BY CHRIS MCNULTY AT THE STUBHUB CENTER, CARSON CALIFORNIA
JASON Quigley says his big aim this weekend is just to wake up on Sunday morning with his record reading 2-0.
Following his stunning debut win over Howard Reece in Las Vegas, winning courtesy of an 82-second stoppage, the Ballybofey man takes on Mexican Fernando Najera at the StubHub Center, Carson on Saturday.
Quigley only learned of his opponent late in the week, but the Finn Valley star is confident he can get the win.
“It’s been a late call on the opponent so I haven’t had much time to suss him out, but I get into the ring and let them worry about me,” he told the Donegal News.
“I get in there and focus on my own performance. I know if I put in the best performance that I possibly can there aren’t took many people out there who’ll stop me.
“I don’t get too fussed about the opponents. It’s nice to know who you’re fighting but I’m ready. The training is done, the hard work is done and all the preparations have gone well.”
It is only a month since that fight against Reece at the MGM Grand, but a busy schedule is just what he wants.
He said: “I’m 23 years of age which is a young professional, so I don’t have to rush things. I want to gain as much experience as I can.
“I want to stay as busy as I can – not to get to the top quicker but just to make myself a better fighter. That’s why I want to stay busy and stay active – to get better and to learn the game.
“Hopefully, then, if the opportunity comes for me to fight for a World title I’ll be ready.”
Having signed a five-year contract with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions, Quigley sometimes has to pinch himself. But his new bosses clearly see the potential that lies within a man who swept the boards in the amateur game.
He said: “I have repeated this over and over: It’s just a dream come true. First of all to turn professional, then to turn professional with Golden Boy Promotions, to have my debut on the Canelo-Lara card in the MGM Grand, Las Vegas – the capital of professional boxing – and to win in the fashion I did was absolutely amazing.
“It was a really quick one. I didn’t have much time to enjoy it but I wouldn’t have had it any other way – if I could have got him out of there in 32 seconds I would have done that! It was an amazing debut and I just want to continue the good form.”
His opponent this weekend has lost three of his four fights as a professional, the 27-year-old being defeated twice by TKO.
Looking in the shape of his life at a press conference to unveil a star studded card topped by the clash of Shawn Porter and Kell Brook, Quigley says the bottom line is all that matters ahead of his second pro bout.
He said: “I don’t get in there to look for knockouts. I get in there to box, to show my talents, my skills and show what I’m good at. But as Oscar says himself, every boxer wants a knockout. It always looks good on a record to have a lot of knockouts because it strikes fear into opponents knowing you’ve a bit of power behind you.
“I’m going in to focus on my performance, to focus on giving it the best shot I can and if a knockout comes, it comes.”
Porter and Brook glove off for the IBF welterweight world title while Sakio Bika and Anthony Dirrell battle for the WBC super middleweight world title and the WBC lightweight world title is on the line when Omar Figueroa Jnr and Daniel Estrada clash.
The card also features London 2012 Gold medalist Luke Campbell.
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