BURY boxer Scott Quigg ends 2014 as he began – still the WBA super bantamweight world champion after a unanimous points victory over Japan’s Hidenori Ohtake last Saturday.

Now both Quigg and his Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn are gunning for a hat-trick of high-profile opponents in 2015 as Quigg looks to add to his belt collection by beating WBC holder Leo Santa Cruz, IBF champion Carl Frampton and undisputed king of the division Guillermo Rigondeaux.

Hearn admits, however, setting up the showpiece fights Quigg wants after extending his unbeaten run to 32 fights is not going to be straightforward.

Hearn said: "We want the big fights but it takes two to tango.

“Everyone wants the Frampton fight and there is Santa Cruz too – Scott will even fight (Guillermo) Rigondeaux.

“He is ready for these fights and we hope everyone can get to the table and sort them.

“Scott is done for the year now but we will have him back in Manchester on March 28.”

To round off his most successful year to date, 26-year-old Quigg made a successful fifth defence of his crown at Liverpool’s Echo Arena on the undercard of the Nathan Cleverly v Tony Bellew rematch but was made to battle hard by Ohtake before a 119-109, 119-109, 118-110 verdict.

It was only the third time Quigg has gone the distance but going into the fight, he admitted it was something of a journey into the unknown against a 33-year-old opponent who was unbeaten in 14 fights over seven years but had never fought outside his native Tokyo.

But it did not take long for him to realise what Ohtake was all about – stubborn, resilient and prepared to take what Quigg had to offer – and that was plenty.

The Japanese withstood good shots to the body from both the left and right hands of Quigg early on and it was the start of a 12-round story that followed the same script.

In the second round, Ohtake was troubled for the first time – rocked by a good right hand over the top but he quickly recovered.

There was not much in the way of punching power from him but he kept taking the shots and coming back though a landing success rate of just seven per cent – just 55 of 734 punches thrown – tells its own story.

The fifth round saw the overseas boxer enjoy arguably his best round as he landed a good right to Quigg’s body and followed up with a couple of good shots but the champion responded in typical fashion with a big right hander of his own.

While he was standing firm, Ohtake left himself open to shots but rarely ventured forward as Quigg began to box clever and pick his moments to hurt his opponent.

In the tenth, referee Howard Foster briefly stopped the fight for doctors to look at a cut around Ohtake’s right eye but he was allowed to continue and then again in the penultimate round, it was assessed just before a good left-hander from Quigg made him wobble again.

But perhaps the right decision was to allow the spirited Japanese fighter to see out the fight after such a valiant effort.

And Quigg, nursing a sore hand, was quick to praise his gutsy opponent.

He said: "He was very tough. I knew he was durable.

“He soaked up a lot and fair play to him.

“My right hand will tell you how tough his head was.”