Can’t flop with Dunlop- Conor Quinn targets ‘Big Tommy’ and ‘Tenny’ style rise

Conor Quinn [2(2)-0] wants some of that James Tennyson and Tommy McCarthy success – and believes Mark Dunlop is the man to deliver it.

Although they have taken different paths the aforementioned Belfast duo find themselves fast closing in on world title fights.

‘The Assassin’ and ‘The Mack Attack’ have had big wins on Sky Sports broadcast Matchroom cards in recent months, have solid world rankings and have developed such a profile that Belfast has become a viable for Eddie Hearn.

The fact Mark Dunlop manages both wasn’t lost on the young prospect when he decided to return from Australia this year.

The under-the-radar talent, who had the Australians raving, weighed up his options when he felt his time in Oz was done – and speaking to Irish-boxing.com post announcing an MHD link up, he was confident he made the right managerial choice.

“Signing with Mark was a no brainier,” Quinn told Irish-boxing.com.

“If you look at how well his other fighters are going at the minute, James Tennyson and Tommy McCarthy, they are flying. They are both just about to start challenging for world titles so it’s clear that Mark can deliver those opportunities and that’s exactly what I want.”

‘Magnificent’, who can also count Irish featherweight champion Eric Donovan and British and European title challenger Paul Hyland Jr as stable mates, could benefit from Dunlop’s connection to Hearn and Matchroom.

If as promised by Matchroom boss Hearn, Sky and the promotional powerhouse return to Belfast for the first time since 2017, the 22-year-old can expect to secure a slot on that card.

“I’m very excited about the things Mark is doing with Matchroom and Sky. That is the biggest platform in world boxing at the moment and I know that once I’m ready, Mark will have me on them shows.”

The British and European flyweight scene is not as deep as in other regions of the world and with that in mind the Dee Walsh trained fighter, who registered knockout wins in Australia and Thailand before returning home, could be moved quickly.

The fighter himself is happy to take a patient approach and wants to do it the traditional way.

“I’m just going to take every fight as it comes, but I want to pick up every title along the way. Irish, British, Commonwealth, European then world

“I want to be busy in 2021. I to just be as active as possible and pick up as much experience as I can. I’m only 22 so there’s no rush, but the more fights I can get the better.”

Interestingly enough Quinn may have been happy to continue to move up the ladder Down Under. Only when the pandemic hit did he begin to rethink his career path.

“Mark did not tempt me at all. I didn’t actually speak to him until I knew I was leaving. I wanted to come home once everything slowed down out in Australia and I wasn’t getting fights as often as I would have liked. However once I got speaking to Mark and had decided to come home, I couldn’t wait to get back and get started,” he concludes.