Renold Quinlan on Chris Eubank Jr: “I let my fists do the talking”

IN just one fight, Renold Quinlan went from unheralded to universally respected.

Although former unified middleweight titleholder Daniel Geale had admittedly seen better days, it was both the quick and brutal nature of Quinlan’s second round knockout at the Silverdome Basketball Stadium that got people talking.

Now only days away from the latest challenge of his short professional career against the supremely gifted Chris Eubank Jr in London, it comes as a surprise to few that Quinlan (11-1, 7 KOs) is being overlooked yet again.

“You could say that I’m being overlooked,” said Quinlan to iFLTV. “But I don’t let it worry me. I’m focused on what is in front of me and I’ll leave the rest to whoever else is overlooking me, and have negative things to say.”

“I know what I’m here to do and on February 4th, you’ll see.”

“I respect all fighters man. I respect him as a fighter. He is who he is – I respect all fighters – it’s a lonely sport, but he’s just a human being.”

The Brighton-based Eubank Jr, son of legendary namesake Chris Eubank, has quickly blazed his own path in the paid ranks, picking up the interim WBA middleweight bauble alongside the British middleweight strap in relatively quick succession.

This has led most to the opinion that a legitimate title shot against the bigger names at both middleweight and super middleweight beckon. In the meanwhile, he will face the obscure Quinlan, 27, a fighter who is beginning to make a career out of spoiling other fighters plans.

The proud Indigenous fighter admits that while himself and Eubank are from contrasting backgrounds, there is still an element of respect heading into their IBO super middleweight title clash, despite the pair trading barbs on Twitter.

“Me and him are two different people,” explained Quinlan. “I’m a man of little words, I let my fists do the talking, but he loves to talk it up. Like I said, we’re both two different people, but once that bell goes, he’ll know.”

“I’m not going to waste any of my punches. With all the hype that his dad talks about his trainer and the fighters he can beat, he hasn’t got past me yet. A lot of people ask me what’s going to happen after you beat Eubank, and I tell them I’m just focused on what is in front of me now. Whatever comes after this is a blessing.”

“I know he’s been saying that he wants Golovkin and some of the other good fighters out there. I’m not a person to jump the gun – I see what’s in front of me – and I’ll shoot away from there.”

To his credit, the aptly named ‘Dunghutti Destroyer’ is not looking past the marquee opportunity that awaits him. But as his preceding efforts against Daniel Geale have shown, bigger fights will present themselves if he continues to win.

“We’ll get past this fight first. If another big name comes, I’ll take it with both hands,” he concluded. “You learn something all the time, I’m going to continue learning, throughout my career and throughout my life. I love challenging myself,”

“A lot of people said – ‘why don’t you take other fights?’ – but when you’ve got that belief in yourself, you focus mentally, and you have that belief that you can do anything, it will all come out.”

“A lot of people will be surprised when they see what I can actually do.”