Hooper downs Quinlan in fight for the ages
BOXING: Toowoomba’s Damien Hooper has endured an epic bout to retain his WBO International Light Heavyweight title.
Fighting Renold Quinlan Hooper defended his title with an ninth-round stoppage in Brisbane at the weekend.
Coach Gareth Williams said Hooper showed incredible heart to recover from a nervous fifth round, where he was knocked down twice by Quinlan, picking up a cut under his left eye in the process.
“I thought he was down and out,” Williams said.
“(During the round break) we talked about what the fight meant to him.
“It’s not about throwing the jab or landing the right hand, it’s about something personal, and that’s what helped him pull through.
“A lesser man would’ve stayed on the ground, but he showed massive heart.”
However the defending champion regained his composure to work his way back into the fight, before landing the TKO in the ninth.
A barrage of punches was landed by Hooper on Quinlan, who was visibly shaken by the exchange, where Williams counted 37 unanswered strikes on Quinlan.
The fight has been labelled as a fight of the year contender, and Williams agreed.
“It’s the most exciting fight I’ve ever been involved in, and I’ve been coaching for 15 years,” he said.
“I spoke to well respected people, and they say it’s the best fight they’ve ever seen.
“As far as a man getting up from being wounded, Damien showed the heart of a lion. That was amazing what he did.”
There are no immediate plans for the future of Hooper, although Williams said they were keen to take on the best.
“We want to fight Dmitry Bivol , Sergey Kovalev or any of the big ones,” he said.
“If Chris Eubank called up tomorrow we’d accept.”
The win takes Hooper’s record to 14-1 (9 KO), and moves him up eight spots into 14th position in the world light heavyweight Boxrec rankings.