Konecny: I can beat Quillin

By Boxing News - 04/03/2014 - Comments

quillin4By Allan Fox: #2 WBO 160lb contender Lukas Konecny (50-4, 23 KO’s) feels he’s got what it takes to pull off a huge upset on April 19th in his title challenge against WBO middleweight champion Peter Quillin (30-0, 22 KO’s) at the DC Armory, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. The 35-year-old Konecny is quite fortunate to be getting a world title shot at all, because the other three sanctioning bodies don’t even have him ranked in their top 15 after his lopsided 12 round decision loss against former WBO 154lb champion Zaurbek Baysangurov.

The World Boxing Organization, however, have Konecny as their No.2 contender at 160 and have him ranked above a number of fighters who would likely beat him like Curtis Stevens, Matthew Macklin, Andy Lee, and Daniel Jacobs.

“I can beat him,” Konecny said via RingTV. “I can make pressure for all 12 rounds. I am hard to beat. I know that he’s taller than me and has a good punch. I have over 250 amateur fights, and over 50 professional fights. I think that I can surprise him.”

This fight seems to be another example of Quillin taking the easy road by facing someone with an inflated ranking, and not much in the way of experience against quality opposition. Konecny has lost to guys like Sergey Dzinziruk, Michele Piccirillo, Ruben Varon and Baysangurov during his career. His most important wins have come against Roman Dzhuman, Matthew Hall, and Hussein Bayram. Konecny is only 5’8” with a 70” reach advantage. He’ll be giving up four inches in height to the 6’0” Quillin and another three inches in reach on April 19th.

Quillin hasn’t had to face anyone good yet as the WBO champion, and with match-making against the likes of Konecny, he could remain the WBO champion for a long time to come. WBA champ Gennady Golovkin would like to fight Quillin, but it’s not likely that they’ll ever wind up facing each other. Quillin has a good thing going with him defending his title against the guys that the WBO has ranked in their top 15. They’ve not stacked the better fighters at the top like the other sanctioning bodies have. In his two previous title defenses, Quillin has beaten Gabriel Rosado and Fernando Guerrero.

Tickets for the card go for $25, $50, $75, $200 and $300. http://www.ticketmaster.com, all Ticketmaster locations or by calling (800) 745-3000. The DC Armory Box Office will be open on fight night only from 3:00 p.m.-10:00 p.m. ET.



Comments are closed.