Jason Quigley stopped by Demetrius Andrade in World Title Fight
Jason Quigley has been stopped in his quest to become a world champion.
The Donegal middleweight was stopped by WBO champion Demetrius Andrade in the second round of their title fight at the SNHU Arena in the New Hampshire city of Manchester.
Dropped at the end of the first round, Quigley was put down twice more in the second as the clinical American closed the show in frighteningly efficient fashion.
A huge underdog beforehand, the focused Ballybofey boxer had immense belief but was up against an elite talent in 2007 World Amateur champion and two-weight world champion Andrade.
Quigley came into this bout after a polite call-out of the champion following his win over Shane Mosley Jr in May. That gritty majority-decision victory banished a few of the demons from his 2019 loss to Tureano Johnson but Andrade, of course, was another level up on top of this. Indeed, in terms of progression, a bridging fight would perhaps have been opportune but world title fights are never to be sniffed at.
Andrade, who broke Irish hearts last year with a ninth-round stoppage of Luke Keeler, came into this fight off the back of a dominant win over Welshman Liam Williams in April. That was his fourth defence of the WBO title formerly held by Andy Lee and Steve Collins among others and he made it five tonight in less than six minutes.
Following a training camp split between Dublin and the Fury gym in Morecambe, Quigley’s preparations had gone well but visa issues for coach Andy Lee meant Wayne McCullough once again stepped into the breach on fight night. Any disruption did not appear to upset the Finn Valley fighter, however, who cut an astonishingly relaxed figure throughout the week and fight night itself but inside the ring it would all go wrong.
Extremely cagey to start, Quigley was slightly the busier for the opening two minutes before disaster struck. A short southpaw right hook took away the Irishman’s legs and he would hit the canvas a few seconds later. Rising to his feet, Quigley managed to see out the round but was in trouble again at the start of the second, shipping a wide shot that saw his glove touch the canvas but this was seemingly missed by referee Arthur Mercante Jr.
Looking to fight his way back in, the Ulsterman let off a pair of right hands but he would find himself on the canvas moments later. A huge left hand sent the Donegal favourite down heavily and Andrade mounted the turnbuckle in celebration – only for Quigley to somehow beat the camp. It would matter little though as, seconds latter, a barrage from the champion forced a third knockdown and the bout was waved off without a count
The explosive win sees Andrade improve his perfect professional record to 31(19)-0 while the outgunned Quigley slips to 19(14)-2(2).
With the belt retained, ‘Boo Boo’ reiterated his calls for fights with the major players at 160lbs. Where Quigley goes next is unclear – although it is sure that he will return.
Earlier in the evening, Connemara light heavyweight Thomas O’Toole made a mockery of a huge weight disparity when he scored a KO of the Year contender over Mark Malone. The 2019 Elite champion flattened his Texan foe with a big left hand in the first round, wowing Eddie Hearn in the process.
Thomas O’Toole with a HUGE knockout 🇮🇪#AndradeQuigley pic.twitter.com/JorCRvP4Fj
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 19, 2021
