Donegal middleweight Jason Quigley has surrendered his North American title after being stopped in the ninth round of a ten-round bout by Bahamian fighter Tureano Johnson at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California last night.
The fight was the main event of a Golden Boy Boxing card, and Quigley had said before the bout that it was his latest step towards a potential world title fight saying, "we have a three or four-fight plan now to get a world title."
The former European amateur champion Quigley was unable to continue following the ninth round when he was hit by a severe body shot, with his trainer Dominic Ingle stopping the fight.
🇧🇸🔥@Tureano1984 defeats the unbeaten @jay_quigley by corner stoppage at the beginning of round 9! #QuigleyJohnson #GBxDAZN’s Thursday Night Fights pic.twitter.com/KIoVJC2hxc
— Golden Boy (@GoldenBoyBoxing) July 19, 2019
The first two rounds went well for the Donegal fighter, however from the third Johnson began to get the upper hand with the Bahamian fighter laying in a series of hits into Quigley.
Speaking after the fight to Golden Boy Promotions, Johnson said, "Quigley is a dangerous fighter, trust me. Whoever is getting ready to fight him better get ready because this boy has got heart. I threw the kitchen sink and a car behind me and the boy would not quit."
The Ballybofey man said to the new champions afterward that "you deserved the victory tonight. I congratulate you and wish you all the best in the future."
Quigley won the NABF middleweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Glen Tapia at the same Indio venue in March of 2017. An outing earlier this year in March saw him beat Mathias Eklund by TKO. And he's also beaten Daniel Rosario Cruz and Freddy "El Riel" Hernandez.
The defeat overnight in California will have put the Donegal fighter's hopes to challenge for a world title fight on hold.
