Tuesday 16 December 2014 18:57, UK
World champion Scott Quigg is finding his enforced lay-off hard to take, writes Sky Sports News’ Fraser Dainton.
For a fitness fanatic and a world champion, being told to do nothing for a few weeks is the last thing you want to hear.
Quigg is ready to climb the walls, having damaged his right hand in his last fight. A bandage covers the evidence of surgery, while the whole of his lower arm is encased in a brace.
I went for a few runs while I was on holiday but that’s it. I don’t know what to do with my day!
“This is the longest I’ve ever been, doing nothing,” he says. “I went for a few runs while I was on holiday but that’s it. I don’t know what to do with my day!”
“The damage was done in the ninth round against Japan’s Hidenori Ohtake.
“I landed a right hook over the top,” Quigg says. “I caught him quite high on the head, it felt like a little pop in my hand, and I thought it didn’t feel right. When I got back to the corner I mentioned it to my trainer Joe Gallagher, and he asked how bad it was. I said, don’t worry - I’m still going to keep throwing it!”
Having seen him successfully defend his WBA super-bantamweight title in Liverpool, I interviewed Quigg in his dressing room shortly afterwards. Both his hands were immersed in ice, and badly swollen. It turns out the tendon hoods over his middle and index fingers were split. Once the inflammation had gone, surgery was needed.
“I was gutted,” Quigg admits. “I thought it was going to be ok, as my hand had improved while I’d been on holiday after the fight. I could move it, and there wasn’t as much pain. But I can’t get too down. There’s a lot of people worse off than me.”
Once Christmas is over, Quigg will be back in light training, but it is likely to be around six weeks before he can start punching again, which means his original plan to fight in March has been scuppered.
“I’ve got to be careful, this is an injury you can’t rush back from. I’ve got to make sure it’s healed before I start using it. I can’t do too much too soon, or it might hamper my career. With the timescale on healing, you’re looking at early May now before I’m back in the ring.”
There may be a silver lining. A rest could be just what Quigg needs ahead of what is expected to be a massive year for his division, with several unification matches a possibility.
The fight everyone wants to see is with IBF title holder Carl Frampton, but WBC champion Leo Santa Cruz is also being talked about.
“For the last 18 months, I haven’t been out of the gym,” Quigg says. “I need a rest, my body probably needed a break. I want to come back with a big fight - I don’t need a warm up after this injury has healed. If I’m going to move along in my career, next year is going to be all those big fights. I’m going to be in the gym all next year - that’s what it’s going to take to beat the likes of those guys.”
