ESPN commentators withdraw Jason Quigley criticism
It shocked the doctors and baffled his corner, but Jason Quigley is taking his ‘one in ten million’ hand injury in his stride – and the Ballybofey boxer has even been offered an apology of sorts from his critics.
The Donegal middleweight recorded a career-best victory when he defeated noted name Glen Tapia in the premiere episode of Golden Boy’s new series on ESPN2 at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, but hurt himself in the process.
‘El Animal’ looked like he had the power to claim a standout stoppage win early doors, but appeared to tire during the middle rounds.
However, following victory number 13 it was revealed that the 25 year severely damaged his hand in the second round.
Indeed while the in-fight commentary saw Quigley criticised heavily by the likes of Bernard Hopkins and Teddy Atlas, the post-fight chatter featured talk of a ‘one in ten million’ injury, ‘a miracle performance,’ ‘shredded tendons’ and even the ESPN pundits admitting they were wrong.
@osunaespn “not me you (Hopkins) or Teddy with a 100 yrs experience between us knew @jay_quigley was injured” 👊🏽👊🏽🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/4IytbI1mhv
— Rachel Charles (@PitchInk) April 2, 2017
Golden Boy President Eric Gomez told RingTV.com “the doctor was surprised that Jason could lift his hand — let alone win a 10-round prizefight — after breaking his hand and ‘shredding’ his tendon. This kind of heart, will and skill is what we have come to expect from Jason.”
Quigley, who underwent successful surgery on Friday, wasn’t keen to add drama and, after assuring he would make a full recovery went on to claim it was a mere bump in the road and all par for the course in the fight game.
“I suffered an injury to my hand in the second round of my fight. No excuses, this is boxing. There’s going to be broken bones and blood spilled, this is why we love this sport.”
Quigley added that “I will be back in the ring sooner than expected to continue my journey to the top. This is only a minor bump in the road.”
