RETAINING his WBA super-bantamweight belt in front of a packed Manchester Arena on Saturday night is an experience Scott Quigg admits he will never forget.

The Bury boxer, who trains at Amir Khan’s Gloves Gym in Bolton under Joe Gallagher, made light work of Argentine Diego Silva, dispatching him to the canvas twice before the South American was counted out after just 1minute 41seconds of the second round.

It was an explosive display as fight fans warmed up for what would turn out to be a classic headline clash between Carl Froch and George Groves.

And after the 25-year-old extended his unbeaten record to 27 wins from 29 fights, Quigg believes he made the statement he had promised in the build-up.

“I wanted to make a statement and be nasty and aggressive and I enjoyed it,” said Quigg, speaking exclusively to The Bolton News.

“I think I made a statement.

“The first round I wanted to see what he had and find his rhythm.

“In the second round, I thought ‘right, now he’s having it’.

“I just wanted to go in there and do a job.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable. Stood on that ramp looking around at the support was the best feeling ever.”

Quigg was cheered into the ring like a Rock ’n’ Roll Star – the title of his walk-on anthem.

And he was on the front foot from the start as he looked to find ways through Silva’s defence with some good right-handers.

The second round saw him blitz the 30-year-old and, after a standing eight-count following a first visit to the canvas, back-to-back upper cuts sent him down for the final time.

It looked a miss-match but Quigg’s emphatic display made it that way and trainer Gallagher is now setting his sights on even bigger fights for his world champion next year – with IBF belt holder Kiko Martinez firmly in their sights.

“We are off to Spain next month to watch Martinez – hopefully he wins and we will have a unification fight with him in 2014,” said Gallagher.

“Scott showed devastating power again and proved what a class act he is.

“It was a proud night for me; having a world champ-ion walk out in Manchester in front of 20,000 and get the reception he did – it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”

Quigg’s triumph rounded off another successful night for Gallagher who also saw Gloves-based Anthony Crolla defend his WBO Inter-continental lightweight belt.

Meanwhile, Scott Cardle beat Kryzsztof Szot of Poland in a lighweight contest and Liverpudlian Stephen Smith claimed the vacant WBC interim Silver Super-fetherweight championship against Sergio Manuel Medina of Argentina.

Gallagher added: “The gym is absolutely bouncing at the minute. That’s 12 titles in 12 months for the lads. Anthony Crolla was punch perfect on the night, Stephen Smith showed world class power again and Scott Quigg is what he is – a world champion.”