JASON QUIGLEY DISMANTLED Mathias Eklund in London this evening, improving his record to 16-0(12KOs) with a second-round stoppage of the Finn at London’s Copper Box Arena.
In what was Quigley’s debut on this side of the pond, the Donegal middleweight inflicted upon Eklund a first defeat inside the distance with a near punch-perfect display.
The outmatched Eklund, now 10-2-2(4KOs), could only offer a solitary noteworthy left hand for his efforts, cuffing the utterly unperturbed Quigley mid-assault towards the end of the opener.
The Finn Valley man flung leather at both body and head, snapping shots behind Eklund’s elbows as a means of softening him up before forcing his way through the 34-year-old’s guard upstairs.
With 20 seconds gone in the second, a short left hook to the temple jellied Eklund, and Quigley didn’t give him a chance to recover. The 27-year-old former Irish amateur standout landed a couple of tidy rights upstairs as Eklund attempted to tie him up. The dazed Finn pirouetted into the ropes and took another right to his bottom deck before the third man in the ring brought an end to the contest.
Eklund half-shrugged but scarcely complained. Quigley saluted his travelling support before embracing with trainer Dominic Ingle, with whom he teamed up upon relocating to Sheffield from California early last year.
👌 COMFORTABLE! @jay_quigley eases to victory in the 2nd round at the Copper Box. He's now keen to have more fights in the UK & Ireland! 🇬🇧🇮🇪
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) March 23, 2019
📺 Watch all the action LIVE on Sky Sports Main Event from 7pm! pic.twitter.com/tVCQ2UgM9W
“That’s what we’ve been working on in the gym is getting in there and enjoying this game, because it’s a tough living — you may as well enjoy it while you’re doing it,” beamed Quigley post-fight.
“All the big fights are happening with Matchroom and Golden Boy on DAZN, and it definitely makes sense for me to be over on this side of the water more often.
“I’m ready to go again. I think Eddie [Hearn] has a show on the 30th, is it?” Quigley laughed. “We’re looking to stay busy and keep climbing those world rankings.”
Ranked in the world’s top 10 by both the WBA and WBC, Quigley is eyeing a world-title shot in late 2019 or early 2020, but he has fought just three times since returning this time last year from an egregious hand-break which had kept him sidelined for the previous 12 months — a fight with Japan’s Ryota Murata for a secondary world-title belt falling through last autumn.
The Finn Valley man intends to build momentum in the first half of this year with a view to being ready when the phone does ring for a shot at one of the middleweight division’s big boys.
“I had this fight here, now — this was my ‘getting back into the swing of things’ [fight],” he said. “We’re going to stay busy, and whenever the title fights come… I had my flights booked to fight Ryota Murata and that fell through. In boxing, you can’t depend on anything. All we can do is stay ready as a team. As soon as we’re ready, the [world-champion] fighters are ready, the belts are on the line, we’ll be ready to go.”
Asked if he sees Quigley challenging for a world title within the next 12 months, trainer Dominic Ingle said:
“Definitely. I think if we can keep him active, maybe get him another two or three fights before that, I can’t see why not.
“Now, it’s time to step up and get into the bigger fights, the harder opponents. I’m thinking after this fight, we need a step up. Hopefully, between Golden Boy, DAZN and Eddie Hearn, we can get him moving.”
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