Chris Eubank Jr. (24-1, 19 KOs) used his high volume punch attack to defeat IBO super middleweight champion Renold Quinlan (11-2, 7 KOs) by a 10th round mercy stoppage on Saturday night at the Olympia in London, England. Referee Howard John Foster wisely pulled the plug on the fight in round 10 after Eubank Jr. trapped Quinlan against the ropes and was hitting him nonstop with power shots.
Chris Eubank Junior, along with his ever-present father, has been very vocal in the lead-up to tomorrow’s fight that will see him attempt to take the IBO super-middleweight bauble from huge 25-1 outsider Renold Quinlan. But Eubank has been verbally attacking just about any fighter you could care to mention apart from Australia’s Quinlan.
The two Eubanks, Chris Junior and Senior, sure talk, and talk and talk – the latter especially. We’ve all heard and read both men claim how Junior, the former British middleweight champ, would “wreck” middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, and we’ve heard the Eubanks claim how a win over IBF super-middleweight ruler James DeGale would be nothing more than a formality.
There will be not one but two great fighters providing expert commentary on the upcoming February 4 IBO super-middleweight title fight between Chris Eubank Junior and Renold Quinlan. Heavyweight great Lennox Lewis will be calling the fight for British viewers on ITV (in the channel’s return to boxing, on pay-per-view), along with reigning light-heavyweight champ and pound-for-pounder Andre Ward.
Is 2017 the year when outspoken former British middleweight champ Chris Eubank Junior gets in with the elite fighters? Once again, the once-beaten contender is saying all the right things; stating how he wants to fight not only middleweight king Gennady Golovkin but also IBF super-middleweight ruler James DeGale and, in a rematch of his sole pro defeat, WBO middleweight champ Billy Joe Saunders.
It seems Chris Eubank Junior has moved on from calling out middleweight king Gennady Golovkin, to shouting and screaming about what he will do to reigning IBF super-middleweight boss James DeGale. Recently, just before DeGale went to war in last night’s excellent fight with Badou Jack – a performance which Eubank Jnr has yet to match at any time in his career – the two went back and forth on Twitter.
It seems the scheduled return to boxing for terrestrial channel ITV has been bugged by problems – what with fans balking at the idea of having to pay for the first planned ITV pay show, between Chris Eubank Jnr and the little-known Renold Quinlan in a fight that will contest the lightly regarded IBO super-middleweight title.
As critics have already pointed out, the show, scheduled for February 4, has no announced under-card and the main event does not seem worthy of carrying a payment fee (with rumours saying this fee could be as high as £20). But now, to make matters even worse, Quinlan says he may pull out of the fight due to what he says is a distinct lack of exposure and media attention.
Chris Eubank Junior seems to be about the most stubborn and hard-headed fighter you could care to mention today. He may also be the most arrogant. Ahead of his February fight with little known Renold Quinlan for the equally little known (and little regarded) IBO super-middleweight belt, the former British middleweight champ who will be moving up eight pounds, claims he doesn’t even need a trainer.
There is little argument that Chris Eubank Jr has the potential to be a world level fighter. There is however, countless column inches about the nature of the involvement of his father and the effect it will have on his career.
The question is this: Are Chris Eubank’s actions a carefully considered ploy to draw attention and pressure away from his son, or are they the actions of a man hungry for the limelight with a desperate need to rekindle public interest in himself?
Slightly older British fight fans will remember “The Big Fight Live.” Back in the day, in the 1980s and ’90s, with the great Reg Gutteridge doing the commentary, the show, going out on terrestrial channel ITV, was THE place to watch the big fights. Now, according to an interesting piece on the ITV website, the boxing show will return to TV screens next year – on pay-per-view.