Ritmo Costeno Magazine – The Beat of the Atlantic

The Atlantic Coast is no outpost when it comes to producing world class sportsmen. Ask anyone in the street in Bluefields and they will tell you with pride about the local boys who have made it to the major leagues in the states, such as Devern Hansack, Marvin Bernard and Albert Williams. But the latest sportsman to be generating a buzz on the coast is not a fast throwing pitcher nor a dynamo with the bat, he is a power hitter of another kind, in the boxing ring.

Evans Quinn is rising fast through the world of heavyweight boxing, blowing away opponents in regular fights on the US circuit. A native of the small Creole community of Monkey Point, 60 kilometres south of Bluefields, Quinn is already being tipped by some within the boxing industry as a potential star.

Many who have seen him fight agree. Quinn has won six out of his last eight fights with a first round knockout and is undefeated in his last eleven bouts. He is the number one ranked heavyweight from Nicaragua and is rated at 46 in the world.

However the boy from the RAAS is convinced he can go much higher.

“I am going to be number one”, he told Ritmo Costeno recently in Bluefields, “you see there are a lot of guys who are great boxers, but I am different, I live this thing.”

But Quinn has not always seen his future in the ring.

“I was never really into boxing. When I was younger I was in the army in Managua and one day this guy from Bluefields was fighting some local guy.”

“Anyway, the guy from Bluefields lost and all the Spanish were saying that the boys from the coast are soft, so I decided to show them what we are made of.”

After getting into the sport, Quinn headed back to the coast where he trained up with friends in Monkey Point before heading back to Managua to get some fights under his belt.

The Costeño soon outfought the competition on the local circuit and was forced to head south of the border to Costa Rica to look for new challenges.

It was at a bout at the San Jose Palacio hotel in the Costa Rican capital that Quinn received his big break.

“I had this fight and Don King had some people at the event. They came up to me before the fight and told me if I won they would take me to the US to fight,” he explained.

“I went out there and knocked out the guy in the first round.”

However, just as his career should have been taking off, Quinn found himself  facing a new battle.  The boxer was arrested in Bluefields as part of an investigation into Colombian narcotics traffickers and held in the local lockup for a number of days before being released.

Quinn maintains he is a target because of his high profile and denies having any links at all to the drugs trade.

“That’s all rubbish. I haven’t got any interest in drugs. My focus is on winning my title.”

In order to get a shot at a title, the boxer is now pushing for fights with more high profile opponents . But the step up in quality does not phase the costeño.

“The thing that I got is speed, if I fought Holyfield or one of those big guys I would mash them up. I’m going to be the best.”

And while it is in the United States that Quinn will forge his reputation as a fighter, he remains connected to the RAAS.

While other many other sportsmen relocate in order to further their career, Quinn likes to call the Atlantic Coast home.

In fact, he plans to organize a fight in Bluefields to showcase the sport in the region.
“It would be great for the coast, the first real professional fight over here. We would sell out the stadium.”