Rendall Munroe vows to make the doubters eat their words
Leicester's Rendall Munroe believes many people are underestimating him ahead of his interim WBA super-bantamweight title clash with Scott Quigg.
The pair meet once again on the undercard of Ricky Hatton's comeback at the Manchester Arena on the 24th of this month. Their last clash ended in disappointment for both men as the fight was scored a technical draw because a clash of heads left Munroe nursing a nasty gash above his right eye. And with much of the 122lbs talk circling around Quigg's rivalry with Belfast's Carl Frampton, Munroe feels that people are forgetting that he is in fact the one with the experience at the highest level.
"I think a lot of people are looking at me and saying 'oh yeah Rendall's been around a long time and has he still got it?," he told HattonBoxing. "They're just looking at my age more than anything. Obviously I'm 32 now, I've got a family and I've been there and done it so people say 'does he still want to do it?' But believe me I've still got another five or six years in me and I look at every fight as a world title, it doesn't matter who I'm fighting. Age is just a number and when you look at how I prepare for fights I can't see myself slowing down."
While his 'Boxing Binman' nickname remains, Munroe has now given up the day job so that he can concentrate on furthering his fistic career. And it was his decision that he believes has given him a new lease of life. "I'm in my thirties but now I think I'm getting better, not worse because now I'm a fully fledged professional and before I was a part-time professional because I had to work a normal job," he said.
"I went to Japan and lost after 12 rounds [against Toshiaki Nishioka] and the following Monday I was back in work again. Now I have the time to work on things that I never got to work on before because I didn't have the time. I'm still seen as the boxing binman and that's a great thing for me but with my sponsors (Elite Construction) I don't need to work on the bins no more."
Munroe, the former European and Commonwealth champion, feels that Quigg has not given him the credit he deserves but he is using the Bury man's barbs as fuel for his fire. He said: "I've been in the game for nine, ten years and I look at every fighter as the same and give them the same respect because we're all in there for the same thing. But I've read on websites he's said he's going to do this to me and he's going to do that. He's said he's going to knock me out when he's ready and how I've felt his power. Talk is cheap and like my dad always tells me 'empty barrels make a whole heap of noise' so I've just got to go out there and do what I've gotta do. I was up for it before but I think now I'm even more up for it. I've just got to make sure I'm in great shape, which I always am, and I've got to make sure that I'm mentally ready."
The incentive for victory is massive. As well as winning the interim title, a win over Quigg would likely mean that a showdown with unbeaten full world champion Guillermo Rigondeaux will happen somewhere down the line. Rendall came close to glory when he lost a unanimous decision to former WBC titlist Nishioka in October 2010 and hasn't stopped dreaming of becoming of getting a world title around his waist ever since.
"Obviously I've had a taste of it but the taste wasn't good enough for me. I want the whole thing now, not just a bite at the cherry," he stated. "I want to become a world champion and I'll keep plugging away until I get there. I've not achieved what I want to achieve. When I first came onto the scene nobody knew Rendall Munroe and I've worked the hard road and that it'll make it greater when I get where I want to be."
http://www.hattonboxing.com/tv/news/2012/11/rendall-munroe-vows-to-make-the-doubters-eat-their-words
