SCOTT QUIGG insists he’ll be ready for big rival and fellow world champion Carl Frampton in his first fight back from hand surgery. Quigg is in training but must wait a further two weeks before being allowed to resume punching work with his recovering right mitt. The WBA super-bantamweight champion, of sorts at least, rejected any suggestion of a tune-up contest for his projected late-May return and is happy to meet Frampton if the IBF king defeats mandatory challenger Chris Avalos on February 28.
“I want big fights, I want that fear factor where you know you’ve got to turn up at your best to win,” Quigg explained. “The Frampton fight’s the one I want and everyone wants but it’s gotta be put on hold to see if he comes through against Avalos. I don’t need a tune-up for him, I’m not gonna be rusty, I’m in the gym every day. I could have a warm-up, hit a guy and the hand could go again. I’m raring to go.”
Quigg tore the tendons in his middle and index fingers, one of the injuries occurring in his last bout, an entertaining points victory over Hidenori Otake in November.
“One tendon had already gone but I did the other in the fight,” revealed Quigg who underwent an operation on December 13. “I felt it at the start of round nine when I landed a right hook, caught the top of his head and it felt like I had a piece of bubblewrap between my fingers that popped. It wasn’t painful but started swelling like a balloon.
“In the gym, I can do everything except having any impact on my right knuckles, and I’m not sparring much at the minute because it’s a bit risky yet.
“If I wasn’t able to train at all I’d probably be locked up somewhere, I woulda gone round the bend,” he laughed.
Quigg, contracted to Matchroom whose shows are of course broadcast by Sky Sports, reacted with cautious optimism to the news that Frampton’s fight would be televised by ITV.
“It’s good and exposure, but whatever is the best overall package and deal for me and Frampton, that’s the one,” he reasoned. “I’d get a fiver for fighting on ITV compared to 20 for Sky, so it’s whether the numbers crunch or not. But it’s definitely something I’d be interested in.”
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