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.
The fight was stopped at 2:07 of the 10th. Quinlan didn’t appear to be that hurt. He just wasn’t throwing punches back, and his reaction time to the incoming was inadequate for the fight to be allowed to continue. You can argue that referee Howard John Foster was a round late in stopping the fight, because Quinlan was in the same situation in the 9th round in getting worked over against the ropes by Eubank Jr. The fight should have been stopped at that point because Quinlan wasn’t throwing punches, and he was just taking head shots.
Quinlan was a disappointment. For a champion, he was bad. He didn’t throw punches, and mostly just covered up. In comparing Quinlan to the other super middleweight champions in the division, he doesn’t look as good as any of them. Eubank Jr. might not be able to have the same success that he had tonight if he faces someone that can fight in the 168lb division. Quinlan clearly was no match for Eubank Jr. As bad as Quinlan looked, he would probably lose to some of Eubank Jr’s recent victims like Tom Doran, Tony Jeter and Gary O’Sullivan.
After the fight, Eubank Jr. called out middleweight champions Gennady Golovkin and Billy Joe Saunders. Both of them currently have fights scheduled, so it’s unknown when they’ll be free to fight Eubank Jr. Golovkin already tried to fight Eubank Jr. last year, but he took too long when it came to getting the contract signed. Golovkin might be willing to go through a lengthy negotiation period to get the fight done. He just went through that process for the fight against Daniel Jacobs. If Golovkin wins that fight, then perhaps he might be open to a fight against Eubank Jr.
In the co-feature bout, #6 WBO heavyweight contender Christian Hammer (24-4, 12 KOs) defeated #5 WBO David Price (21-4, 18 KOs) in stopping him in round 7. Price was hurt in the 7th from an accumulation of blows. The fight was then halted at 1:22 of the round with Price looking both tired and hurt. Price knocked Hammer down with a right uppercut in the 5th round. But he wasn’t able to finish him off when he had hi ready to go.
The knockout loss for Price was his 4th in the last four years. It’s unknown if he’ll be retiring from boxing or if he’ll continue his sagging career. Price’s once promising career has imploded.