A vicious sixth-round stoppage of Daniel Rosario announced Jason Quigley’s return to the ring in Quincy.
By Chris McNulty, Ringside at Marina Bay Sportsplex
Quigley brought Rosario’s night to an abrupt ending with a left hook two minutes and 51 seconds into the sixth round. Quigley might have ditched the ‘El Animal’ moniker from his days in Los Angeles, but that ‘caged animal’ he spoke of pre-fight was unleashed in some style
It was the second time in the stanza that Quigley dropped Rosario. A left hook to the liver sent the Puerto Rican to the canvas and Quigley sensed the kill.
Soon, Rosario was down again and the referee, Mike Ryan, was in to call a halt as Quigley moved to 14-0, 11KOs.
In 14 fights, Rosario had never been stopped with the three losses on his card all coming by decisions, in ten rounders to Edgar Ortega in 2014, to Norberto Gonzalez in 2016 and in his only fight of 2017, when he was beaten by John Vera.
Quigley was out of action for just over a year due to an injured right hand, but it was the left that did the damage here to give the Ballybofey man his first win under new trainer Dominic Ingle.
The wild-swinging Rosario tacked Quigley a couple of times in the opening round as the Donegal puncher shook off the rust from a year of inaction.
Just as the bell for the end of the first came into sound, Quigley appeared to hurt Rosaio, but the teak-tough Puerto Rican shook the head clear.
Quigley put Rosario to the canvas in the second round, but the referee ruled that ‘El Duro’ had slipped. It was certainly unfortunate for Quigley that he didn’t get the knockdown.
Quigley continued to do his best work to the body of the 30-year-old through the middle rounds and as round six was coming to a close, Quigley shut the lights out.
Quigley walked to the ring with a remix of Óró Sé do Bheatha Bhaile blaring around the compact arena.
It was Quigley’s first bout in the Boston area since a 2014 stoppage of Greg McCoy in Plymouth and only his second time on America’s east coast as a professional.
The Ballybofey man’s following was considerably boosted by a loyal following, including his mother Muriel and girlfriend April McManus, who made the journey, with Boston’s Donegal connections out in force.
Rosario was a pound over the 160lb limit at the weigh-in, with Quigley entering looking every inch the razor sharp 159.4lbs he tipped the scales – and he grew stronger as this one advanced before, eventually, striking the killer blow.
Quigley was between the ropes for the first time in 53 weeks, the time off owing to a hand injury sustained last March as he defeated Glen Tapia to win the NABF middleweight title.
It had been a win that ought to have catapulted Quigley right into the limelight of the middleweight division.
During his recovery, Quigley made some significant changes to his camp, moving his base from Los Angeles to Sheffield, where he trains under Ingle.
Quigley had only gone the distance three times in his first 13 fights in the pro game, including that triumph over Tapia, when he boxed eight rounds without the use of his damaged right paw.
And with one lethal swing of the left hand he handed Rosario his first KO defeat, as he now drops to 11-4.
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