Quillin vs. Lehoullier mismatch tonight on Khan-Judah undercard

By Boxing News - 07/23/2011 - Comments

By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten super middleweight contender Peter Quillin (24-0, 18 KO’s) takes a backwards step tonight in taking on Jason Lehoullier (21-5-1, 8 KO’s) in a 10 round bout on the undercard of the Amir Khan vs. Zab Judah card at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Quillin, who is trained by Freddie Roach, is taking a soft opponent in 33-year-old Lehoullier, who has lost his last five fights coming into tonight’s fight with Quillin. I’d say that’s a huge step back for Quillin after he recently stopped contender Jesse Brinkley in the 3rd round last April. But I give Quillin a pass for this fight, because he showed in the Brinkley fight that he has no inside fighting ability whatsoever and is unable to use both hands when throwing power shots.

Quillin throws mostly right hand pot shots and for some reason he hasn’t developed his left hand. For someone that’s ranked at No.5 by the International Boxing Federation and is trained by accomplished trainer Freddie Roach those are glaring flaws in Quillin’s game. Don’t tell Roach, though, because he thinks Quillin can actually win a title at super middleweight. He won’t, at least not a major world title.

Quillin needs to learn how to fight on the inside, because someone like Andre Ward would make him look bad if they were to fight. And the other super middleweight champions like Lucian Bute and Carl Froch would badly dominate Quillin if they were to fight him. Roach needs to start from scratch with Quillin and have him fight easy opposition for a couple of years to teach him how to use his left hand, throw combinations, stop pot shotting and above all, teach him how to fight on the inside. Right now, Quillin would likely lose badly against of the champions, even the WBO champion Roberto Stieglitz, who I see as a paper champion.