Breaking Bad: Scott Quigg Refreshed and Ready for Ring Return in November

As Anthony Crolla took centre stage at a press conference to promote his upcoming fight with Jorge Linares, Scott Quigg sat at the side of the room and watched the proceedings unfold.

Propped up by a wall in Hotel Football in Manchester, England, the 27-year-old listened as his good friend spoke about his career-defining opportunity on September 24.

It is hard to deny the ever-smiling Crolla his time in the spotlight.

The lightweight has overcome major setbacks in and out of the ring—not least suffering serious injuries while trying to prevent a burglary in 2014—to become a world champion. Now he has the chance to win the Ring's coveted belt and be recognised as the best in his division.

Quigg knows exactly what his stablemate is going through right now.

At the start of 2016, he was the one who sat up on the top table talking about a unification showdown. His clash with fellow super bantamweight world champion Carl Frampton had been a long time in the making, but patience had allowed both men to prosper on their own separate routes before eventually crossing paths.

The buildup to the February bout saw more mudslinging than you'd expect at a rain-soaked Glastonbury. The action in the ring, however, failed to hit the expected heights.

Frampton won by a split-decision verdict at the end of 12 rather disappointing rounds in Manchester.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

For Quigg, it was a painful loss in more ways than one. As if defeat to his longtime domestic rival didn't hurt enough, he had also suffered a broken jaw in the first half of the fight. It added injury to insult.

Plates were inserted to try to aid his healing process, only to cause further complications.

"I had a reaction, so they had to be taken out," he explained. "The morning after the operation was a bit of a shock. My face was two-and-a-half sizes bigger than it was meant to be."

It was a different kind of plate that caused another issue for Quigg during his recovery.

Unable to be in the gym while his jaw healed, he sought comfort in food: "I couldn’t do any training. I couldn’t even get out running because the impact would have been an issue with the jaw.

"For some reason, I was finding ways to eat rubbish food. I was fed up, so I was just eating junk food. It was a vicious circle too because it made me feel worse."

Time off from the job might appeal to the majority of us. We could be laid up on a settee at home watching daytime television programmes that do their utmost to make us feel better about our own lives, all the while sinking copious amounts of tea with biscuits on the side to dunk.

Quigg isn't wired like that, though. Boxing isn't just a job for him—it's a way of life.

Here was someone so focused on what he wanted to do for a living that he even requested to leave school at the age of 14 so he could get on with his chosen career.

Suddenly unable to do the thing he had built his entire life around, he became frustrated. Even worse, he became "down, depressed even."

Now, though, he's in a much better place. In hindsight, he believes the break proved to be a blessing.

"At the time I didn’t think it [the injury] was a positive, but now I’m back [and] I’m hungry and fresh," Quigg said.

"Now I cannot wait to train. There’s something exciting about going to the gym. It’s freshened things up. I always loved going to the gym anyway, but now there’s an extra spring in my step. I’m on such a high.

"Something was taken away from me that I loved—now I’ve got it back."

He's shed a stone in weight since returning to training eight weeks ago. The doctors have also given him the all-clear for sparring, meaning he will finally get the chance to test the jaw out in the ring.

While he's upbeat over the future, Quigg admits his spell out of action led to a period of reflection. In particular, he's gone over exactly what happened in the fight with Frampton.

Having watched it back several times, he has no complaints about the final verdict: "I always give it to him [Frampton] by one round, maybe two depending on how you scored the first."

Of the three official judges at ringside that night at the Manchester Arena, one—Levi Martinez—did actually score the bout for the Bury-born Quigg.

However, Carlos Sucre and Dave Parris both had it 116-112 in favour of the Northern Irishman in the other corner, leaving Quigg to reflect on what might have been.

The jaw obviously hampered his progress in the first half of the contest. But even before that setback, the former British champion was hesitant to attack.

Normally such a busy fighter, he barely pulled the trigger in the early rounds. Per CompuBox stats (h/t BoxingScene.com), he landed all of two punches in the opening nine minutes of action. It was the equivalent of a football team hoping to win a game without actually ever taking a shot at goal.

His output improved dramatically in the closing stages. The final punch totals saw Quigg land more than his rival (85 to 83), with all bar 12 of his successful attempts being power shots.

However, he'd left himself with too much to do to claw back the deficit. He had needlessly given away rounds, and, as a consequence, his reign as IBF champion ended in a meek manner.

Now, as he prepares to make a comeback as a featherweight, Quigg has no intention of making the same mistake again.

A rematch with Frampton remains the top target, although the landscape has changed during his time out. While Quigg was recovering, his former foe moved up to become a two-weight world champion, dethroning Leo Santa Cruz in July to claim the WBA super featherweight crown in Brooklyn, New York.

With Santa Cruz having a rematch clause, per Mitch Abramson of the Ring, Quigg may have to wait a while for a shot at redemption.

In the short term, the plan is to return to action on November 26. An opponent is yet to be confirmed, although Quigg is adamant it is going to be a "big fight."

Having sat and watched the Crolla-Linares media conference unfold from the sidelines, he appears genuinely excited at the prospect of getting back to doing what he loves: "Seeing this [press conference] gives you the hunger. I want to be up there again, topping the bills and being in the massive fights."

Quigg watched on from the sidelines this time. Soon enough, though, he will be taking centre stage again.

Rob Lancaster is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated.