By Lee Collier

Bury’s Scott Quigg, 18-0 (12 KO’s), has suffered a minor setback in winning his first title.  The unbeaten 21-year-old prospect was set to face Yorkshire based Gavin Reid, 6-6-1 (3 KO’s), for the vacant English super-bantamweight title on Friday night at Bolton.  Unfortunately for Quigg, Reid was born in Scotland so the English title fight fell through with the fight still going ahead but this time as a British title eliminator.

The quietly confident Quigg has always placed faith in his mentor Brian Hughes MBE and the veteran trainer now feels his young protégé is ready to be unleashed at title level.  “Both Brian and myself feel I am finally ready for a title shot,” revealed Quigg. 

“I have 18 wins and I have been beating the people put in front of me so I am confident of stepping up to title fights.  The most important thing though is that Brian says I’m ready which gives me 100% confidence in myself for these type of fights.”

Quigg could be in for a tough nights work in the tough Scotsman who recently lost in a bid for the Scottish title.  Reid also put on a gritty performance in taking touted prospect Stephen Smith of Liverpool the full eight rounds last Autumn.  Whilst Reid has been the ten round distance before Quigg has never been beyond six rounds but feels the work he does in the Collyhurst gym, alongside his training experience over at the Wild Card gym puts him in a good position for victory.

“Gavin might feel he has an advantage over me as he has fought over longer distances than I have,” explained Quigg.  “There is also the fact that I haven’t had a lot of rounds lately due to stopping everyone but I’ve been putting the miles in on the road and doing the rounds in the gym so I am fully prepared.  People will say it’s different in the gym but I don’t see him having any advantage over me.”

Quigg then continued, “I know what to expect from Gavin, every time I have seen him box he looks fit, he is a strong lad and will put none stop pressure on me.  I have faced this pressure before when I was over at the Wild Card gym.  I was sparring and training three times a week against world-class fighters and I was handling myself with no problems.  Reid is still dangerous so I have to be 100% and can’t afford any complacency and will be totally focussed for the challenge on Friday night.”

Current British champion Jason Booth faces Steve Molitor for the IBF world title in September, so the British belt could soon be vacant yet the confident 21 year old is happy to face Booth to realise his dream of winning the Lonsdale belt.

“I feel ready to face the likes of Jason Booth now.  You could see in Booth’s last fight against Matthew Marsh that he was taken out of his comfort zone.  Jason is a very skilful fighter and I know I would have to be clever with him but would happily fight him for the British title.”

On top of possible British title shot Quigg recently realised a dream to fight in his hometown of Bury after Hatton Promotions CEO Gareth Williams led a campaign to overturn a 13-year boxing ban in Quigg’s hometown, which left the 21-year-old a proud fighter.

“To come out to a full house and fight in front of my home town is probably the best night I’ve had in boxing,” beamed Quigg.  “It was unbelievable the turn out and support I got from Bury and then to put in the performance I did was even better.  It would have been nice for the fans to see more but sometimes these early finishes happen.”

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