IT WASN’T TO be for Jason Quigley in Manchester, New Hampshire tonight — and it became apparent very quickly that it was never going to be.

In his first world-title challenge, the Donegal man was halted in two rounds by unbeaten champion Demetrius Andrade who scarcely broke a sweat.

‘Boo Boo’, who now boasts a record of 31-0(19KOs), dropped Quigley once in the first and twice in the second before referee Arthur Mercante Jr told the challenger ‘no more.’

Quigley didn’t appear to be especially hurt, just overwhelmed by a faster, superior fighter. His record drops to 19-2(14KOs).

Though he typically starts in electrifying fashion, Andrade generally prefers to pick his moments to raid with looping hooks and thudding uppercuts as his fights progress. Canelo Alvarez famously labelled him “a horrible fighter” when Andrade gate-crashed his press conference a few months back. Tonight, the American notably wore a Marvin Hagler-style ‘War’ hat on his way to the ring, a sign of his intentions to be more combative, destructive, and ultimately appealing as a commercial entity in order to beckon bigger names such as Canelo into the ring with him.

For the 33-year-old, who wished the huge Irish contingent present a safe-home during his post-fight interview, this was a case of mission accomplished: he looked exciting.

It was Quigley who made the early inroads off the back of some nice feints but he ate a strong right hand for his troubles and, seconds later, he was on the floor.

It was a left hook to the liver followed by a short right hook upstairs that took the wind from his sails and Andrade almost ushered him onto the canvas without landing much else despite his best efforts.

Quigley managed a wry smile as he rose and appeared to recover fairly well: when the action resumed, he attempted to time Andrade with a huge right hand off the ropes, missing over the top as the champion was wide with a left of his own.

That effort looked like something out of the Andy Lee playbook and it was doubtless something they had worked on in the gym in Dublin. Lee, though, couldn’t get over to the States this week and so he was replaced in the corner by another Irish boxing legend in Wayne McCullough, who was also the chief second for Quigley’s previous fight, a thrilling win against Shane Mosley Jr.

There is a marked difference between Mosley and Andrade, though, and it was evident once more in the second round. Quigley walked onto a wiry left hand which again dropped him, much to his conspicuous resignation. So sure was Andrade that the fight was over, he climbed onto the ropes in celebration.

Quigley did rise but a sharp right sent him stumbling against the ropes and when he hit the canvas for a third time, Mercante Jr decided he had seen enough.

It was, all told, a miserable night for Quigley who will doubtless have frustrations with his performance. However, there should be peace to be found in the reality that even his best performance probably wouldn’t have been enough against a fighter who clearly has the capacity to beat anyone in and around their 160-pound division.