EXCLUSIVE: Quigg I wanted to be the next Roy Keane

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Lawrence Lustig

Lawrence LustigDAILY SPORT EXCLUSIVE: Scott Quigg wanted to be the new Roy Keane – but will settle for being Britain’s top super-bantamweight.

Quigg defends his WBA title against Hidenori Ohtake in Liverpool on Saturday and hopes victory will keep him on course for a unification fight with IBF champ Carl Frampton next summer.

But had he been a few inches taller, Quigg reckons he might have been playing in the Premiership.

As a teenager, he was on the books at Barnsley and Bury and the 26 year-old from Bury said: “I was a central midfielder, like Roy Keane.

“I used to love tackling and breaking the play up.

“But I was too small. I just didn’t grow.

“I got released by Burnley when I was 15 years old and I haven’t kicked a ball since.

“I really thought I was going to make it as a footballer.

“I had to find something else to do.”

Quigg picked boxing and after 29 wins and two draws in 31 fights, he’s on the brink of a massive fight.

He says there have already been negotiations about a fight with Frampton and added: “I want to be involved in big unification fights and they don’t get any bigger than that. To get 30,000-40,000 fans in a stadium, that’s what you want.

“But I would fight him in his backyard, in a field, anywhere. I just want to prove I’m better than him. I will beat Carl Frampton.”

In the top-of-the-bill fight at the Echo Arena on Saturday night, cruiserweight rivals Nathan Cleverly and Tony Bellew settle their differences in a rematch,

Bellew has home advantage, but Cleverly reckons the crowd will be on his side.

He said: “I was walking around Liverpool and it felt like my home town. A lot of people came up to me asking for photos and asking for me to silence this guy, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

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