The once beaten Medina [22-1-2, 17 KOs], who will be going up in weight, will be Duddy's toughest test since the resurgent middleweight reunited with trainer Harry Keitt last fall.
"I don't know much about him at the moment but he's got a great record. It should be a great event and I'm looking forward to it," Duddy [28-1, 18 KOs] said from his Queens, New York home, on Sunday.
Ranked 12th by the World Boxing Organization, Duddy is coming off a spectacular first round KO of Juan Astorga at Madison Square Garden on January 23 and is back in the gym training for Medina.
"Definitely a step up," noted Duddy Boxing's Barney Moore. "It will be the first fight on the HBO pay per view broadcast on the night."
In the main event at Cowboys Stadium, home of NFL gridiron side the Dallas Cowboys, will be Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao against Bronx-based Ghanaian welterweight Joshua Clottey.
From his boxrec record, Medina is an upcoming star south of the border. He made his pro debut in June 2005 - a month shy of his 19th birthday - and won 20 fights in a roll before suffering his only defeat. That was a ten-round points decision to American Vanes Martirosyan, a world ranked 154-pounder, in September 2008.
Coincidentally, Martirosyan holds wins over four other Duddy opponents: Patrick Thompson, Michi Munoz, Charles Howe and Billy Lyell. While Duddy went the distance with all four -- losing a split decision to Lyell, Martirosyan stopped Munoz [TKO 3] and Howell [TKO 1].
MOORE COME-BACK
Duddy pal James Moore, the Arklow light middleweight whose career seems to have stalled, could be back in action this month before headlining a show in Ireland this spring.
"James will be fighting April 17 in Dublin," said Barney Moore [no relation]. "We're trying to get Neil Sinclair but doubt if that will happen."
Barney hopes that Moore [17-2, 10 KOs] will warm up for that Tommy Egan - promoted match with a small fight in New York this month.
Moore has not fought since outpointing Joseph De Los Santos on Long Island last May. It was his only bout last year.
LYELL LICKED
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Billy Lyell, the only man to defeat Duddy, came up short last Saturday in his attempt to cash in on his conquest of the Derry Destroyer last April.
The Ohioan [21-8, 4 KOs] was stopped in the 10th round by Sebastian Sylvester [33-3, 16 KOs] in his bid for Sylvester's IBF middleweight crown in Neubrandenburg, Germany.
Sylvester was making his first defense of the title.
