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Training camp with benefits for Donegal home boy Quigley

Jason Quigley is looking to maintain his march towards a middleweight world title
Jason Quigley is looking to maintain his march towards a middleweight world title

Jason Quigley said that he will be ready to light up Eddie Hearn's back garden in August as the middleweight contender looks set to take on English fighter Jack Cullen.

The Donegal native is expected to be part of a pay-per-view card in the unique setting of the residence of Matchroom promoter Hearn, who is planning to host several summer boxing card from the comfort of his own back yard. 

As the boxing world looks to work its way out of the coronavirus crisis, Hearn has started planning for these bouts that will be television-only events with social distancing measures in place for the behind-closed-doors cards. 

Quigley is currently locked down in Donegal and staying fit and sharp training in his hometown ahead of a more intensive camp back in Dublin that will be required to sharpen his skills ahead of the bout. 

And while the entire country is coping with the Covid-19 pandemic and staying within their five-kilometre zone, Quigley admits that from a boxing point of view, it has been quite an enjoyable experience. 

Once Quigley knew that there was a fight on the horizon, it has allowed him to revert to type and put himself in boxing-camp mode, and the Ballybofey boxer is finding things a lot easier as he remains close to home. 

"The plan was for me to fight on the Dillian Whyte and Katie Taylor undercard in Manchester in May and the plan now is that that card will go ahead in the back garden of Eddie Hearn’s house," said Quigley, speaking on 2fm’s Game On. 

"That’s the plan if everything gets the green light and approval and that is looking like early August. 

"Nobody has been through this [coronavirus pandemic] before, but now we are taking a positive approach on things with sport starting to come back, and what better way than to be on the same card as Katie and Dillian Whyte.

"A lot of boxers would have found lockdown quite beneficial as it is very like a training camp; we can’t go anywhere and we can’t do anything but train. 

"And when you finish training at a training camp, you are usually coming home to a room on your own and something more isolated and more locked down.

"So for me I have been going about my day training and the best thing about it is that I am doing it all around my own home and going for my runs in my own area up here in Donegal."

Quigley explained that usually in the boxing world, things can be quite hectic with fights getting made and then cancelled, while travelling around the world is also a major part of the sport once a fight has been agreed. 

And while the 18-1-0 fighter is enjoying the benefits of his familiar Donegal base, he knows that the real work will need to be done back in Dublin alongside coach and former world champion Andy Lee. 

"I’m really enjoying this time as the boxing calendar can be quite crazy as one minute the fight is on, next minute there is no fight, you’re at training camps, you’re flying for fights. 

"But now I’m out training then coming home to my house, chilling at home and it is great for me and I am really enjoying it. 

"If you have a gym at home you can get the training and the hard work in, but for boxers to get fight fit and get the sharpness, we need top quality sparring and that is the difficult part, and sometimes we need to travel for that. 

"But I have a great base now with Andy Lee in Dublin so once everything is lifted, we are going to get back to work up there. 

"We’ll be putting the head down, working hard and getting ready to go over and light up Eddie Hearn’s back garden. 

"I’m in touch [with Andy] a few times a week. Andy sends up the training plans, and I can send him videos of me doing the bag work and he can analyse them and give me feedback and tweak things that might improve my performances." 

And while Quigley is itching to get back into the ring to maintain his quest to mirror his coach’s career and land a world title belt, he has also seen a clearer, bigger picture that has been learned while living through these uncertain times. 

"The lockdown has shown us that we don’t need all these extravagant things to live and we don’t need the busy lifestyles and the hecticness in our lives to get by.

"And I think this has helped everyone to pause and look deep down into themselves to see what they enjoy doing and what took up a lot of time in their life that had no real purpose. 

"We can now do the things we want to do that are good for our own wellbeing and mental and physical health." 

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