Tony Quinn

Hi Nick,

i've read the post about Tony Quinn at the old forum. If somebody want i can post it again here, because sadly the GT forum is now completely gone...

Ok, some questions come in my mind after reading it:

HIS BODYTYPE:
You said for you standard he is a "minuscle". I know he's around 5,7" but how much weights he?

PUNCHING:
What are his most used or favourite punching techniques you saw him doing? You wrote he has a blinding fast right.

KICKING:
He is a amazing kicker i think after reading the old post. What kicks he used the most? And is he able to use it like Terry O'Neill equaly on both sides?

GRAPPLING:
Can you explain the pretzel grappling he did to his oppos?

MULTIPLES:
He does well even against multiples i guess. Has he any special tactic against them. I've read he used the headbutt quite often.

TRAINING:
So even with his less height he did very well against bigger guys. Does the training gave him the edge to be able to do it? Or was it his mindset you said he was like a "wolverine".

OK, i apologize for the length and thank you in advance for answering the questions.

Best regards

Julian

HIS BODYTYPE:
You said for you standard he is a "minuscle". I know he's around 5,7" but how much weights he?

I don't remember...I'm going to guess about ten or eleven stone. I think he fought lightweigh or cruiser weight in WKA matches.

PUNCHING:
What are his most used or favourite punching techniques you saw him doing? You wrote he has a blinding fast right.

He originally used all karate hand techniques but later got professional boxing coaching to round out his kickboxing skills

KICKING:
He is a amazing kicker i think after reading the old post. What kicks he used the most? And is he able to use it like Terry O'Neill equaly on both sides?

Yep, ambidextrous. Roundhouse would be my guess as his favourite but also front kicks, side kicks and wheel kicks

GRAPPLING:
Can you explain the pretzel grappling he did to his oppos?

He was a champion junior wrestler when he left England (emigrated to Oz when he was very young) He modified his stuff so when he'd wrap you up you'd be pinned and he'd have at least one hand free to pound the crap out of you with. I still teach a version of it in stand up clinching.

MULTIPLES:
He does well even against multiples i guess. Has he any special tactic against them. I've read he used the headbutt quite often.

I was at a grading once with the usual big audience. Bob told him to get up and about five black belts got around him...Bob said, shit, that's not enough so about five more jumped up. He did a multiple against them and it was the most amazing shite I ever saw. Years later I was working for him on the door. He was managing the club and Gordon and I were outside. A big bunch of Samoans turned up and we were denying them entry when Tony arrived. He went straight past us, up to the big one and said "you want it then?" and just launched his attack...he dropped several before they realized it had even started...and yes, he loved using the headbutt.

TRAINING:
So even with his less height he did very well against bigger guys. Does the training gave him the edge to be able to do it? Or was it his mindset you said he was like a "wolverine".

Undoubtedly both. He was a good grappler, a good puncher and a good kicker and lightening fast and very aggressive. That's a tough combo to beat. He went on to become seventh in the world at the time in Hanson's organization before being told to stop due to a fractured cheekbone sustained during a fight in Hong Kong which shows his determination and, I have no doubt, without the injury he'd have gone all the way. Later he went on to become Dave Stuart's (Eurythmic's fame) personal assistant/body guard.

Hello Nick

Who is this fellow you're discussing here I don't recall his name... can you give me soem backgound.

Got to be said mate you know a lot of good fighters

AXE
Jagunco

Tony Quinn was one of the number one Zen Do Kai black belts in
Australia and about 2 from the top in Queensland.

He was one of the first ever Australians to get into full contact kick boxing and fought under the WKA (owned by Hanson if memory serves) He rose to number seven in the world before a fractured cheekbone ended his career.

He went on to bodyguard Dave Stuart of the Eurythmics and run several record companies for him.

Nick

Tony had to be better then guys bigger than him because i don't think he ever squared up against someone smaller. There was no one smaller. And fast! As fast as anyone I saw, or sparred with. Gary Pettersen tells of the time he hit three guys so fast the first hadn't hit the ground until before the third was out cold too.

Cameron,

Good to see you back here mate...hope that's going to continue during 07. Yep, I was there that night, I think I mentioned it in GT's old forum. Gordon Mitchell and myself were working at Knights, Tony was managing, and Gary had come over from a drinking session at the Maxwell's pub accross the street.

These big half Samoan half something were causing grief about not being allowed in. We had been asked to tone the violence down and they'd installed a buzzer for us to call Tony if there were any problems. I hit the buzzer, Tony arrived and said "So, you want a biff do you?" and immediately began hitting them. He did exactly that...before Gary, myself or Gordon got to fire off, he'd already dropped all three (so much for toning down the violence ) and yes, the first had not hit the ground yet before he'd hit # 3.

Nick

PS: The real scary bit is that Malcolm use to toy with him when they sparred.

PPS: Oops, just realized that's the same story I mentioned in this thread when replying to questions asked.

I like the sound of this guy! he would be a great man to have a coffee and a chat with!

seems like he went on to do well in business too, running record companies etc!

Fair play to him!

On this picture should be Tony Quinn....



Nick, is he the receiver or the attacker?

Bye
Julian

Tony is the one with his back to us punching Saneeto Thompson...a very arrogant thai boxer who came to Oz (from Thailand) when kick boxing was just making its debut. He apparently was going to show all of us how it should be done

Tony beat the crap out of him I'm happy to say. I don't remember in which round he ko'd/beat him as I was working on the night of the fight.

Nick

PS: If you look down on the other side of the ring you can just make out Malcolm Anderson (with white wife beater and black belt on) who was Tony's trainer.

Good photo... looks like irish kickboxing back in the early 80s

It's Christmas Day. Last night we had a dinner with a couple people over and the topic of Muay Thai and kickboxing fights in Brisbane came up and my small contribution to the conversation was my trips out to Mansfield Tavern to see the fight nights put on by the Zendokai crowd. I used to go with my uncle who knew Tony Quinn quite well.

Funny how small the world is. I was training in Kyokushin with a guy called John Klose who was running Cameron Quinn's school in Paddington. John seemed to know Tony Quinn too because Tony Quinn came in and gave us some training. That was interesting.

There are quite a few people from that time that I am curious of where they went. John Klose, Tony Quinn and Noel Watson. I don't know if anyone here knows of Noel Watson.

Part of the reason that I brought up the Mansfield Tavern, the fights of that day and Zendokai was that these days people rave about the current scene of MuayThai fight promoters and talk about them like they invented the sport.

:-)

Nick Hughes wrote:Tony is the one with his back to us punching Saneeto Thompson...a very arrogant thai boxer who came to Oz (from Thailand) when kick boxing was just making its debut. He apparently was going to show all of us how it should be done

Tony beat the crap out of him I'm happy to say. I don't remember in which round he ko'd/beat him as I was working on the night of the fight.
.

I was actually one of Thompson's cornermen for that fight (!), helping out my old mate Alec Jones (no relation to Bob; Alec was a British guy with a Korean Kempo background who had organised one of the first 'full-contact karate/kickboxing' events back in '76...).

Soonet was born in Thailand, but he wasn't a Muay Thai guy brought from Thailand to fight. If my memory serves me, he was the son of a Thai woman who had married an Aussie guy. He was just a kid living in Bayswater who trained with Alec...

I think it was either the start of the second or third round that the match ended; by TKO, as Soonet refused to come out for the next round. He had been penalised for kneeing, I think, and put on some hystrionics both to the ref and to his corner... He just didn't have the heart for it; as far as I am aware, he didn't fight again after that bout...

That being said, Tony was all over him like a rash during the limited duration of the fight and was likely to have either knocked him out or won convincingly had Thompson not have spat the dummy... He was a machine.

Jeez, was it late 1976 or 77...? I AM getting old... ;-)

BK

florecista wrote:There are quite a few people from that time that I am curious of where they went. John Klose, Tony Quinn and Noel Watson. I don't know if anyone here knows of Noel Watson.

Last time I saw Noel Watson I think he was looking after Barnsey, but that was a while back ('97?)

Cameron Quinn had a post on his own forum about John Klose; I will see if I can dig it out for you (if Cam doesn't answer himself..)

Cheers,

BK