Jason Quigley was stopped by a scintillating performance from Demetrius Andrade in their WBO World Middleweight title fight in New Hampshire on Friday night.
Donegal’s Quigley was always going to have his work cut out against the fearsome unbeaten Andrade despite going in with a 19-1 record. As it was, it only lasted into the second round as Andrade delivered the knockout blow with 36 seconds still to go, a 19th knockout and 31st win out of 31 fights in the Rhode Island fighter’s career.
It was the second time Quigley had hit the canvas after also going down under the weight of an Andrade attack in the first.
“I feel disappointed,” Quigley said afterwards. “I’m disappointed that it was over so quickly. I was put down, yeah, but it was like a flash knockdown and I felt as if there was a lot more in me and a lot more to give.
“I’m disappointed that I didn’t have the time to give more. I feel very disappointed for all of the fans who travelled over and came to support me. They didn’t get the right chance to have a better atmosphere.
“I was put down, but I wasn’t hurt. Everything the ref asked me to do, I did it: Take a step left, take a step right, I was almost doing it before him.”
Quigley was roared on by a decent contingent of Irish fans and was disappointed not to have delivered for them.
“It was a special atmosphere. It’s a bittersweet one because it was special with the atmosphere and the support, which was unbelievable. I’m just so disappointed that I didn’t get the chance to make more of an atmosphere after traveling all this way.
“I’m disappointed with my own performance. I was happy with the way things were going. I was doing the things me and Andy had planned on doing. I felt comfortable. I didn’t feel in danger until he landed. Even when I got up, I didn’t feel that I was in trouble.
“I’m looking forward to spending time with my family and having a good time with them over Christmas. I put a lot of time and dedication into this fight. I’m not even going to think about what’s next. I want to spend some time with my family first.”
