|
BEST OF BRITISH? Bury super bantamweight Scott Quigg, pictured left landing a jab on Gavin Reid, is confident he can capture
the Lonsdale belt. Photo by Julie Gibson.
SCOTT QUIGG is convinced it is only a matter of time before he wins the British super bantamweight title
after booking himself a shot at the coveted Lonsdale belt.
Quigg stopped the always gritty Gavin Reid in the
ninth round of an eliminator to set up an imminent title challenge, although his trainer Brian Hughes is aiming to get a couple
of other fights in first.
“As long as I’m bang on my game I think I can beat anybody,” said Quigg
after securing a crack at the British strap held by Jason Booth.
“You’ve got to be 100% on your game
to beat anybody, you can’t be at 80%, but the British title is coming back to Bury.”
Considered one
of the hottest prospects in British boxing, Quigg had to travel beyond six rounds for the first time in his career against
Prizefighter tournament quarter-finalist Reid, but showed he has skills as well as power at Bolton Arena.
Instead
of looking for a customary early finish, the unbeaten 21-year-old picked Reid off on the back foot before upping the
ante to force referee Howard Foster’s intervention after landing a trio of solid left hooks.
Quigg was pleased
to record his 13th stoppage in 19 wins and happy he was able to box to Hughes’ orders and show a different dimension
to his game.
“I kept to the gameplan and did exactly what Brian said and thankfully I got the result,”
he said.
“I showed a different side to what I can do. If I had come out and met Gavin head-on it could have
ended up a 50/50 fight, because it was the hardest test I’ve had.
“I came out and moved and tired him
by making him miss, and when Brian said I’d chipped enough away at him, go forward and in the ninth round I put the
pressure on.”
Despite possessing knockout power in both hands, Quigg admitted he had to be on red alert himself
to fend off Redcar’s game and tough Reid, who finished with a cut right eye but was still pushing forward despite being behind
on all three scorecards.
“He is very, very tough and strong and I was at the top of my game and had to be,”
he said.
“He just keeps coming and you can’t lose your concentration for a second because look what
happened in the Prizefighter.
“Ricky Owen looked like he was all over him and the next minute Gavin put him
down.”
Quigg’s domestic rivals Matthew Marsh and Kris Hughes meet for the vacant Commonwealth title
on September 11 after their slated July 23 clash was put back when Marsh suffered whiplash and back injuries in a car crash.
Quigg gives the more experienced Marsh the edge against Scottish prospect Hughes and is confident he would have the
Londoner’s number if they meet down the line.
He added: “I think Marsh beats Hughes - too strong for
him.
“Hughes is a good and tricky southpaw. They are both very fit lads but I think Marsh will be too strong.
“Not punch too hard for him but be physically stronger and I think that will be the difference.
“I
think Marsh would come to me and I think I would stop him.”
Scottish left-hander Hughes kept busy ahead of
his Commonwealth tilt with a narrow 39-38 victory over awkward, winless Sheffield journeyman Anwar Alfadli at Rainton Meadows
Arena near Sunderland.
British champion Booth challenges Canada's IBF super bantamweight king Steve Molitor
at the same venue, also on September 11.
|
