“I gave it my all in camp, I’ve given it my all in my career, and it’s now probably time to leave it”
Scott Quigg, the former world champion, has called time on his career after defeat to Jono Carroll at the Manchester Arena on Saturday night.
The 31-year-old Bury fighter was unable to find timing, rhythm or his opponent with his once flashing fists. Joe Gallagher, Quigg’s trainer, pulled his fighter out in the eleventh round, after the southpaw Irishman dominated, peppering Quigg who fought like a man chasing a ghost round after round.
“Taking nothing away from him, the better man on the night. From after the fourth round I just didn’t feel like it was there. I was chasing it,” said Quigg. “This is a very tough sport, a very dangerous sport, and if it is not there any more, there is no point hanging around. I gave it my all in camp, I’ve given it my all in my career, and it’s now probably time to leave it.”
Quigg was fighting for the first time in 17 months and fell to a third defeat in a 40-fight career, which included the WBA super bantamweight title – one he defended five times before losing on points in a unification contest with Carl Frampton.
The other defeat were also at world title level on a rainy night in Los Angeles in which he had a war with Oscar Valdez, breaking his opponent’s jaw in a thrilling contest. Carroll, meanwhile, all style and tempo in this contest, improved his resume to 18-1-1, his only defeat last year when he challenged Tevin Farmer for the IBF super-featherweight title in the United States.
Promoter Eddie Hearn said: “Scott’s given it 150 per cent. He’s put so much into his career and can leave with his head held high. He’s had a wonderful career. And Jono was brilliant in this fight.”
It will always be remembered as an unusual journey to the pinnacle of the sport for Quigg, who decided early in his teens that professional sport would be his career. He hated being in school, so much so that his parents Kenny and Lynsay made an unusual request to his headteacher when Quigg was 14 years old: to exclude their son from school. Quigg was uninterested in his studies and wanted to pursue a career as either a boxer or a footballer.
His father Kenny had played semi-professional football for Accrington Stanley, and his parents had already seen first hand his incredible dedication to his sporting pursuits from a young age. “It’s time for me to give back to those who have supported me on this journey,” Quigg said on Sunday, a comment aimed squarely at his supportive family.
Elsewhere on the card, Derby super middleweight Zach Parker stopped Australian Rohan Murdock in the eleventh round to continue his unbeaten run to nineteen fights as the WBO’s No 1 ranked challenger for the belt currently held by Billy Joe Saunders, expected to be announced officially as the opponent for Saul Canelo Alvarez in the coming days in a world title bout in Las Vegas on May 2.