Eddie McLoughlin, who heads up John Duddy's management team, Irish Ropes, may be a relative newcomer to the boxing business, but give him this much: he knows his man's limitations.

In the wake of Duddy's nine-round win over journeyman Anthony Bonsante in New York last weekend, McLoughlin turned down a $1 million offer for Duddy to face world champion Jermain Taylor at Madison Square Garden.

The original scheme, as enunciated by McLoughlin minutes after Duddy had been declared the winner over a bloodied Bonsante, had called for an East Coast "breather" fight in the summer, followed by a September bout that would pit the Derry middleweight against another unbeaten, New York-based boxer with an substantial ethnic constituency in the Big Apple, Dominican Giovanni Lorenzo.

Given a few days to digest the results of Irish Ropes' St Patrick's Eve card, McLoughlin's battle plan appears to have undergone some subtle alteration, and Duddy may shift his sights to Amin Asikainen, the undefeated (20-0) European champion - particularly if the Finn can be persuaded to defend his EBU title in Ireland.

Taylor's promoter, Lou DiBella, who claims to have offered Duddy a million for the world title fight based more on the Irishman's phenomenal drawing power than his ring accomplishments, was not altogether surprised that the proposal was rejected by McLoughlin, who hopes that another year of seasoning will better prepare Duddy for the challenge.

"Quite honestly," said a source close to Irish Ropes, "John's not ready for Jermain Taylor yet - and there are still a lot of fish to be fried."

But DiBella had also considered Asikainen as a potential Taylor foe, and thinks Clan Duddy might be on the right track in going after the European title.

"I think Asikainen might be a more accomplished boxer than Duddy," said DiBella, "but in John's favour, the Finn isn't a big puncher. In that respect he could be an ideal opponent."

The revised timetable, as we understand it, would now have Duddy fighting a middling American opponent (29-8 Larry Marks of Delaware is a likely choice) at one of the Connecticut tribal casinos in May.

Duddy would then take his show on the road, returning for a June fight in Dublin (possibly against Jim Rock) that would re-introduce him to Irish audiences and build momentum toward an EBU title fight late in the summer.

Earlier in Duddy's career, when he was knocking out opponents left and right, his crowd-pleasing, hell-for-leather style made defence immaterial. The thinking was that, as he made his way up the middleweight ladder, he would assimilate the process, if only by osmosis.

In his last two outings, against Yory Boy Campas and Bonsante, Duddy has been hit a lot more than would seem prudent. Fortunately, neither man packs a particularly lethal wallop and he was able to withstand their attacks.

Marks, Rock and Asikainen all presumably fit the same description. None of them is a big, one-shot knockout puncher.

The reasoning goes that Asikainen could be lured to Dublin by the promise of a far larger audience (particularly if Duddy-Rock draws well) than might be forthcoming in Finland.

Lorenzo, with his unblemished record and a strong Hispanic following, had also loomed as an ideal foe until last Friday night, but he may have taken himself out of the running by flooring Ugandan Robert Kamya three times on the way to a fourth-round TKO.

Irish Ropes haven't completely backed away from Lorenzo, we were told yesterday.

"Lorenzo was only one of a number of boxers we were considering (for the September date)."

Whether this carefully-manicured agenda is in the best interests of Duddy's long-term development as a boxer remains to be learned, but there can be little doubt of Irish Ropes' marketing genius.

At last week's pre-fight press conference we ran into a young lady who was, it turned out, a Columbia University graduate student who is writing her master's thesis on the John Duddy Phenomenon.

Duddy sold out the 5,000-seat Garden Theatre for the third consecutive time with last weekend's "Erin Go Brawl" card, and DiBella himself concedes that Duddy, with his enthusiastic following, may be the only potential opponent against whom Taylor, still a relative stranger to New York crowds, would be guaranteed a full house in the Mecca of boxing.

By the way, for any of you offended by the "Erin Go Brawl" slogan, an explanation may be in order. Turns out Irish Ropes conducted a "name-the-fight" contest, and the winning entry was submitted by Mike Rooney, the son of the longtime New York Giants' scout and a cousin of the owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who maintain roots in Lahinch. Now you know whom to blame.