By Declan O’Kelly

New IBA middleweight champion Ireland John Duddy will return to the ring January 11 when he will headline a night of boxing at the Roseland Ballroom in New York.

An opponent has not been finalized for the bout, which is being promoted by Gotham Boxing and Roberto Duran’s DRL promotions in association with Irish Ropes.

The cuts the Derryman received during his sensational win against Yori Boy Campas on September 29 have healed, and team Duddy has been given the green light from medical advisors to get back to work.

A memorable 2006, where Duddy won two belts and received the Rocky Marciano award for most distinguished champion, will culminate back in the gym with more hard graft and sweat. Duddy, who trains in Gleeson’s full time since the closure of Irish Ropes gym, heads to training camp later this week in the Poconos for further conditioning.

The January fight is planned to a warm-up bout with a view to a big fight night March 16 at Madison Square Garden.

“It’s hard work now in the gym for John, he might take a day off for Christmas, but apart from that its head down until the fight. When he gets into training mode he focuses on nothing else," Tony McLoughlin from Irish Ropes told the Irish Voice.

While his legions of fans are overindulging in holiday cheer, Duddy will be working hard to lose any extra pounds he gained while recuperating, but this is not dampening his festive spirit in the least.

“I celebrated enough after the last fight and hopefully I'll be doing a lot more celebrating in the future," he told the Irish Voice.

Duddy’s record is now 18-0 with 15 KOs. He is ranked No. 8 by the WBO and number 10 by the WBA.

Demand for the affable fighter is burgeoning, and Boston fans will get a chance to see him on the other side of the ring on December 15, when he will work as a TV analyst for an NESN broadcast on a card featuring the Fighting Clancy brothers.

Heavyweight James and cruiserweight Mark come from Clare and now live and fight out of Boston.

For ticket information on the January fight, contact Irish Ropes Promotions at 212-835-1582, or visit www.irishropes.com.