THREE YEARS AGO today, a Donegal boxer previously unproven at senior level in Europe stood atop a podium in The Sports Palace in Minsk, Belarus after winning the European senior middleweight title.
Just four months previously, Jason Quigley had won his first ever Irish senior crown when he defeated Roy Sheahan in the final.
Quigley – now 11-0 as a professional in America – went to Belarus as an unknown among the senior boxers of the continent.
But they were soon taking note of the Finn Valley ABC man.
[adrotate group=”57″]Quigley took out Austria’s Arbi Charkaev and Germany’s Stefan Haertel before sending the shockwaves rippling across Europe when he sent the then world champion, Ukraine’s Evhen Khytrov, an Olympian, crashing out in the semi-finals.
That sent him into a final meeting with Romania’s Bogdan Juratoni.
On June 8, 2013, Quigley defeated Juratoni to win European senior gold, his third gold at European level having also claimed titles at Youth and Under-23 levels.
[adrotate group=”38″]Quigley was physically tiring as the bout advanced, but the batlling Ballybofey man came through on a split decision from the Italian, Honduras and Azerbaijan judged.
The determined Quigley – a 25/1 outsider before the start of the tournament – took the first round 30-27. A solid combination and that wiry agility was on show in the first three minutes, but Juratoni found his stride in the second round.
The Romanian, the number two seed and a bronze medal winner at the 2011 World Championships in Baku, was beginning to take the upper hand and the drained Quigley was starting to feel the pinch, as shown when forced into a wild right hander, but he found something deep in the reservoir and crashed home to take the decision – and the title.
[adrotate group=”46″]“This is a man’s one,” he said. “I’ve won the under 18s and the under 23s, but now I have the senior,” he said at the time.
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