The odds are heavily in favor of Gabriel Rosado (21-6, 13 KOs) hitting the canvas at least once this Saturday night during his world title fight challenge against undefeated WBO titlist Peter “Kid Chocolate” Quillin (29-0, 21 KOs), airing on Showtime Championship Boxing, live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
WBO No. 11-rated Rosado going down has less to do with the quality of his chin or durability, rather a credit to Quillin’s power.
Quillin’s 29 opponents have been dropped a total of 31 times, including an amazing 10 knockdowns in his last two fights, both in world championship competition, against Fernando Guerrero (4 knockdowns) and former WBO champion Nassan N’Dam N’Jikam (6 knockdowns). “Kid Chocolate” also dropped future Hall of Famer Ronald “Winky” Wright, in Quillin’s fight prior to him challenging N’Jikam, which ended in a unanimous 10-round decision that sent Wright into retirement.
“I get paid to give 12 rounds of action,” Quillin said.
“I am a performer in the ring and I’ve trained hard to be a power puncher. At times I’ll take a punch to give back a few of my own. I have power to knockout my opponent with my right or left, at any point of a fight. Earlier in my career, a lot of my knockdowns and knockouts came in two rounds or less, but I had 10 knockdowns in my two world title fights. No matter how many times they get up, I’m going to keep knocking them down.”
What explains Quillin’s propensity to knockdown his opponents so often?
“Animal status,” Quillin’s head trainer Eric Brown quickly answered. “Peter is a beast! He is very solid, focused and a fundamentally sound fighter, who can knock you out with either hand. He’s very hungry and appreciates what it really means to be world champion.”
