By Scott Gilfoid: #3 WBA Scott Quigg (31-1, 2, 23 KOs) is hoping to get a title shot against 36-year-old WBA World super bantamweight champion Nehomar Cermeno (24-5-1, 14 KOs) in the near future.
Cermeno has Quigg’s old World Boxing Association 122lb title that he lost recently to Carlo Frampton last February in a 12 round decision loss. Cermeno picked up the vacant WBA title last June after stopping Jun Qiu Ziao in the 12th round.
Before Quigg can get a shot against Cermeno, he’ll need to wait until he gets his first defense of his title out of the way against Anurak Thisa (17-0, 5) on September 30. Cermeno is reportedly interested in facing Quigg.
For some reason, Quigg isn’t talking about wanting to fight WBA Super World super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux. I’m not sure why. It would seem to me that Quigg would get a heck of a lot more respect from the boxing world if he would finally step it up to fight Rigondeaux rather than facing other guys that are clearly not as good as him like Cermeno.
“I was supposed to fight him once before and it never materialized, I think due to visa problems at the time. It’s a world title fight, so I would snap their hand off for it,” said Quigg about to skysports.com about a fight against Cermeno. “It’s a world title fight, so I would snap their hand off for it.”
I don’t understand that move at all by Quigg in him wanting to go after a fight against Cermeno rather than Rigondeaux. It’s kind of sad really, because Quigg talks big but then he turns around and looks for arguably much easier options than Rigondeaux. If Quigg is really all that, then shouldn’t he be beating down the door of the Cuban Rigondeaux to try and prove that he’s better than him? I’m just saying.
If Quigg is the best fighter in the 122lb division, then why in the heck isn’t he trying to fight Rigondeaux? I don’t even see Quigg trying to fight WBO champion Nonito Donaire, who is seen by many boxing fans as the second best fighter in the super bantamweight division behind Rigondeaux. It would be news if Quigg were to fight Donaire or Rigondeaux. It wouldn’t generate much interest if Quigg were to fight the soon to be 37-year-old Cermeno.
Cermeno has beaten in the past by the following fighters: Alexander Bakhtin, Fernando Montiel, Victor Terrazas, Anselmo Moreno [x 2]. Cermeno’s best wins have come against Cristian Mijares and Oscar Escandon.
WBA president Gilberto Mendoza seems to be in favor of the Quigg vs. Cermeno fight taking place.
“Quigg will have a better chance to face Nehomar Cermeno. Guillermo Rigondeaux (WBA super champion) and Moises Flores are negotiating to fight now and then after they are supposed to fight Cermeno,” said Mendoza to skysports.com. “If he’s the winner, he would like to fight Quigg.”
I guess it doesn’t matter who Quigg fights to win a title just as long as he wins a strap. If you look at it from a business standpoint, Quigg will do well as long as he can pick up a title. It’s his best interest to fight an arguably weaker champion like Cermeno rather than the better champions that would likely beat him like Rigondeaux and Donaire.
Quigg is able to bring in a lot of British boxing fans to see his fights in the UK. I don’t think they care if Quigg fights someone good to win a world title. As long as he has a title, they’ll support him in droves at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, UK. Quigg’s promoter Eddie Hearn can have all of his fights televised on Sky Sports Box Office, and I don’t think it matters if he fights recognizable opposition that the casual fans have heard of.
Quigg was beaten by Carl Frampton last February by a 12 round split decision. It was a winnable fight for Quigg, but he fought too passively in the first six rounds after sustaining a broken jaw. Quigg rallied hard in the second half of the fight to make it close. I’m not sure that Quigg’s jaw problem was the cause of him not fighting hard in the first six rounds. I think that was more of a tactical mistake on his part. He should have adapted to Frampton’s hit and run style of fighting early on by applying steady pressure to force the heavily muscled Irishman to fade, but he waited too long.