Quick-fire Quigg claims WBA Inter-Continental bauble
Local favourite Scott Quigg produced a one-punch finish to delight his raucous following with a third round stoppage of Argentina’s Santiago Allione at the Castle Leisure Centre in Bury on Saturday night. In doing so, Quigg recorded his eighth successive stoppage win and collected the vacant WBA Inter-Continental super-bantamweight title and now stands on the verge of making a major breakthrough following another impressive display.
Allione (8st 9lbs 10oz) required three trips to the scales before making the championship limit but asked some questions of Quigg before suddenly folding from a seemingly innocuous right hand with a minute remaining in round three.
Quigg (8st 10lbs), boxing behind the jab, shaded an uneventful opener but the contest livened up considerably in the second session. Allione, now 16-7-1, sank in a left hook to the body which appeared to briefly wind the Bury man. The Argentinean tried his luck with the same punch moments later but this time was met by a stinging left hook counter from Quigg which snapped the visitor’s head back. Another whipping right hand from Quigg got Allione’s attention soon afterwards as Scott displayed impressive handspeed in close.
Allione continued to press however and a good burst consisting of several left and rights (which mostly missed) had Quigg retreating and under pressure towards the end of the round. Allione continued to take the fight to the Bury man and once more targeted the body in round three. But just when it appeared that Quigg was going to be genuinely tested, a right hand counter dramatically sent Allione sprawling on his side where he was subsequently counted out by referee Terry O’Connor.
Television replays showed that the blow only brushed the side of Allione’s temple but the Argentinean collapsed like the proverbial deck of cards and never looked as though he was going, or indeed willing, to beat the count. It was a curious and sudden ending to what was boiling up nicely towards being a competitive fight.
“He caught me a couple of times in the first two rounds. He had a different style and was feinting a lot. I knew beforehand that he was going to be like that but when I got in there I forgot. But once I figured him out, (trainer) Brian (Hughes) asked if he’d hurt me and when I answered ‘no’ he said ‘right, put the pressure on him then’,” commented Quigg immediately afterwards.
“I really didn’t feel his body shots at all but when he was throwing them I noticed that he was dropping his right hand as well. I was more occupied with making sure that I came back with my own left hook which is when I started catching him.”
“The knockout punch was only a glancing shot but I like to draw my opponents on to me. I was putting the pressure on but I was also making him throw and then countering him and these punches can have a greater effect when they land,” added Quigg.
The Bury man, now 20-0 (14), expressed his desire to take on reigning British super-bantamweight champion and recent IBF world title challenger Jason Booth next.
