When Jason Quigley steps back into the Vegas ring on 29 May, it will come as something of a relief for the Donegal man.
The 29-year-old, who is now under the tutelage of Andy Lee, has had a long wait since his last fight which came all the way back in January 2020 when he defeated Mexican fighter Fernando Marin in California.
Upcoming opponent Shane Mosley Jr (17-3) has had a couple of fights under his belt since Quigley last fought competitively as the Irish contender recorded back-to-back wins in the months after his first career loss which came in 2019.
With almost a year and a half without a pro fight, Quigley has had to find a way to keep mentally and physically sharp while biding his time.
"It's been a funny old time," he tells RTÉ Sport as the clock ticks down to his Friday flight Stateside for the final stages of fight prep.
"I'm very lucky in the way that I am, just in general. I always like to keep in shape. I like to stay in shape and whether it's running or boxing training, if I don't have a fight coming up, I like to get out for runs, do bits of strength work and even a bit of five-a-side football now and again whenever you could.
"I like to stay active anyway which is always good. But it obviously has been difficult because anybody that's been following it, they know that five or six fights that were meant to be happening - good, decent fights and the Canelo fight was on the horizon at one stage - and it was a year full of one minute you're fighting the biggest fight of your life and the next minute it's not happening and you have no fight."
Canelo Alvarez, the number one pound for pound fighter in the world, is a target Quigley has long spoken of wanting to tackle on the horizon and at one point last year he was on a very select shortlist to take on the dominant Mexican.
"I had a phone call from Golden Boy (about whether I) will I take the fight and of course I said, '100%, I'll take that fight' and they said, 'No problem, you're on the shortlist now of three other fighters and we'll get back to you if everything is going to be approved,'" he explains.
"So I was on the shortlist with three other fighters and I was just waiting for the phone call to say 'the fight's on and you're getting the contract'. There was no contract signed or anything but verbally I'd agreed to take the fight and I was told it was a possibility but it didn't happen. But here we are now and maybe it will be in the future."
So he was an interested observer when Canelo took on and beat Billy Joe Saunders just over a week ago, making a rare exception to stay up and watch the fight.
"Especially when I'm in a training camp, I don't usually get up for fights that are on at four or five in the morning but I went to bed an extra hour or two early to get up for that fight and whenever that fight was over, I couldn't get back to sleep because I was buzzing watching it," says Quigley.
"These things excite me, the possibility that these type of fights are down the line. It excites you and gets you ready and gets you hyped up."
Last year, his trainer Lee made the point that there are two broad ways to win a fight: hit the opponent with something they don't see coming or fight at a pace that they cannot live with.
The former WBO Middleweight world champion is confident Quigley will be able to get up to pace from the off against Mosley Jr in their battle for the NABO middleweight title regardless of how long he has been out of the ring.
Not long now 😉 10rounds banked today 🥊
— Jason Quigley (@jay_quigley) May 12, 2021
.#May29th #QuigleyMosleyJnr @GoldenBoyBoxing @DAZNBoxing @MatchroomBoxing pic.twitter.com/ArkJkmqLiY
"Jason, I think he's had plenty of good sparring, he hasn't fought and there might be a little bit of rustiness there but he's going to have to deal with that," the Limerick native tells RTÉ Sport.
"Mosley has had that activity. He's fought recently so he has the edge in terms of that but if you look at Jason's amateur career and the class of a fighter that he is, Mosley being active shouldn't level the score. Jason Quigley's still leagues ahead of him.
"It is a good fight, a dangerous fight, and if Jason's not switched on or has an off-night, he might get beaten because Mosley Jr technically he has some deficiencies but he has attitude to make up for it. He will come to win and he comes to fight and if you're not up for that, he's going to turn you over so Jason knows what he's up against and knows exactly what he has to do to win."
And as Quigley points out, Mosley Jr "comes from good genes" inherited from Shane Mosley Sr, who won multiple world titles at various weight classes as well as being named Fighter of the Year in 1998 by the prestigious Boxing Writers Association of America. Both father and son also sparred with Quigley in LA once before and the former session resonated most with the boy from Ballybofey.
Mosley Jr has not hit that pedigree in his 20-fight career but like Lee, Quigley is under no illusion that he will need to be at his best to beat him and continue on the trajectory that he hopes will take him towards world title contention.
But he feels the experience of fighting on the big stage previously is one area in which he will have an advantage against his American opponent.
"For Shane Mosley Jr, this is going to be his first belt that he's going for. It's going to be new and all for him but for me, this is business. This is just me getting in there now and taking care of business, getting over this hurdle and marching on into the next one," says Quigley.
Lee adds that 29 May is almost like a "second career" opportunity for Quigley who he describes as "dream" to work with and a consummate professional.
"He's had to suffer from that (2019) loss and the opportunities haven't been given to him which happens whenever you lose in boxing," says Lee.
"But he's had two years since then. He's been working hard and improving all the time and now it's time - like I said, it's almost like a second career for him now - to use all that experience that he's banked but to come out and show a new freshness but not a completely new style but a newer version of himself."
And Quigley has credited Lee's expert influence in and out of the gym as well as being involved in Joseph Parker's training camp for the recent Derek Chisora fight with helping him to make tweaks to his approach entering this crucial crossroad in his career.
"There's definitely a few tweaks that I have made to my boxing ability and my boxing technique. Nothing major, just a few little tweaks that's going to improve me," he says.
"And mentally, I think there has been a more significant change in the approach to boxing and approach to a fight, training and everything about the game that I'm in."
