Freak injury a blessing in disguise for happy Jason Quigley

Tomorrow night Jason Quigley [13(10)-0] is ready to start making some serious 2018 noise in after a frustrating – albeit beneficial – 12 months.

Just as he was starting to build serious momentum and had made his way into World rankings the Donegal middleweight hit a speed bump on his journey to the top.

Quigley injured his hand in what looked like a breakthrough NABF title win over former Glen Tapia on the inaugural Golden Boy on ESPN card.

It’s therefore been a quiet for the Ballybofey fighter, who is deemed as a real Irish World title hope, but he admits the break has been a blessing in disguise ahead of his return to the ring tomorrow night – live on ESPN2 in America and on eir Sport in Ireland – versus Daniel Rosario [11(10)-3(0)] over eight rounds in Boston.

The injury allowed Quigley time to reflect and he made the decision to leave The Rock Gym in California and trainer Manny Robles to link up with Dominic Ingle at the Wincobank Gym in Sheffield and feels all the better with the change

“I broke my hand in my last fight and people are going to say to me ‘oh, it was such a terrible thing’ but, honestly, it’s one of the best things that ever happened to me,” Quigley revealed on popular ‘Boxing with Chris Mannix’ podcast.

“Things just weren’t fitting the bill for me in L.A. I’m an Irishman, I’ll fit in in New York and Boston, but the Hollywood Hills and Santa Monica and Venice Beach, it just wasn’t clicking for me. I had to get back to somewhere closer to home.”

“I wasn’t very happy in Los Angeles, it was very lonely, depressing at times. I didn’t have my family, friends, people around me and it was difficult. I’m just so much happier, I’m so close to home.”

“I lived there for three and a half years and I served my apprenticeship as they say, I did what I had to do. The first year and a half [in LA] was amazing, it was all a dream, but once the novelty wore off and I came back to my roots and I felt ‘this just isn’t fitting the bill for me’ and I made the move back over to Sheffield to the famous Ingle camp under the watchful eye of Dominic Ingle. I couldn’t be happier, and that is the God’s honest truth”

The break and subsequent reflection were essentially forced upon Quigley following his “one-in-ten-million” injury where he broke a bone in his hand and shredded tendons early on in his fight with Jersey Boy Tapia.

This bout too offered some on-the-job training in grit for ‘El Animal’ who was forced to go through eight rounds of searing pain.

“I never felt or had an injury like that in a fight or going into a fight,” the 26-year-old recalled.

“I was able to deal with the situation that came up – and not only deal but come out victorious in the end. Glen Tapia is a tough fighter and fighting him with one hand makes him a little bit tougher!”

The European gold and World silver medalist is ready to make up for lost time and is adamant he will put his name back on the lips of boxing fans around the world.

“This time next year I hope to be right in line for a world title eliminator or a world title shot. This year now is for me to really make my mark and put my name up there with the biggest fighters in the world and to let everyone know that I’m coming for the titles.”

This now is my time, I’ve had that year off to think about everything, to understand how precious your limbs are! To understand that we’re not all invincible, to understand life, mainly. I feel as if I’ve matured ten years in the last year because of everything that has happened.”

“I’m ready to state my name, state my authority, and make some noise in the middleweight division.”

The fighter, described by Golden Boy president Eric Gomez as the promotional company’s best prospect, now enters a second phase of his career and will begin to be built on the U.S. East Coast in the Irish hubs of New York and Boston.

First up is the Marina Bay SportComplex in the Boston suburb of Quincy, and Quigley is excited to fight in front of a crowd full of Irish and Irish-American fans.

“It’s something special I think it’s recognised all over the world, the support the Irish have,” he noted.

“No matter where we go in the world, there’s an Irish bar somewhere and the people always turn out. It’s just unbelievable, the support on Saturday night is going to be amazing.”

“I’ve a lot of ones flying in from Ireland, I’ve a load of ones coming down from New York and Canada, and obviously then the load of ones that are here in Boston. It’s going to be a special night.”

“I have spoke to my management team and promotional team, Sheer Sports and Golden Boy, and I have told them ‘I want to fight on the East Coast’. I’m being drawn to Boston and, yes, this is where I want to make my home base in the States.”

“I want to sell out the Boston Garden, get it full of Irish, and light it up green.”

Listen to Jason Quigley on Boxing with Chris Mannix in full below: