- Jason Quigley (centre) pictured at the weigh in with, from left: his girlfriend April McManus; Rachel Charles of Sheer Sports Management; coach Courage Tshabalala; coach Manny Robles; Donegal News Sports Writer Chris McNulty; and Donegal Boxing Board President Peter O’Donnell.
FROM CHRIS MCNULTY AT FANTASY SPRINGS, INDIO
JASON Quigley (5-0) has weighed for his clash with Joshua Snyder (9-11-1) on Thursday night, the Ballybofey man tipping the scales at 161.4lbs ahead of the four-round middleweight bout.
Quigley and Snyder go toe-to-toe at the Fantasy Springs Resort, Indio, California in a Fox Sports televised fight as part of a fight night hosted by Golden Boy Promotions.
Quigley, who has the scalps of Hoard Reece, Fernando Najera, Greg McCoy, Lanny Dardar and Tolutomi Agunbiade to his name after his first twelve months as a professional in California, again has the look in the eyes of a man ready to go to war.
The 23-year-old is in the lobby of the rather grand Fantasy Springs with the temperature gauges touching 40 degrees – but his own mind is relaxed assured.
“No matter when it is, I get in there with confidence,” Quigley told the Donegal News.
“If I wasn’t confident I wouldn’t go through the ropes. The reason I am 110 per cent confident is that I know the work I’ve put in. I know the sparring I’ve had, the rounds I’ve done, the runs I’ve done. This is the enjoyable part – putting everything I’ve worked on on show.
“I’m really looking forward to getting in there and putting on a good performance.”
Snyder, who weighed in at 160.4lbs, is an experienced 35-year-old out of Maryland, USA, who hasn’t had many bouts in recent times.
In the last two years, Snyder has boxed just twice, losing to Justin DeLoach in October and last month he was stopped in the opening round by Travell Mazion.
With five defeats on the trot, you have to go back to November 2011 to find his last win, a split decision win over Maxell Taylor, but there are some notable fights on his card.
In April 2010, Snyder went the distance – but lost on a unanimous decision – with Matt Korobov, who lost to Andy Lee in December for the vacant WBO middleweight crown in Las Vegas.
Quigley says: “He’ll be a tough operator. That fight might be a few years ago, but in pro boxing you can’t look over any opponent.
“One shot can change the whole fight. I never really worry too much about opponents because I’ve always been used fighting guys that I didn’t know.
“I just get in and concentrate on my own performance. I get into that ring and make sure I make it as difficult as possible for the guy across the ropes from me.
“This boy is trying to take a dream of mine away so whoever it is will be in for a tough night.”
The Quigley-Snyder bout will be the television opener on Fox Sports, getting underway at 7pm local time (3am Friday Irish time).
Jason Quigley and his opponent, Joshua Snyder
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