Jason Quigley: 'I need to show up and be my best self' against Edgar Berlanga

Jason Quigley says he will need to "show up and be his best self" if he is to defeat unbeaten Edgar Berlanga at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The Donegal man hopes a win in New York could earn him a second world title shot after he lost to Demetrius Andrade for the WBO middleweight belt in 2021.

The contest with Berlanga will take place at super middleweight.

"A victory puts you right in contention for those world title fights, world title eliminators," said Quigley.

"But none of that matters unless you win on Saturday night so my only goal, my only focus right now is to perform the best I can."

Quigley has won 20 of his 22 professional fights to date and had a spell out of the ring following his second-round defeat by Andrade in Manchester in November 2021.

The 32-year-old saw off Hungarian Gabor Gorbics in Dublin on his return to action in April and will hope to build on that success.

"This is a massive fight, whenever you step out of the whole fight week and everything, it's an iconic venue, a headline event, but at the end of the day it's another fight," added the Ballybofey boxer.

"I'm getting into that ring, the same ring I've been in many times before. In the end you go in there and make sure you take care of business and come out victorious.

"We look at Edgar Berlanga and see what he does well and what he does not so well but we have a gameplan, we just need to make sure it all falls into place.

"If I perform the way I can, I know I'll come out of the ring having had my hand raised."

'A more mature fighter'

Quigley suffered a second-round defeat to Demetrius Andrade in November 2021

Despite the disappointment of losing a world title fight, Quigley believes he has benefitted from the experience of fighting American Andrade.

"I had a bit of a lay-off but I have a great team and family around me so it was only a matter of time before I got back into the gym after the Andrade fight to shake off the cobwebs and get back at it again.

"It's difficult for a fighter to be inactive because it's all that we know.

"I've come back a much more experienced fighter from that Andrade fight. I was in with one of the best fighters in the world going for a world title.

"I've come back a more rounded person and a more mature fighter."

The Irishman's opponent is coming off a 12-month lay-off and is making his debut with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom organisation.

The 26-year-old is a New York native but his parents are from Puerto Rico.

Berlanga has been dealing with promotional issues on top of a six-month suspension from his last fight against Roamer Alexis Angulo on 11 June 2022, in New York.

Berlanga was sanctioned for attempting to bite Roamer in the neck in the sixth round.

Edgar Berlanga has won all 20 of his professional contests so far

"I had a lot of options, but Matchroom came through with the best deal and I'm excited to get started," said Berlanga of teaming up with Hearn.

"Eddie has a vision for his fighters. A lot of promoters don't have a good relationship with their fighters; Eddie and I have been working for five months and we have chemistry already with the whole team - the vibe is different, the energy is good, they want to see me win and go to the top.

"Jason is a great fighter. 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 think you're going to see something explosive."