Once the top U.S.-based Irish middleweight prospect, Jason Quigley finally makes his New York debut in the bowels of the hallowed Madison Square Garden this Saturday. The Donegal product faces world-ranked Edgar Berlanga in a 12-rounder for the Puerto Rican’s WBO NABO super middleweight title.
It’s a crossroads fight of sorts for Quigley, who’s 32 and has a 20-2 [14 KO] ledger, against an undefeated, monster punching foe [20-0, 16 KOs], six years his junior. Berlanga is ranked #5 in the world by the WBO, and #11 by both the IBF and WBC.
Berlanga fights for the first time under the Matchroom banner after penning a multi-fight deal with Eddie Hearn in February. In Quigley, he faces a dangerous foe.
For Quigley, who fought out of California for a few years after turning pro in 2014, defeating Berlanga could set up a bigger fight with super middleweight superstar Canelo Alvarez.
“There are a lot of tasty fights at super-middleweight for me,” Quigley told The Irish Sun. “That is all dependent on fight night and I am not looking past Berlanga. This is a world title fight for me because I know what this one can do for me.
"Yes, it definitely would be nice to headline the 3Arena - or even go bigger than that, if you got a Canelo fight in Croke Park!”
But that’s dependent on Quigley beating Berlanga.
“I know that Berlanga is already looking well past me and already talking about Canelo. That will play right into my hands. It’s easy to hype a man up, but when you strip it down and put it all in black and white, Berlanga is nowhere near a Canelo fight. He has a lot of pressure on him.”
Quigley also told the Irish Sun that he’d have former world middleweight champion trainer Andy Lee in his corner for the fight.
“Andy will be the main man in the corner. It’s massive. It’s huge. We have done everything these past few years together, drilling techniques, drilling game plans and creating a bond and relationship. To have him in the corner is massive.”
LETHAL LARRY TRIUMPHS
Clones transplant “Lethal” Larry Fryers captured the fringe WBB super lightweight title last Friday with sixth round technical decision over Dimash Niyazo in Atlantic City.
A naturalized American originally from Shymkent, Kazakhstan, Niyazo had been taking a pummeling from Fryers in the scheduled 10-rounder when he fell out of the ring following a clinch on the ropes. He was unable to continue when he got back in the ring.
Clones native "Lethal" Larry Fryers celebrates after capturing the WBB super
lightweight title in Atlantic City last Friday.
“I won every round of the fight and at that stage, and he was well beaten,” said Fryers, who’s 32 and fighting out of Westerlo, New York, outside Albany. “His face was a complete mess, with left eye swollen shut and nose bleeding.”
Trained by Andrew Schott, Fryers improved his record to 13-6-1 [5 KOs] with his second straight victory after a run of five defeats and one draw. The Brooklyn-based Niyazov, who’s 34, suffered just his second pro defeat [14-2, 6 KOs].
On what’s next, Fryers said: “I’m waiting on a call from my manager [Russell Peltz]. We’ll either defender the title or seek another one.”
