Jason Quigley had a sense that another big opportunity was on the horizon,

The former middleweight title challenger didn’t necessarily expect to land a fight with Edgar Berlanga but he certainly didn’t hesitate to accept the fight.

“It kind of came out of the blue, honestly, but I'm ready for it,” Quigley told BoxingScene.com. “I knew something was going to come my way this year but a big fight at super middleweight snuck up on me a bit. But I’m not complaining, it’s a good weight for me and I’m ready for it.”

The 32-year-old Irishman has primarily campaigned as a middleweight throughout his nine-year career. This will mark his second straight fight at super middleweight when he meets Brooklyn’s Berlanga (20-0, 16KOs) at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City (Saturday, DAZN, 8:00 p.m. ET).

Berlanga is a natural super middleweight and lives mere miles from this weekend’s venue where will headline for the third straight time. Quigley (20-2, 14KOs) doesn’t mind the concessions, as it comes with daring to be great. He has done it before, namely in a May 2021 ten-round win over Shane Mosley Jr. in Las Vegas which set up his first career title fight.

That didn’t quite go as expected as Quigley was stopped inside of two rounds by then-WBO middleweight titleholder Demetrius Andrade atop a November 2021 DAZN show from SNHU Arena in New Hampshire. Quigley was actually the crowd favorite, as his Irish contingent from the New England area drowned out Andrade’s devoted fan base from nearby Providence, Rhode Island.

Quigley sat out all of 2022 before returning to the ring this April 1, when he outpointed Gabor Gorbics over ten rounds in his first fight as a true super middleweight. It came exactly one week before the rest of the world learned that he was tabbed to next face Berlanga, who has not fought since last June 11 and subsequently served a six-month suspension for an attempted biting incident in his win that evening over Alexis Angulo.

“I know that Berlanga is the favorite and I’m coming to his house,” Quigley said. “But I promise he has not seen the version of me that will be in the ring this weekend. I feel a lot more energy at this weight. I felt it in training, it’s better for my frame and I promise it will show in the ring.”

Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox