Peter Quillin talks about life at the top of the middleweight division

By Boxing News - 10/08/2013 - Comments

quillin33 (2)By Ian Aldous: Peter ‘Kid Chocolate’ Quillin (29-0) is scheduled to defend his WBO world middleweight championship for the second time when he faces Gabriel Rosado (21-6) on October 26th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City live on Showtime in the U.S. In a division that’s currently inhabited by Sergio Martinez and Gennady Golovkin, Quillin faces a stern challenge to earn himself the No.1 spot at 160lbs. Last week he spoke with me inbetween training ahead of the bout with Rosado.

It’s almost a year to the day since I last had the pleasure of talking with ‘Kid Chocolate’ and a lot has changed in that time. The biggest change being that he now owns a portion of the world middleweight crown. On October 20th of last year, he successfully dethroned Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam of his WBO belt over twelve incredibly tough rounds in which he dropped N’Jikam six times en route to a unanimous decision with three 115-107 scorecards from the judges. “Six times. My last three fights, by the way, there’s been nine knockdowns in three different fights including the ring legend – Winky Wright. Hassan came in shape, I knew exactly what he was gonna come to do. We trained for a guy to move on his feet, at times in the fight he came forward and put pressure on me. Nobody ever gives this guy credit. When they say I haven’t fought anybody, I fought an undefeated champion with an identical record to mine (both men were 27-0 going into the fight). He continued “I had to earn the fight, I had to dig very deep to win the belt. So, it wasn’t an easy, handover, bulls*** fight. It was like a real deal fight. We haven’t seen a fight like that in the middleweight division for probably twenty years man!”

One thing you notice when talking with Peter is that he often uses the term ‘we’ when talking about his own achievements. His team around him clearly mean a lot to him. So, how’s life now he’s reached one of his goals in the sport? “Money aint a thing, that’s what changed for me. At the same time, I took the work rate up just a little bit more. We defending the title every time we step out there with pride and honor like warriors do. Every time we step out there, we take it to another level and that’s what we doing. Everything changes as far as: people wanna be around you, but I stay true to myself.”

The first defense of his WBO title came against Fernando Guerrero six months after winning it. It was a straightforward victory for someone of the calibre that Quillin possesses and he passed the test with relative ease, stopping Guerrero in the seventh round. “Well, I didn’t look at him like he’s not a good fighter because his record at the time was 25-1. People would say that he was like a blown-up junior-middleweight but if you go through his record, he only fought one fight at 154lbs. The rest of his fights were at 160lbs or higher. Me and him were in the Boxing Monthly (magazine), me, Danny Jacobs, Edwin Rodriguez and Fernando Guerrero. We was all middleweights to watch at the time. He came in the fight with the confidence and in shape and I don’t take anything away from his performance.”

Gabriel Rosado will provide the next test in the career of ‘Kid Chocolate’ on October 26th. Rosado is a fighter that holds wins over gatekeepers like Jesus Soto Karass and Sechew Powell but at the same time has suffered stoppage losses to Alfredo Angulo and Gennady Golovkin (hardly anything to be ashamed of). A betting man would likely put his money on a hard-fought win for Quillin. “I think it’s a good fight, you know, he’s earned the respect with the fights that he’s fought and not running like a coward. I can only expect him to come out and be at his best. I’m training hard and I’m gonna be prepared and I’m gonna look to put on a great performance for boxing fans on October 26th. Rosado, he’s came up short a few times but I give every fighter a credit like he’s looking for a dignifying performance, just like I am. I’m only gonna expect the best out of him but you can always expect the best out of Kid Chocolate.”

One week after Quillin and Rosado battle, another big middleweight fight will take place when Gennady Golovkin defends his WBA and IBO belts against Curtis Stevens at the MSG Theater in New York. “It’s a awesome fight man. You got two power punchers that wanna prove that they earned their spot to be where they’re at. Golovkin has got on the steamroller with all the momentum and hype behind him. Curtis Stevens is from Brooklyn, I live right in his backyard!”

Two more middleweights who may appear sometime on the horizon for ‘Kid Chocolate’ are Darren Barker and Daniel Geale following their exciting fight in August in which Barker took the IBF crown on a split-decision. “It was an exciting fight, it was back and forth, a lot of action and punches flying. It’s so exciting to see so many fights in the middleweight division being made and being put out there for the fans. I just pray that Daniel Geale will be able to come back to fight another day because so many people never gave him credit, beating Felix Sturm in his backyard. These type of things is why fighters should be watched because they fight for so many different reasons and (there are) so many different journeys and stories out there.”

One question I just had to ask Peter was the one single question that eliminates all the lunacy of modern day world championship boxing and the amount of ‘interim’ and ‘super champion’ belts that we see. Simply put, rank the four titleholders in the 160lbs division. Whoever tops it is the ‘true’ world middleweight champion. “I would say, Sergio Martinez, me following behind, Gennady Golovkin behind me and Darren Barker behind Golovkin.”

It certainly looks to be another big year for Peter and his team if the past year is anything to go by. His ambitions and goals are there for everyone to see. “Hopefully I’ll be a unified champion beating all the rest of the champions up! Beating them up and taking their food, that’s what I’m looking to do. I aint come to do this just to say I’m OK to be where I’m at. I’m shooting for the stars. Now’s the time to create great records in my own right. I’m just looking up to the guys before me like Bernard Hopkins, Sugar Ray Leonard, Hagler, Sugar Ray Robinson, all those guys from the middleweight division who put their greatness on it and that’s what I’m looking to do. I’m not gonna stop until it happens and from there we’ll see where we take things from there. Other than that I just cannot stop busting my goals for myself and proving that I’m able to do it.” It’s fitting that he should mention Hopkins due to the fact that the October 26th card he’s fighting on is headlined by Hopkins vs. Murat for the IBF light-heavyweight title.

I personally look forward to seeing how the rest of his career pans out for Quillin and his team. He’s one of the most engaging characters I’ve had the chance to talk to in this sport and not only that – he’s exciting to watch inside the ropes. He had one last story for me before he went. “The craziest thing I had to learn in my whole life. We used to go to the pond when we was younger, we used to get the rocks and skim them across the water, I could never do it! The one time I did I felt like I was the champion of the world!” Fast-forward many years and now he is a champion of the world.

Don’t forget where you can check out ‘Kid Chocolate’

Official Website: thekidchocolate.com

On Twitter: @kidchocolate

On Instagram: instagram.com/kidchocolate



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