Jason Quigley believes future Croke Park fight card is a “no brainer”

Some have been suggesting that Croke Park would be a potential left-field venue for a massive heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury.

However, Jason Quigley [13(10)-0] believes such is the talent in Ireland that there is another way to sell the venue that hasn’t hosted a boxing card since the great Muhammad Ali fought Al ‘Blue’ Lewis in 1972.

The Golden Boy middleweight, who is hoping to put behind him an injury-afflicted 2017 behind him with a busy and successful 2018, is keen to return to Ireland to fight.

Having worked his way up the rankings and recently worked his way closer to home by teaming up with Dom Ingle in Sheffield the Donegal fighter thinks he is moving closer to a homecoming – and believes a potential super card is possible some time in the future.

Speaking on SportsJOE Live, the undefeated Sheer Sports managed middle admitted his plan was always to return in big fight and he thinks the time might be nearing.

“Fans, and people back at home now are craving for me to come back for a fight here. Twitter goes mad whenever I mention something about Ireland, with everyone like, ‘please come back and fight here,’ this that and whatever,” he said.

“I’ve talked to Oscar [De La Hoya] I’ve talked to Golden Boy Promotions, I’ve talked to my management team, and I have stated to them from day one that when I come back home to fight in Ireland, I want it to be a big, big fight. I want it to be a world title eliminator, a world title fight or a world title defence.”

“I want to bring the big time boxing back to Ireland. The likes of the days Steve Collins fought Chris Eubank in Cork, the nights Bernard Dunne fought in the O2 or the 3Arena. I’m ranked number 10 in the world now with the WBA, so I could get the call up tomorrow to fight for a world title.”

Considering he was a Sky Sports Scholar and continues to have strong links with the station that work exclusively with Matchroom it may not be surprising if that homecoming happened on the proposed Katie Taylor 3Arena card in April.

A potential fight on that card would be more comeback than massive bout for Quigley, but with more stars populating shows in Belfast and Dublin in 2018, Quigley would love to see all big names come together and create one super night for Irish boxing at GAA headquarters

“This is what everyone’s talking about, I think it’s a no-brainer. You look at the likes of Carl Frampton, Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes, Michael Conlan, myself. Imagine that on a card, Croke Park wouldn’t be big enough.”

“It’s endless, you’ve Andy Lee, and Spike O’Sullivan – any of those fighters could sell out a show themselves.”