After destroying challenger Fernando Guerrero (25-2, 19 KOs) en route to victory by seventh-round technical knockout in his first title defense, undefeated WBO middleweight champion Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (29-0, 21 KOs) is ready to unify the 160-pound division, assuming he can overcome some potential boxing politics in order to make a deal against one of the other major world middleweight title holders.
“I want to fight one of the other champions,” Quillin said. “Sergio Martinez would be my first choice, but he’s injured and out for the rest of the year. (Daniel) Geale is the IBF champion and that, right now, looks like the easiest unification fight to make.”
Unifications are difficult to make a for wide variety of reasons and, unfortunately, Quillin against any of the other world champions faces the additional problems stemming from animosity between rivals Showtime and HBO, as well as Quillin’s promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, and Top Rank.
What Quillin has on his side, however, in addition to his rising popularity, is the fact that not only is he the only American-born world middleweight champion, but he’s also the only American ranked among the consensus top 10 in independent rating systems.
“We’ll fight anybody in a unification or major fight,” added John Seip, who co-manages Quillin with Jim McDevitt.
“Peter was awesome in his last fight. He really hurts his opponents with both hands. He connected on 50-percent of his power punches against Guerrero and that’s an astronomical number. Nobody in this division can handle him. It’s a numbers game, now. The promoters and networks have to put egos aside and give fans what they want with Peter in a major fight.
“No offense to (Brian) Vera or (Marco Antonio) Rubio, but we’re looking for much bigger fights. Peter has earned the right to be a main event fighter. He helped open-up Barclays Center and had a lot of fans there against Guerrero. You don’t make big money winning the world title belt; you do retaining it, and now it’s time for Peter to reap the fruit of his labor. The biggest market in boxing is in America and a unification fight belongs here. Martinez is out with injuries, (Julio Cesar, Jr.) Chavez won’t fight us, Golovkin has a fight at the end of June, but Geale interests us.”
The affable Quillin goes into animal status when he steps between the ropes and into the ring. He has developed into a monster counter-puncher with power in both hands, to go with a chameleon-like ability to adjust his style according to what’s most advantageous in each particular fight, often surprising opponents who based their game plan on Quillin’s previous fight, and he also possess an incredible chin that allows him to walk through punches.
In his last two fights, Quillin has recorded an amazing 10 knockdowns, four against Guerrero and six more last October when he ripped the WBO belt from previously unbeaten defending champion Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam (27-0).
“And one other knockdown in my fight before that (N’Jikam),” Quillin noted, “against Winky (Wright), making it 11 knockdowns in my last three fights.
“I never want to lose and just work hard to win every fight. I challenge myself in training camp for every fight and I have great trainers – Eric Brown (boxing), Brad Bose (strength and conditioning) and Robert Garcia (nutritionist). I’m improving every fight. I’ve gained valuable experience, become more confident since becoming world champion, and feel very comfortable in the ring. In my last fight, I showed improvement in ring generalship, composure, and even my interviewing skills. I’m becoming the full package.”
It’s Chocolate Time!
