Quigley Grabs NABF Title With Victory Over Tapia - Pound4Pound.com

Quigley Grabs NABF Title With Victory Over Tapia

By Doug Ellison
Photos: William Trillo

Middleweight Jason Quigley (13-0,10 KO’s) decisions Glen Tapia (23-4,15 KO’s) over 10 rounds to take the vacant NABF middleweight title. Final scores read 100-91, 99-91 & 98-92 all in favor of Quigley.

"I felt slow and sluggish this fight," said Tapia. "I feel like I didn't even get to do to him what I trained in camp for. I was able to put pressure on him and hurt him a couple of times. This was not my best performance."

“I’m taking this little bambino home with me, to my people in Donegal and celebrate with my loved ones,” said Quigley. “Then when I come back, I’m going to celebrate with my team. Everyone here has been on my team since my performance under the Canelo-Lara card, and this is a stepping stone to many more belts that are coming my way.”

Super Bantamweight Randy Caballero (24-0, 14 KO’s) decisions Jesus Ruiz (36-7-5, 25 KO’s) over 10 rounds to take the vacant NABF super bantamweight title. Final scores read 96-94 & 97-93 twice, all in favor of Cabellero.

“I am satisfied with our performance in the ring, and the better man won tonight,” said Ruiz. “That’s boxing. We gave it our all, and we are content with that.”

“This was the absolute best way to come back!” said Randy. “My goal is to become a world champion, and Golden Boy knows that. With the new NABF title, and coming back with that performance, I’m on a high right now. My opponent was tough, but I stayed calm, and was able to come out on top.”

Middleweight Tureano Johnson (20-1,14 KO’s) TKO’d Fabiano Pena (19-7-1,15 KO’s) at the 2:38 mark of round 2.

“I was pretty anxious to enter the ring after such a long absence, but I was reminded by my team that I am the IBF #1 ranked middleweight contender,” said Johnson. “Being absent for so long for my rotator cuff was not ideal, and I know that injuries happen, but now that we got this fight out of the way and we shook out the nerves a bit, I am ready to take on the big guys out there and demonstrate that I am still someone to fear in this division.”

Welterweight Mauricio Herrera (23-7,7 KO’s) decisions Hector Velazquez (57-29-3,39 KO’s) over 8 rounds. Final scores all in favor of Herrera read 80-72 across the board.

“I needed to get this win, regardless of how I got it,” said Mauricio. “I’ve been in a lot of tough fights, and I needed this win as a confidence booster. I’m glad that I came out of this fight pretty clean.”

Super Bantamweight Azat Hovhannisyan (11-2, 10 KO’s) TKO’d Diuhl Olguin (11-7-3, 9 KO’s) at 2:47 of round 6.

“We knew we were going to have to endure some tough punches from him, and we were expecting him to come forward,” said Azat. “We had a great training camp, and I had some tough sparring partners, but we got what we wanted.”

Lightweight Hector Tanajara (8-0,4 KO’s) decisions Daniel Perales (10-9-1, 5 KO’s) over 6 rounds. Final scores read 58-55 0n all cards in favor of Tanajara.

“I got too confident in the second round, and when I landed my shots I wasn’t expecting him to counter the way he did resulting in me hitting the mat.” Said Tanajara Jr. “After that, I got angry but my corner told me to just continue to outbox him. I noticed his eye was starting to swell towards the end, and so I started to use it as a target in hopes of getting the knock out. We got the win still.”

Flyweight Marlen Esparza wins pro debut over Rachel Sazoff (0-3) by decision over 4 rounds. Final scores in favor of Esparza read 40-36 across the board.

“I’m so grateful for the opportunity to take part in this show,” said Rachel. “When I was approached by her camp for the fight, I couldn’t say no. It was a great way to challenge myself, and I think that Marlen is a great fighter. I’ve been in combat sports since I was five – I live for this stuff.”

“This was such a big stage, and fighting in front of a crowd like this for the first time was something special,” said Marlen. “I’m glad we got the W, but I was honestly looking to knock her out. I’m glad that I got this fight out of the way – I have a lot to grow in. She was a tough fighter, and she took a lot of my punches.”