NIALL QUINN cast an eye over the North-East’s new boxing hero at yesterday’s weigh-in before revealing that the American poised to take complete control at the Stadium of Light is ready to make Sunderland a powerhouse in the Premier League.

But first, Quinn warns, manager Ricky Sbragia has to keep the Black Cats in the topflight before Ellis Short commits himself to the Wearside outfit for the long term.

Wealthy tycoon Short is the club’s largest shareholder and he has indicated to Quinn – who was at the city’s Aquatic Centre to watch light-heavyweight Tony Jeffries hit the scales ahead of tonight’s bout with German Roy Meissner – that he will decide whether or not to become the majority shareholder in the summer.

And with Sunderland sitting four points clear of the relegation zone with four matches remaining, the Irish chairman has admitted that the division the club will be competing in could play a pivotal role.

One thing Quinn is sure of, however, is that regardless of what happens in the final month of the season, Sunderland are in extremely safe hands.

“At the end of the season Ellis Short has a decision to make about whether or not to take outright control of the club,” said Quinn. “Naturally that’s a position I would welcome.

That’s not being harsh on the Drumaville consortium.

That’s a situation they would welcome as well.

“He’s been brilliant up to this point. He’s been hugely supportive of Ricky and myself over the last few weeks.

He sees the value of getting over the line and getting us into a new position as a football club afterwards.”

Despite the lowly position in the Premier League, a healthy number of fans have picked up season tickets ahead of the new season, which has encouraged Quinn.

He said: “The ambitions of the club are probably stronger now. But we have got ourselves in a predicament and we’ve got to get ourselves out of it. Everyone is caught in time. The reality is that if we stay in the Premier League we will be in a position that this club has never been in before.

“If we did go down, there will be no redundancies like before or anything stupid like that. We have a good safety net, a good business plan and good ownership.

“That ownership is champing at the bit because they have seen the way things have gone behind the scenes and great season ticket sales.”

Question marks have been raised about the future of Sbragia after a slip down the table has left Sunderland’s top-flight status in real doubt.

“Ricky was brought in at a difficult time, the players were on their knees,” said Quinn. “He was told his job was to keep us in the Premier League. We told him to get us over the line. He’s got a year left on his contract and he knows how I feel about that.

“He is aware that staying up is the key to everything. If we stay up I have promised Ricky that we will all go away and we will sort out the future of the football club.”