Irish middleweight Jason Quigley has a huge opportunity on Friday, Nov. 19, when he challenges Demetrius Andrade for the WBO title in a DAZN main event from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Quigley (19-1, 14 KO) has actually fought all but one of his pro fights in the United States, with the other a 2019 bout in London, and has never quite lived up to the promise Golden Boy saw early in his pro career. But at a press conference at home in Ireland, the 30-year-old fighter said he expects to have some home support in New Hampshire.
“I honestly believe the Irish fans will outweigh his fans come fight night, 100 percent,” he said, and also agreed with the general belief that Andrade (30-0, 18 KO) has been flat-out avoided by other top 160 lb names.
“He needs fights and the big guns are avoiding him. I’ll happily step in and bring that title back to Ireland,” Quigley stated.
Quigley was roughed up and stopped after nine rounds in his biggest fight to date, a bout with Tureano Johnson in 2019. He’s rebounded with three straight wins, including a majority decision over Shane Mosley Jr on May 29 of this year. And he feels he’s improved enough that he can cause a major upset.
“I’m at the perfect stage in my life and my career to deal with this situation. I’m not the young kid now living for the whole excitement of fighting for a world title,” he said. “I know that I can bring stuff to the table that is going to upset him, make him see things that he’s not always seen inside the ring.”
Andrade, 33, is a two-division titleholder who’s never really had what you’d call a “big fight.” He won the WBO middleweight title in 2018, beating Walter Kautondokwa for the vacant belt, and has made successful defenses against Artur Akavov, Maciej Sulecki, Luke Keeler, and Liam Williams.
Attempts to lure the likes of Canelo Alvarez, Gennadiy Golovkin, or Jermall Charlo into a fight have been fruitless, leading many to believe that “Boo Boo” truly is among the sport’s most avoided fighters, that that’s not just a thing he’s saying. Quigley has at least stepped up to take the shot, and will get that chance to live up to the early hype.