To a different sort of ring for Jason Quigley after winning return

An upcoming date was in mind as Jason Quigley went to work on Gabor Gorbics.

Quigley took to the canvas of the National Stadium for the first time in ten years on Saturday night. A dominant points win over Hungarian journeyman Gorbics ended 16 months of inactivity for the Ballybofey man.

At times, his raucous audience sensed a stoppage, but Quigley was content to get ten rounds under his belt. A 30-minute stay in the ring did wonders in shaking off the ring rust.

Watching from the stage was his long-time partner April McManus, one of those who certainly would’ve preferred an early ending. At the end of the month, the couple get married and the walk down the aisle of the Church of Mary Immaculate in Stranorlar was firmly in Quigley’s thoughts as the fight went down its home stretch.

Jason Quigley lined up for open air show in Dublin

Barry Walsh from Elite Sports Promotions says he '100%' wants Quigley to headline an open air show to be held in Lucan this summer

An awkward, often erratic Gorbics swung wildly at times. Quigley just wanted a clean night’s work. 

“I hope everybody doesn’t slate me but I have a wedding coming up at the end of the month and I didn’t want no cuts or anything,” Quigley said.

“I knew he was dangerous with his head. He came in a few times with his head when he threw his hooks. I didn’t really want to engage too much with him in case he threw the head and I got a cut or a mark or anything. I’m sure the wedding would’ve still went ahead!”

After losing to Demetrius Andrade in November 2021, sustaining a broken jaw in the process, the questions surfaced over what was next for Quigley.

The options were weighed up but, ultimately, he came to the conclusion that there was more to give and more to get.

Gorbics, a late replacement after Anatoli Hunanyan - himself a substitute for the injured Kim Poulsen - had to pull out last week, offered Quigley a chance to get another W on his resume.

Quigley said: “I didn’t throw the kitchen sink at him but I did throw some heavy shots at him. I definitely hurt him big time to the body, I could hear him wincing, but he’s a tough operator and knows how to survive in there.

“I think it was the perfect fight for me to come back after the Andrade fight. He’s a very tough, very durable boy. He knows how to survive in there. It worked for me as well, coming back after being out for nearly two years, getting a good ten rounds in, in front of a home crowd in an unbelievable atmosphere. It was very enjoyable in there.”

He hadn’t fought at the South Circular road since 2013, a medal-laden year that launched him into the professional ranks.

He worked closely in the build-up to his return with Shane O’Sullivan, a sports psychologist.

“I kept myself disciplined and fully focused getting into the ring,” Quigley said.

“It’s not that I was out of the ring for injuries or anything, it’s because I was coming off a heavy defeat and there was definitely question marks over what’s next for me in my career.

“I had to overcome a lot in the build-up, a lot of memories from the last fight, so I’m very happy with the way that I controlled myself before the fight.”

Quigley keeps a small team around him. It’s a close-knit operation that works well for Quigley. Ego doesn’t exist in Team Quigley, nor would it be allowed enter their stratosphere.

“There’s been a lot of ups and downs,” he said. “This was definitely one of those ups. I’m very lucky. You’ll see a small circle of people around me and that small circle of people mean a lot to me. They’ve been with me through the highs and the lows, they’ve stuck by my side.”

Quigley’s coach Andy Lee, who has become a close friend since the pair first linked up in 2019, was unable to be at ringside due to his commentary commitments with DAZN. Roger Lee, his brother, stood in to corner Quigley.

“Andy’s been unbelievable,” the Ballybofey man said.

“There’s so many people talking, ‘why is he not in your corner’ or whatever, but there’s been legitimate reasons.

“If anybody could see the work and the advice and the one-to-one sessions that me and Andy have had outside of that, the amount of stuff that I’ve learned from him, it has just been very unfortunate that he hasn’t been able to make it into the ring.

“No matter what in life, we have to adapt as well, and these wee hurdles that are being thrown at me are hopefully preparing me for something. I’ve been working a lot on adapting to certain scenarios, making the best of the situations that we’re given.”

Quigley has begun dipping his toes into management and is being eyed up to headline an open air show in Dublin this summer by Barry Walsh of Elite Sports Promotions, who jointly promoted Saturday’s show with Sheer Sports Management.

Walsh revealed plans for a show in July at a ten-acre site in Lucan with a capacity for 5,500 people.

“We have a great pool of lads and we have big ambitions,” Walsh said. “It’s about getting the right next step. Jason deserves a world title. He has given his life to that ring.”

Robert Diaz, the former Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker, is another who still has big hopes for Quigley, who seems set to be the headline act to take the new joint venture into an exciting future.