Quinlan spurred on by death of grandmother ahead of Eubank Jr showdown

Australia's Renold Quinlan will be driven by the death of the woman he considered his mother when he fights Chris Eubank Jnr in London on Saturday.

The little-known 27-year-old makes the first defence of his IBO super-middleweight title at the Olympia in Kensington, and does so knowing he narrowly avoided following his father into prison.

Eubank Jnr, also 27, considers the fight - for a lightly-regarded title and to launch ITV's Box Office platform - his "ticket to the big time" and what he hopes will be lucrative future opportunities.

Quinlan, however, is fighting for something far more sentimental, and after taking a very different path to the life he had threatened to lead when he avoided a prison sentence for armed robbery.

The super-middleweight's father was imprisoned, also for armed robbery, before Quinlan was born and not only remained there until 2014, but returned there shortly afterwards. He is also far from close to his mother, who he says did so little to contribute to the upbringing his grandparents eventually provided.

"My dad was in jail when I was born; my mum ended up taking me to Fiji, and she left me there," Quinlan said. "My dad's mum went across and brought me back to Australia. I grew up with my grandmother (Judith) since I was 18 months old.

"There's still questions I'd love to ask my mum but we don't have that relationship. Growing up, my grandparents were my father and mother. They always taught me right from wrong.

"She passed last year. We weren't expecting that. We never thought she'd go so quick; she was on dialysis (to treat her kidneys), but it happened so fast.

"I'd told her, it's your health now; that's why I put everything aside. Me, my wife and two daughters, we moved back home (to Port Macquarie from Sydney), put everything on hold. It was meant for me to move back home and spend those few months with her.

"I went to spar, and everything was good. When I called her the night before she was good; nothing was wrong.

"The next day I turned my phone on at 6.50am, and all these missed calls came through. I rung back, it was my cousin, and he said 'We lost nan this morning'. I stopped, got out the car, sat there and started crying. She'd died in her sleep.

"She always said to me 'Where's the God in your life? Look out for your family; believe in yourself'. To this day, the only thing on my mind is how she passed."

Quinlan, a Seventh-Day Adventist, is closer to his birth father than mother, but their relationship is yet to fill the void his grandmother left.

He said: "I learnt a lot about life, hanging around with the wrong boys. I got caught up. My dad always told me, 'Don't end up in here; there's no life in this'.

"I went to the boys' home the first time for robbery, and went to jail the first time for 'armed rob', and I beat those charges. I had a taste of that life: wasn't for me.

"My dad was locked up so he has never really spent a birthday with me until 2014 (when Quinlan was 25)

"His dad died at a young age. He grew up the hard way, him and his brother started doing robberies, robbing banks. He said to me he'd keep doing that until he dies.

"Three years ago he ended up back in (prison); in 2014 he got caught again. He's always told me don't walk in his footsteps.

"I'm proud of how far I have come, especially as my cousins are also inside with my dad for armed robbery.

"I was blessed that my life steered away from that because I could have been there where they are now.

"I always pray that God will steer me away from any disaster, or from any trouble."