John Duddy Peace training people with Parkinsons

Back in 2003, Irish amateur boxing star “Ireland’s” John Duddy moved from his native Derry, Ireland, to Queens, New York, where he became a phenom during his exciting seven-year professional boxing career.

The combination of his entertaining style of boxing, matinee idol looks, and warm personality resulted in a tremendous grassroots campaign, largely through Irish pubs in New York City, which drew fans that nobody has come close to matching since Duddy retired from the ring in 2019 at the peak of his popularity with a 29-2 (18 KOs) record.

With the most anticipated fight between Irishmen – Duddy vs. Andy Lee – ready to be signed, Duddy put his gloves on the shelf because he, “no longer had the enthusiasm and willingness to make sacrifices to honor the craft of prizefighting.”

Duddy, who was the No. 2 middleweight in the world at one point, was only 31 but a man of conviction. No matter how lucrative of an offer was on the table, Duddy never looked back at his decision, but today he’s at peace and found a new passion as the Athletic Director of Moving Brains Foundation, training people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) through a unique program created by Dr. Jose C. Cabassa, Reese Scott and himself.

“I missed the routine of it all,” Duddy spoke about his life after boxing. “Boxing was my life. I started when I was five, but it no longer made me happy. I asked myself, is this all it is? I loved my childhood dream and then, all of a sudden, it was like I woke up. I remember being all alone living in North Carolina. I liked trainer Don Turner and the three sparring partners, but I felt alone.”

The absence of boxing for the first time in his life left Duddy in a new position. He wasn’t training but as he says, he was fiddling around a wee bit, as people asked him if he’d coach them. John had several jobs outside of boxing, focusing on becoming a professional actor, and one day in 2019 he received a call from Dr. Jose, who had a friend in the same acting class as Duddy,  called him with ideas about John helping to train people with PD.

“Dr. Jose said he was located right around the corner from a boxing gym in East Harlem and the idea was to help these people get on their feet,’ John explained. “I had learned the basics of boxing from my father, through the Irish amateur program and from my trainer, Harry Keith. I knew what I was talking about, and the first step was getting them to walk up the stairs into the ring. Dr. Jose wanted them to be challenged more than they had ever been. They started hitting the bags, shadowing boxing, and learning combinations. They started developing a real boxing foundation. I had no interest in training them as regular fighters but training them to fight that invisible person that is holding them down. PD doesn’t go to sleep, but we slowly peck away. They’re real champions! The goal is to make their lives better.

“Boxing is a brutal sport with stigma. Dr. Jose said good boxing training can really help. They’re just touching the bags. It isn’t about landing with force; it’s about learning a technique and having a solid base to avoid falls and losing balance. We started in 2019, restarted in July 2021 after the pandemic, and haven’t stopped. Our PD fighters (that’s what we call them) are very friendly and active. Some of them love boxing. There are no drugs to help them like activity and training. I’ve seen some shutdown, but they come around with the help of the medical staff who are always there. We’re teaching them to step back, step forward, step to the right and then to the left. We never want their feet together to give them a chance to lose balance. They’re eager and ready to go. I love working with them. This isn’t about beating people up like I did for years.”

Moving Brains Fight Club is a physician-monitored fitness training program for people fighting Parkinson’s Disease (PD), created by Dr. Cabassa, John Duddy and Reese Scott. Dr. Cabassa is a board-certified neurologist, Parkinson and Movement Disorders specialist, USA Boxing certified amateur Muay Thai and mixed-martial-arts (MMA) ringside physician. Dr. Cabassa has been treating people with PD for more than 20 years and specializes in managing complex motor and non-motor complications. His greatest success, he believes, has been being part of this boxing fitness program, having doctors and athletes working together to improve brain health.  

Last year, Dr. Cabassa and Duddy formed Moving Brains Foundation to further fund and expand the training to people with PD and the aging community in general, given the success of the fight club. 

“Coach John Duddy is still a world champion but now in health as the Athletic Director of Moving Brains Foundation,” Dr. Cabassa remarked. “I’m proud to see him develop as a healthcare leader. I met John and he was very humble and willing to try to use his skills in a different way. Coach Reese Scott, a Mendez Boxing trained alumnus, USA Boxing coach and already A trailblazer, formed Women’s World of Boxing around my office. I dropped by the gym one day and talked to Reese, called up John, got a little funding, and the rest is history. 

“Both John and Reese have fully embraced this model of working together, taking risks but following science and seeing results. We can not only challenge our fighters with boxing techniques on a professional level, but also push them further with resistance, cardio and conditioning exercises. Results have been astounding, not only with what we see they are able to do, but the feedback we get from family and other doctors.”   

Duddy’s acting career has also taken off. He is known for his roles in “A Bend in the River” and “Emerald City,” as well as playing boxer Ken Buchanan in the movie, “Hands of Stone,” about Hall of Famer Robert Duran. Legendary actor Robert De Niro, who Duddy trained for the movie, “Grudge Match,” for which John was a boxing technical advisor, called John about acting in “Hands of Stone.” Duddy has also landed roles in short films, web series, music videos and Off-Broadway theater.

Not only does his position as Athletic Director for Moving Brains allow him the freedom to pursue his acting career, but John also enjoys the opportunity to give back to the people he trains, and it has him in top shape as well. He now also trains private clients at Trinity Boxing Club in downtown Manhattan and is forming a fitness company, Duddy Fitness, to continue providing boxing training for fitness. 

“I love the sport of boxing,” he admits, “and being a professional actor is very hard. But I don’t get black eyes. I’m training people and getting the freedom to act. I enjoy the mental and physical part of training people at Trinity Gym and with Moving Brains Foundation, and maybe I’ll own a gym in the future.

“When training PD fighters, I always have a clear mind and enjoy seeing how excited they are, even joking and making fun of me. It’s like we have a little village of my people.”

For a man who made a living trying to knockdown people as a power punching boxer, “Ireland’s John Duddy is now at peace with a renewed passion for boxing, teaching people with PD how to slip the punches that PD is throwing, and to keep them strong on their feet with power.