JUST TWO YEARS ago, Jason Quigley returned from Almaty in Kazakhstan with a World silver medal.
Beaten by Zhanibek Alimkhanuly in the men’s middleweight final, it was the closing chapter for Quigley the amateur and the beginning of the book of Quigley the professional all in the one swoop.
Everything changed and changed utterly the following April when he inked a deal at the offices of Golden Boy Promotions in Los Angeles.
Now, Quigley is rubbing shoulders with the elite names of the sweet science.
At the same time, he’s watching and learning.
After all, these are the boys to whom he aspires.
Last month, he had a ringside perch to see Gennady Golovkin defeat David Lemieux – with whom Quigley had sparred in the lead-up – in a middleweight title unification bout.
This Saturday, Quigley hopes to catch the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto fight at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. 24 hours earlierm Quigley will have had the ninth bout of his own pro career and hopes to add a ninth ko win to his record.
“It’s like being back at school,” Quigley told Donegal Sport Hub.
“I’m in there watching these boys and then I go away and do my homework. Of course I enjoy it, the time being there in New York and taking in the atmosphere, but the reason I’m there is to see what they do: at press conferences, at weigh-ins, on the days of their fight, behind the scenes.
“See, my ambition is to be a world champion, fighting the big fights in the big arenas. I don’t want anything to be a surprise for me when I get there. I want it to be normal and I want to be comfortable.
“That’s where I want to go. These guys have what I have set out to get.
“I turned professional to become a world champion. These boys are world champions so I have to look at what they’re doing differently that makes them stand out – what they do and what they don’t do.
“I’m not shooting the gun, jumping the gun or looking past this week’s fight, but that is my end goal – to be a world champion.
“You do look ahead to stuff like that. You have to have a dream. You have to have a vision. Mine is to be a world champion.”
Quigley, who is 8-0 from his first eight pro contests, will meet a yet-to-be-confirmed opponent at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Vegas this Friday night.
“It’s another fight for my record,” he said. “It’s a chance for me to take a step up the ladder. No matter who is in there, it’s a stepping stone.
“I’m delighted that they’re keeping me busy – it means that I’m ready all the time and I’m not getting ring-rusty.”
The Canelo-Cotto fight has been dubbed the Fight of the Year by many and America’s real boxing officiandos will all be in Vegas this weekend.
“It’s massive to be in the same city to fight on the same weekend as Cotto and Canelo. It’s a chance to show myself to the hardcore boxing fans – and these people really are diehard boxing fans.
“I want to show these people what I’m here to do. These people live here in the capital of professional boxing. They see what goes on every day. They are about the gyms and they see champions rise and fall. They see it all. Hopefully I can put myself in their heads.”
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