the Leeds in Emerald City and A Bend in the River.
And to this day, he stars and plays in New York as well as his coaching. John Duddy's lived a big life. He is a big, friendly, energetic personality. In the ring and on Fight Night, he was often focused and self-contained and in the zone, and he didn't give much away. But the personality is nothing like the man in the ring. As you'll hear we discuss all of that. So here he is from downtown Manhattan, John Duddy. John Doody, such a pleasure to meet you. Great to have you on the show. Pleasure, thank you so much. Thank you for making time. We are in the Trinity Boxing Club in downtown Manhattan. This is uh where you spend a lot of your time now.
Yep, it is it is uh I suppose a home from home. Uh it's a great, yeah. Boxing. I know there's a lot of other places now that have adopted all our forms of this is all our forms of combat. This is boxing and boxing alone and uh we actually have fights coming up now on Friday night, the like the the beginning of the Golden Glove sort of they don't call it the Gloves anymore either for some strange reason. But uh But we're gonna have a bunch of kids in here Friday night taking it out to get on to the next levels and stuff like that as well.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
Who is John Duddy and what is his legendary boxing background?
0:00–10:46
2
Why did John Duddy move to New York at 21 and how did his early professional career unfold?
10:46–21:21
3
What were John Duddy’s most memorable Madison Square Garden moments?
21:21–29:50
4
Why did John Duddy retire at 31 and what led to his ‘fire gone’ feeling?
29:50–37:37
5
How does John Duddy approach coaching fighters and community members today?
37:37–45:03
6
How did John Duddy transition into acting and work with Robert De Niro?
45:03–52:00
7
What recent film and stage projects has John Duddy pursued after boxing?
52:00–59:05
8
What does John Duddy envision for his future in boxing and entertainment?
59:05–1:06:13
Speakers
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