Irishman counters by insisting it is his turn to take home the title
Former world super-bantamweight champion Scott Quigg will step up a division on Saturday night when he faces Jono Carroll in a super-featherweight showdown at Manchester Arena.
Despite having has just three stoppages in his nineteen contests, Irishman Carroll is predicting an eighth-round stoppage victory against the Englishman.
Carroll (17-1-1, 3 KOs) warned Quigg of his ability to “break people down” and “break people’s hearts”, convinced a win this weekend will put him back in line for a world title shot later this year.
Quigg, though, labelling Carroll “feather fists”, has other ideas. “I’ll break him down and do my thing, people know how hard I hit, and I’m looking for a win but a great performance,” Quigg told Telegraph Sport.
“Scott thinks I have feather fists? We’ll see,” said Carroll. “These feather fists will do a lot of damage. He’s a strong opponent and Oscar Valdez, who can bang, couldn’t get him out of there. I don’t hit that hard but I can break people down, I can break people’s hearts.
“Quigg is a massive name and a former champion but he has to pass that torch to me now. It’s my turn. He’s had his day. He’s a good, seasoned pro fighter and I can’t overlook that. I’m prepared for the world champion, the best him, but I feel like it’s my time now. Quigg is such a big name that it’s not hard to get up at 6am for a jog or to push yourself to exhaustion. It’s my time. For some reason I’m thinking round eight.”
Elsewhere, one of the greatest match-ups of all time between arguably two of the finest ever women boxers was announced on Friday, pitching Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano together in a blockbuster super fight at Manchester Arena on May 2 as the Irish legend puts her lightweight world titles on the line against Puerto Rico’s seven-weight world champion.
Taylor, already a two-weight world champion, can enhance her status against Serrano on the same night and card as heavyweight Dillian Whyte who defends his interim WBC title against Russian Alexander Povetkin.
“The is a fight that seems to have been talked about for years so I’m just glad it’s finally on,” said Taylor. “It’s a massive fight and one that I have been looking forward to for a long, long time.
Serrano is just as delighted. “Both myself and Katie deserve to be in this position. While our fight could have been a main event, I’m still grateful it’s happening. I’m not going to talk down to Katie, as I know she won’t to me, so I’ll leave it at this: one thing that’s for sure is that we’ll both leave it all in the ring.”
Promoter Hearn added: “Katie Taylor versus Amanda Serrano for the undisputed lightweight championship of the world – this is the biggest women’s fight of all time – it doesn’t get any bigger.” Lou DiBella, who promotes Serrano, concurred. “Two of the best female fighters in the world, two of the best of all time, will square up for boxing supremacy. This isn’t only the best of women’s boxing, it’s the best of what boxing is supposed to be.”