Jason Quigley defeats Glen Tapia to win regional belt, figures many more on way

Jason Quigley/Photo courtesy of BoxRec.com

 

Jason Quigley of Ireland won a regional middleweight title on Thursday when he took a unanimous decision over Glen Tapia in the main event at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio. Quigley, ranked No. 10 by one governing body, believes it’s just the beginning of bigger things to come.

“I’m taking this little bambino (title belt) home with me, to my people in Donegal, Ireland and celebrate with my loved ones,” Quigley said. “Then when I come back, I’m going to celebrate with my team. Everyone here has been on my team since my performance on the Canelo-Lara undercard, and this is a steppingstone to many more belts that are coming my way.”

Quigley (13-0, 10 KOs) opened his pro career with a TKO of Howard Reece on July 12, 2014 on the undercard of the junior middleweight bout between Canelo Alvarez and Erislandy Lara won by Alvarez via split-decision at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

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Golden Boy’s Eric Gomez says Liam Smith could be Canelo’s toughest test

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Canelo Alvarez shakes out during a workout Wednesday in San Diego/Photo by Tom Hogan/Golden Boy Promotions

 

Golden Boy Promotions vice-president Eric Gomez on Thursday during a conference call said he believes Liam Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) of England will likely be Canelo Alvarez’s toughest test to date when they square off Sept. 17 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas (on HBO pay-per-view) for Smith’s junior middleweight title. Considering Alvarez has fought the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Miguel Cotto, Erislandy Lara and James Kirkland, that’s very difficult to believe.

But of course, with all the negativity surrounding Alvarez and his and Golden Boy’s ducking of middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin, it’s not surprising to hear someone connected with the promotion speaking in hyperbolic tones.

Alvarez (47-1-1, 33 KOs) himself seemed to go to his own extreme in that regard during a workout Wednesday in San Diego.

“In our training, we have taken a huge focus on the opponent’s fighting style – no matter what size or weight,” said Alvarez, of Mexico. “Analyzing and breaking down the fighter’s approach is what we go after in the ring. Just because Smith isn’t very well known in the U.S. doesn’t diminish how tough he is as an opponent. We expect him to be very powerful, and we are training for that.”

Mayweather handed Alvarez his lone defeat in September 2013. Suffice to say, Smith is no Mayweather. Lara gave Alvarez all he could handle in July 2014, Alvarez just sneaking by with a split-decision victory.

 Gomez pointed out Thursday that Smith is on a streak of eight consecutive knockouts. That’s fine, except that none of those opponents he stopped are terrific fighters. One – Robert Talarek – was 10-8-2. Another – David Romero – was 11-5. Both of those bouts took place in 2015.
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Oscar De La Hoya says fight with Erislandy Lara is personal for ‘Canelo’

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Saul “Canelo” Alvarez/photo by Tom Hogan – Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions

A lot of smack has been talked by Cuba’s Erislandy Lara ahead of his July 12 junior middleweight title fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico at MGM Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view).

Oscar De La Hoya, who is promoting the fight under his Golden Boy Promotions banner, believes Alvarez has taken Lara’s mouthing off to heart.

“It’s going to be a great fight; I don’t want to predict anything,” De La Hoya said Tuesday. “Lara has been doing a lot of trash-talking that has been fueling ‘Canelo.’ I see him at an entirely different level and it’s exactly where he should be. He’s at a level of determination where he really wants to get this guy. It’s personal.”

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Showtime video previewing undercard of ‘Canelo’ Alvarez-Erislandy Lara on July 12

This Showtime video previews the undercard for the July 12 junior middleweight showdown between Saul “Canelo” Alvarez of Mexico and Erislandy Lara of Cuba at MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Showtime pay-per-view. Just click on the link.

http://youtu.be/5neyd-mr_Do

 

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Marcos Maidana-Josesito Lopez to be replayed tonight on Showtime Extreme

The hard-hitting welterweight bout between Marcos Maidana of Argentina and Josesito Lopez of Riverside won by Maidana via 6th-round TKO at Home Depot Center this past Saturday will be replayed tonight at 7 (10 p.m. on the East Coast) on Showtime Extreme.

A record sellout crowd of 8,629 took in the event that was televised live by Showtime.

Also on tonight’s replay will be the junior middleweight semi-main event between Erislandy Lara of Cuba of Alfredo Angulo of Mexico. That ended in the 10th round when Angulo appeared to suffer a broken left orbital bone as the area ballooned to grotesque proportions. Moments after taking a hard punch to the eye from Lara, Angulo turned his back and the referee stopped the fight, Lara getting a TKO.

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Erislandy Lara of Cuba is not about to apologize for his style in the ring

Alfredo Angulo has tried to get under the skin of Erislandy Lara, his opponent Saturday at Home Depot Center, by insinuating that like many Cubans, Lara still has an amateur style that is not all that pleasing to fans.

“No, I’m a technical fighter,” said Lara, who defected from Cuba in 2008 after a failed attempt in 2007. “I’m a technical fighter and he’s a brawler, and we’ll see who has the longer career. But the Cuban fighters are the best technical fighters in the world.”

Lara, the 2005 amateur world champion at welterweight, is 17-1-2 with 11 knockouts. Angulo is 22-2 with 18 knockouts. Their junior middleweight fight will be televised by Showtime on the undercard of the welterweight main event between Marcos Maidana of Argentina and Josesito Lopez of Riverside.

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