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Jason Quigley Secures WBO Middleweight World title Shot

Jason Quigley [19(14)-1(1)]  will challenge Demetrius Andrade [30(18)-0] for his WBA world title in New England on November 17.

Quigley and the American have been linked for some time now and rumour continually suggested a deal and an announcement were imminent.

Indeed Irish-boxing.com understood Matchroom were set to confirm the Ballybofey will become the latest Irish fighter to secure a shot at world glory on Monday afternoon.

However, ESPN’s Mike Coppinger has let the cat out of the bag and confirmed the fight this evening.

It means the Donegal middleweight will challenge for the same title his coach Andy Lee won by defeating Matvey Korobov in December of 2014.

The match up also see’s Quigley become the second Irish middle to try and dethrone ‘Boo Boo’. Ballyfermot’s Luke Keeler challenged the undefeated champion in January of 2020 and came out second best.

The Golden Boy fighter called out the world champion after he defeated Shane Mosley live on DAZN in May. Matchroom’s Andrade responded via Irish-boxing.com, stating he was willing to defend against Irish opposition for a second time in his career if he couldn’t get Gennady Golovkin or Canelo Alvarez into the ring.

The American then said he would face Quigley if DAZN felt it was a big enough fight. Quigley then revealed talks were ongoing, Eddie Hearn talked positively about the pairing and it was finally officially confirmed as good to go today.

It’s a massive opportunity for the popular fighter and a massive turnaround from where he was at after a 2019 Tureano Johnson defeat.

At that stage the World Amateur silver medal winner was forced to do some soul searching and make some changes, now just three wins later and he has the chance to join Katie Taylor as a reigning Irish world champion.

Andrade, 33, won the vacant title by defeating Walter Kautondokwa in 2018 and has since successfully defended it four times. The Rhode Island fighter has since looked for unifications and big name fights but to no avail. Most of his challengers query the level of opposition he has faced and question whether or not he is genuine elite level but he remains unbeaten and always seems to find a way to win without over-taxing himself.

The world title fight will be broadcast on DAZN and promoted by Matchroom.

Jonny Stapleton

Irish-boxing.com contributor for 15 years and editor for the past decade. Have been covering boxing for over 16 years and writing about sports for a living for over 20 years. Former Assistant Sports editor for the Gazette News Paper Group and former Tallaght Voice Sports Editor. Have had work published in publications around the world when working as a freelance journalist. Also co-founder of Junior Sports Media and Leinster Rugby PRO of the Year winner. email: editoririshboxing@gmail.com

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