DONEGAL super-middleweight Jason Quigley will have to survive “in the trenches” says Edgar Berlanga who insists he has only the Irishman in his sights.
Berlanga (20-0 with 16 stoppage wins) is heavily fancied to beat Ballybofey’s Quigley in Saturday night’s WBO international super-middleweight contest at Madison Square Garden and the home town favourite boasts he is “on a different level”.
“Jason is a great fighter,” he said.
“He thinks I’m overlooking him, maybe I am in the sense that I believe I am on a different level to him. The fights that I want to make happen, I must perform this weekend, I need to look spectacular. So, I am not overlooking him, far from it, but I want to prove that I am better than him.
“I’ve looked him in the eyes, we’ll do it again on Thursday, and on Friday, and then fight night, it’s on, time to take off the shackles and unleash the beast. There’s going to be more tension as the week goes on - he’s in my hometown, he’s going to be in the trenches on Saturday.
“I needed the rounds. I am back with Mark Farrait, my coach that created the monster, and that’s amazing. We were separated for three years but now he’s back when the timing is important, and I think you’re going to see something explosive.
“I have a lot to prove to myself. I have a chip on my shoulder. If the knockout comes that’s great, but I have to go in and handle my business. Look sharp, smart, do my thing.”
Quigley is determined to return to the world title stage and beating Berlanga on his home soil will certainly get him there.
“If he wants to be thinking about Canelo and slabbering back and forth to Billy Joe Saunders, that’s fine, that’s him taking his eye off the ball,” he said.
