The dream of securing a world title fight is back on track for Donegal’s Jason Quigley.

The 30-year-old rebooted his career when capturing the WBO-NABO middleweight belt with a majority 2-0 win over Shane Mosley Jr after a terrific contest in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morning.

“Viva Ireland,” declared an emotional Quigley, who fell to his knees and wept tears of relief when the result was announced. “Everything just poured out when I got the victory.”

The Ballybofey man now wants a crack at Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade’s WBO world middleweight belt. He recalled that prior to the American hitting the big time he called Quigley out.

“He didn’t even pronounce my second name right.”

The Irishman, who improved his pro record to 19-1, is now ready to fight the 33-year-old Beijing Olympian.

“I’m not saying that I am going to get in there and kick his ass. I will get in there and put on one hell of a fight. I have a belt, you have got the main one. Give me a crack at that title.”

The dilemma he now faces is whether to fight again before a possible crack at a world belt or throw all his chips on the table and go for glory in a bid to secure his financial future in a title fight.

There was no doubting the merit of Quigley’s win, albeit in a tight contest. He was the more accurate puncher, landing 32pc of his punches compared to 25pc for Mosley.

The latter did land two more power punches (96-94) but in all but three of his 10 rounds Quigley landed more scoring blows.

Judge Raul Caiz Jr scored the fight 95-95 but the other two officials, Chris Migliore and Steve Weisfeld, gave Quigley the verdict on scores of 97-93, 96-94 respectively.

It was his first contest since January 2020 and his first significant fight against a ranked opponent since his only career loss against Tureano Johnson in 2019.

“I know it could have gone either way. When I heard the draw (the scorecard from the judge Caiz Jr), I thought it was going to be a draw. When I got the victory, of course, I’m happy. When I sat down, I just realised I haven’t fought in a year and a half. Shane was kept busy and had two fights. He got better each fight. He was the man on form coming in. I’m just happy to get the 10 rounds and to win the fight.”

A feature of the contest was Quigley’s conditioning and the sight of him dancing on his toes in the seventh round was a fight-defining moment.

“I went back to what I was good at and what got me here. All my skills, using my feet, using my hands and looking like the fresher fighter in there. I knew it was close, I had to go to him. I had to land some big shots, I had to hurt him. He said to me at the end, ‘You are one hell of a tough fighter’ and so is he,” added Quigley.

The fight had been postponed on two previous occasions and this time around Quigley had to fight without having his regular trainer Andy Lee in the corner. The former world champion was unable to travel to the US due to a visa hiccup.

Belfast icon Wayne McCullough, who now lives in Las Vegas, was the lead man in his corner and Quigley paid tribute to both as well as his family and fans back in his native Ballybofey.

Quigley revealed he had linked up again with psychologist Gerry Hussey – the pair would have worked together during Quigley’s amateur career when he won a silver medal at the world championships.

“I did affirmations, I did meditation, I did yoga. Gerry Hussey really helped me out,” said the Donegal man.

Quigley even became a fan of visualisation, having previously been sceptical about its benefits.

“I would not have been one of those people saying if I visualise it how it is going to happen. But you have to go and do it. I visualised this moment.

“This positive stuff is no joke, it is real. It really does mean something. All the visualisation I did got me here.

“There have been a lot of hurdles and I spent a long time out of the ring.

“This is for the whole of Donegal and the whole of Ireland, to give a bit of excitement to the people of Ireland after such a hard time. I want to shine a bit of light and happiness.

“I’m going to go and enjoy this. I’ll sit down with my team and see what the options are. I really want to get a crack at a world title. I want to put it all on the line now and see if I’m good enough.

“There have been so many messages, the support has been unbelievable. It’s so special how people have got behind me. I feel so grateful. That keeps me going and that drives me on,” he said.