Jason Quigley produced one of the performances of his career against Edgar Berlanga in the early hours of Sunday morning as he lost his super middleweight fight via unanimous decision in New York.
The Donegal man frustrated the hometown favourite for most of their 12-round main event contest at the Hulu Theater in Madison Square Garden.
But four knockdowns, two of which came in the final round, proved too costly for Quigley in the end, with the judges scoring the bout 116-108, 116-108 and 118-106 to Berlanga, who took his record to 21-0 with the win.
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Chants of Ole, Ole, Ole rang around the famous New York venue as Quigley made his way to the ring to the tune of Wolfe Tones song 'On The One Road'.
Part of the lyrics to the song is "we're on the road to God knows where", but after that performance Quigley is surely on the road to another big fight later in the year, perhaps on the same card as Katie Taylor's next bout, which looks likely to take place in Dublin this November.
With Andy Lee in his corner, Quigley's gameplan worked exceptionally well as the undefeated Berlanga struggled with the Ballybofey native's movement, with Quigley keeping the Puerto Rican at distance early on.
Lee, who won all four of his fights at MSG during his career, was clearly happy with the start from his fighter, but Quigley went down towards the end of the third round as Berlanga landed a big left before following up with a right.
However, Quigley recovered well from it and landed some nice jabs towards the end of the fourth.
Lee was calm in the corner throughout the bout, while Berlanga's coach was anything but.
At the end of the fourth, Marc Farrait, who returned to Berlanga's corner for the fight, was clearly annoyed as he told his fighter to "wake the f*** up".
The message was clearly received as Berlanga knocked Quigley down for a second time in the fifth with a body shot as blood began to pour from the Donegal man's nose.
Quigley, who was back in the ring just under three months after defeating Gabor Gorbics at the National Stadium in Dublin, claimed he had tripped and that it wasn't a knockdown, but referee Harvey Dock didn't agree.
The 32-year-old had success in the latter rounds as he continued to frustrate Berlanga and the Brooklyn native came off worse as both men landed big lefts at the same time in the seventh.
Ole, Ole, Ole chants rang around the arena once again as the Irish fans in attendance sensed that a surprise victory might just be on the cards.
That hope was there right up until the final round as Lee hailed Quigley for showing "world class boxing" as he spoke to his man between rounds.
Quigley was caught by a low shot in the 11th and the referee warned Berlanga he would be deducted a point if it happened again.
However, the 26-year-old came out all guns blazing in the 12th and final round as he went for the knockout.
A power punch in the corner knocked Quigley down after both men let their hands go.
Quigley got back to his feet before more heavy shots began to come his way and he went down again as the clock ticked down.
Berlanga continued to go for the knockout after Quigley got back to his feet once again, but the Irishman held on until the final bell.
Speaking after the bout, Berlanga somewhat praised Quigley for his performance, while Eddie Hearn said he had fought "out of his skin".
Berlanga commented: "He knew I was coming to fight. Everybody that steps in the ring with me knows I got punching power and they train to survive.
"They try to box and move around, use their jab and try to kill me on points because they know I got the hammer.
"I take my hat off to his team. They came with a great game plan."
Hearn added: "I thought Jason Quigley boxed out of his skin tonight. I thought he was very, very good."
Berlanga now looks set to face Mexican Jaime Munguía, who previously defeated Kildare's Dennis Hogan and Cork native Gary 'Spike' O'Sullivan, next.
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