Opponent confirmed for Jason Quigley’s fight in London
Jason Quigley will start 2019 with a Finnish fight.
The Donegal middleweight returns to the ring on Saturday night [March 23rd] in London and his opponent for the Matchroom show has been confirmed.
Quigley [15(11)-0] will face Finland’s Mathias Eklund [10(4)-1(0)-2] at the Copper Box Arena on the undercard of Charlie Edward’s WBC flyweight title defence against Angel Moreno.
34-year-old Eklund debuted back in 2015 and built his record at home before jumping up in weight and travelling to Germany last October to take on the unbeaten Patrick Rokohl for the WBO European super middleweight rankings belt – losing on a split decision.
In his comeback bout, last month, Eklund was held to an eight-round draw by dangerous Belarussian Siarhei Huliakevich, a former European super featherweight champ.
Quigley, now based at the Wincobank Gym in Sheffield under Dominic Ingle, is back in the ring for the first time since October and his win over Mexican veteran Freddy Hernandez in 2018.
The 27-year-old saw a fight with Top 10-rated middleweight Ryota Murata fall through last year and is eager to move into contention in 2019.
This starts with Eklund and a first fight on this side of the Atlantic for the Golden Boy-promoted contender.
Quigley outlined how “I’m excited now to get back into the ring again.”
“I’ve had a good training camp and I’m ready to kick off the year in London. ”
“I’ve been very appreciative of the support so far in my pro career. I’m delighted now that many more of them will have a chance to come to see me in a fight. It’s going to be a great experience.”
While the Nordic puncher, on paper, shouldn’t be one of Quigley’s toughest foes, the Ballybofey boxer isn’t getting ahead of himself.
Quigley noted how “Mathias Eklund will be coming to win on Saturday. He’s had only one loss and has never been stopped.”
“He’ll see this as a big chance to upset the odds. I know I have to be on my game.”
Featuring alongside Quigley on the undercard next weekend is a British light heavyweight title fight between Joshua Buatsi and Liam Conroy and a British and Commonwealth title fight between Lawrence Okolie and Wadi Camacho along with further appearances for Lewis Ritson, Shannon Courtenay, and Sean McGoldrick.
